Question: I have always had very oily skin and, during high school, I acquired a lot of acne scarring. I am 23, male, and my social life has suffered due to the look of my face. Can deep acne scars be improved with a scar repair or will I need to have a series of skin resurfacing treatments?
Answer: The answer to that question really depends on what type of acne scarring and how severe it is. If you have extremely deep, ice pick-type scarring, these would be better treated through scar revision-type of a surgical procedure where, if you have moderate, more standard acne scarring with significant texture irregularities across the skin, I feel this is best treated with a series of ProFractional laser treatments. ProFractional laser by Sciton divides an Erbium laser up into multiple small injury zones, almost like aerating a lawn. These cause injury to the deeper dermis and, during the healing phase, a large amount of collagen is placed into this area, and this causes soft tissue and skin remodeling, which creates improvement in the appearance of the acne scarring. I do tell all of my acne scarring patients not to expect a complete resolution of any visibility of acne scarring but to expect an improvement in the acne scarring. I usually recommend that, if they would be pleased with a 50% improvement in the acne scarring, that they definitely move forward as, classically, we can get more like a 75% to 80% improvement in the visibility of acne scarring through the use of the ProFractional laser. We typically perform three separate treatments, spaced approximately one month apart. Each treatment has a few days where the skin is red and can ooze clear fluid. During this time, patients need to keep this area covered with a clear balm, and we also give them an at-home treatment kit with Aminoplex that has vitamins and minerals and amino acids that are necessary for the skin to heal. This shortens their downtime and improves the healing process and ultimately improves their end result. I recommend that you schedule a consultation at Quintessa Medical Spa so we can perform a thorough evaluation and a customized treatment plan can be created.
