A Blog published by the Cosmetic Centers of Hawaii

Deeper Acne Scar Treatments

  

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By Marné CarMichael Walsh

Welcome to Part 2 of our blog post discussing Acne Scar Treatments.

As we said last week, it is important that your acne is under good control before undergoing treatment to correct the scarring as we don’t want to irritate active acne and cause further scarring. With that in mind, we will continue on with a discussion of Deeper Treatments for acne scarring.

Treatments that minimize acne scars

Deeper treatments

These skin treatments offer the advantage of collagen remodeling which provides more permanent result. They include lasers such as Fraxel and Active/Deep FX as well as certain injectables such as corticosteroids and fillers.

• Fraxel Laser Resurfacing: The Fraxel laser delivers discrete parcels of energy (Pixels) in a fractional fashion, treating about 20% of the skin in each session and leaving about 80% unaffected, allowing for a rapid recovery (3-5 days). A topical anesthetic is applied to your face 30 minutes prior to treatment. For best results, we recommend 3-5 sessions spaced 2-4 weeks apart, with an additional treatment yearly for maintenance. Make-up can be applied to reddish skin immediately after treatment. Maximum improvement is seen 3 to 6 months after your last treatment as collagen builds and smooths the appearance of scarring.
• Active FX and Deep FX: Deep FX is a non-surgical procedure for both men and women that rejuvenates the face and helps smooth acne scarring. While the procedure is non-invasive, it is aggressive enough to provide satisfying results with only one treatment. Using what are called fractional CO2 micro-beams that target the areas to be treated, Deep FX reaches the deep layers of skin to stimulate your body's own healing response. This causes your body to regenerate tissue and produce new collagen. Since we have more collagen when we are younger, this increased production creates younger looking skin and helps smooth acne scars as well as evening the skin tone. Active FX is often performed at the same time as Deep FX. These procedures are very similar, but Deep FX reaches a deeper layer of skin and is more often used to target specific deeper wrinkles or deep scars. Active FX is then performed all over the face for an even smoother appearance. They are done under IV sedation and recovery time is about 10 days.
• Injectable Fillers for larger ice pick, box car defects: Injectable fillers are substances such as collagen, hydroxylapatite, poly-lactic acid, hyalurionic gels, or silicone gel that is injected beneath the defect to correct a depression. Depending on the type of filler used, results may last 6 months to a lifetime. (Photo above, before (left) and one month after (right) five Fraxel laser resurfacing treatments to reduce the scarring from acne.)
• Corticosteroid injections for keloid scars: Raised, growing scars can become itchy or even painful. Injections of a corticosteroid directly into the keloid can be performed to shrink the keloid and reduce these symptoms. Insurance will usually cover this procedure.
• IPL (intense pulsed light): IPL does not help with the 3 dimensional aspect of the scar but rather focuses on the red coloring that is often present with acne scarring. Usually 3-5 treatments are recommended for optimal results.

In general, laser resurfacing produces the best, long lasting results for widespread acne scars. Only your physician specialist can determine which treatment or combination of treatments would work best for you.

Fraxel Skin Resurfacing for treatment of acne scars.