Acne scars often serve as a painful, embarrassing reminder of a time when your skin was less-than-healthy. Acne is a very common skin condition, with most people having some form of acne during puberty, young adulthood, or even as adults. But while not all people will experience scarring from acne, many people who have acne scarring may struggle with the texture and pigment of their skin. At The Aesthetic Clinique in Santa Rosa Beach, FL, we believe that acne scar treatment can be tailored to your unique skin needs.
How Does Acne Scar Treatment Work?
The truth is that acne scar treatment will look different for many people. Depending on your skin type, the severity of your acne scarring, and even your skin tone, the scar treatment used for you will be different from the scar treatment used for someone else. However, the goal of all acne scar treatments is to restructure the collagen that creates the acne scar.
Most of the time, acne scars are formed when collagen forms incorrectly during wound healing. For example, when acne inflammation breaks the wall of a pore, collagen is produced to repair the pore – but if this healing process occurs when the skin is still inflamed, the repair will be flawed. For people with chronic or severe acne, this can because acne scars to overlap, become deeper, or create hypertrophic scarring.
The Main Treatment: Radiofrequency Microneedling
So, how do we treat acne scars? At our clinic, most of our acne scar patients use radiofrequency microneedling as the main treatment. There are a few reasons for this, such as RF microneedling being appropriate for all skin types and tones. RF microneedling is minimally invasive, well-tolerated, and treats all types of acne scars.
This treatment combines the thermal energy of radiofrequency with the physical collagen induction of microneedling. When the microneedles open a channel in the skin, it allows radiofrequency energy to penetrate deeper sub-dermal tissues, and this ultimately allows the treatment to effectively treat all layers of skin that are impacted by the acne scar. In other words, this treatment creates collagen from the inside out to erase scars from your skin.
How Soon Will You See Results?
There are two stages for your results after RF microneedling. Your initial results will be largely attributed to the immediate healing process after your treatment, which will make your skin appear flush and smooth. However, your true results will take several days or weeks to appear based on how quickly your body can produce new collagen.
The collagen maturation process also takes time. Your results will appear over six months after your first treatment. Gradually, the appearance of your acne scars will shrink and smooth over as the depressed skin tissue will have increased collagen to match the surrounding skin. Most people will be able to see significant results in as little as one to two months, with improved results over the next six months.
How Many Treatments Will You Need?
While RF microneedling is an extremely effective treatment for acne scars, it’s unlikely that one treatment will be adequate to correct the appearance of your scarring. Even for those who have mild acne scars, about one to three treatments are an ideal number to smooth the appearance of the skin. On average, most people will have three to four treatments for moderate scarring, and four or more treatments for severe scarring.
What Are Other Acne Scar Treatments?
Of course, because everyone has different skin and different degrees of acne scarring, other acne scar treatments may be necessary to improve the appearance of your skin. We offer several treatments for acne scars. During your consultation, we will explore all of the treatment options available to you and help you select the treatment that will work best with your skin type and the severity of acne scarring. These treatments may include:
Microneedling
Even without radiofrequency, microneedling is a powerful treatment that can repair acne scars. Traditional microneedling creates micro-injuries on the surface of the skin that will induce the body’s natural healing response, including the production of collagen. Typically, regular microneedling is an ideal solution for people who have shallow acne scars or post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.
Lasers
The goal of laser treatments is to essentially resurface the layer of your skin. Depending on the type of laser used, which will be determined by your skin tone and scar type, the energy of the laser will stimulate the production of collagen and elastin in the skin to improve the appearance of acne scars. RFM laser treatments are ideal for all skin types. Even people with mild acne scarring can successfully use laser treatments.
Dermal Fillers
Dermal fillers are temporary solutions to particularly challenging atrophic acne scars in areas of the face where there is a lot of fatty tissue. The middle cheeks can be challenging to treat because of lipoatrophy caused by atrophic scarring. With a dermal filler, artificial volume is used directly on the depressed skin tissue, which then fills in to match the level of the surrounding skin tissue. Fillers like Restylane, Bellafill, and Sculptra are ideal for acne scarring.
TCA Cross
TCA Cross is an acid-based treatment similar to a chemical peel, although the trichloroacetic acid is used as a spot treatment to correct the appearance of certain types of acne scars. Both icepick scars and boxcar scars are ideal for this treatment. During TCA Cross, a small amount of acid is placed directly in the scar tissue, which creates an injury that will be healed from the bottom of the scar up until the skin is smooth. Several treatments will be necessary to correct deep scarring.
Subcision
Subcision is typically only used to correct the appearance of tethered scars. Typically, subcision is used as a first step before RF microneedling. By using subcision on tethered scars, RF microneedling is more effective and will prevent the scar from extending rather than healing.
Which Treatment Is Right for You?
Ultimately, the type of treatment for your acne scars will depend on the severity of your scars, your skin type, and your preferred method. People who have shallow scars may only need microneedling, while people who have moderate atrophic scarring may only need RF microneedling or laser treatments. We will be able to determine the scar treatments that are best for you by analyzing your skin condition during your consultation.
Why Is Combining Treatments a Good Idea?
Combining your treatments may be necessary if you have multiple types of scars. Most people have a combination of acne scar types, such as having rolling scars and boxcar scars on the cheeks, or having shallow scars plus pigmented scars on the face. By combining scar treatments, you can adequately treat the scar on multiple dermal layers for a more comprehensive result.
When Can You Use These Treatments?
In general, you can use any of these scar treatments at any time. As long as you have acne scars, you are a candidate for these scar treatments regardless of your age, skin type, or even the location of the scar. That said, when to use scar treatments may depend on the condition of your skin.
Most of these scar treatments can’t be used on skin that is still experiencing active acne. For these treatments to be most effective, your active acne should be under control. Please speak with our skin experts about managing your acne before scheduling any scar treatments.
Are Acne Scar Treatments Permanent?
Sometimes, the results of these scar treatments can be permanent, or at least last several years. Depending on your skin type, the depth of the scar, and the scar location, you may be able to achieve long-lasting results. With RF microneedling, for example, the results should last for 12 months or longer because of how deep the collagen restructuring is. For other treatments, you may need to maintain your results with additional annual treatments.
Who Are Good Candidates?
If you have acne scarring you are struggling to deal with and you do not currently have active acne, you are likely a good candidate for these treatments. Each of these treatments can be used on virtually all areas of the face. We will be able to decide if you are an ideal candidate for these treatments for acne scarring during your consultation appointment.
Correct Acne Scarring Today
Acne scars may be tough to deal with by yourself, but with the help of the right aesthetic treatment, you can smooth away the appearance of acne scars in only a few short treatments. Please contact The Aesthetic Clinique in Santa Rosa Beach, FL to schedule your first appointment today.
