If you are looking for acne scars treatment, you may wonder what causes acne scars? Here's what you need to know about this common problem.
Did you know that more than 50 million people in the United States suffer from acne yearly? For some people, acne may be just a minor problem, while it may be severe or even cystic for others. Acne usually starts during puberty and continues into young adulthood, although for some people, it can continue into their 30s or 40s.
Whatever the case, acne also goes hand in hand with acne scars. Good acne scar treatments can be hard to find, especially if you need help finding what to look for. There are many ways to get rid of scars caused by acne or at least reduce their appearance, but where should you start?
Keep reading and learn more about how to treat your acne problem below!
What Are Acne Scars?
Acne occurs for many reasons. Most of the time, it happens when you don't wash your face often enough. When you don't wash your face, your face's natural oils start to build up and clog your pores, along with other impurities like dead skin cells and dirt.
When pores are clogged, they can also become clogged with bacteria that inflame the pores. The response to this inflammation is acne. If your acne is caused by excess oil or other impurities, you will likely have clear skin once you start washing your face once or twice a day.
A more stubborn form of acne is hormonal acne. This is common in teenagers but can continue into adulthood in some cases. Hormonal acne is notoriously difficult to treat and can lead to severe forms of acne, such as cystic acne.
This type of acne is more likely to cause scars than small pimples caused by not washing your face. As previously mentioned, acne occurs when a pore becomes inflamed for one reason or another. When this happens, inflammation actually breaks down the cells in the pore.
Types of Acne Scars
For small pimples, this cell destruction is relatively small and superficial, so you may not notice it and it will heal very quickly. For larger pimples, the deep holes of crushed cells can result in rather large scars. There are two main types of acne scars: indented and caused by loss of skin tissue and raised caused by excess collagen trying to heal injured skin.
There are also several types of indented scars. For example, an ice pick scar is quite small and looks like you took an ice pick to your face, and it punctured your skin. This usually occurs in areas of the face where the skin is thinner.
Rolling scars are larger and have a bumpy appearance. They occur in areas of thicker skin. Boxcar scars are similar to rolling scars but have sharp edges instead of a roll shape.
There are also keloid or hypertrophic scars that are prominent and often appear on the back or shoulders rather than on the face.
There are also cases of acne hyperpigmentation. This is similar to acne scarring, but the hyperpigmentation usually goes away on its own with time. Acne hyperpigmentation results from excess melanin production (not collagen production) and tends to be worse in those with darker skin because they already have extra melanin.
What To Do About Acne Scars
People with acne and acne scars often feel low self-esteem and hopeless about their skin's health. They may try everything to care for their skin but to no avail. However, you can try many facial scar treatment options to help reduce the appearance of your remaining acne scars.
Choosing the best acne scar treatment for you will depend on your skin, as some treatments may work better for some than others. The first thing you should try is silicone gel. You may not have heard of silicone gel before because it's not as popular as treatments like chemical peels or medications, but it's actually quite effective.
It works by treating a specific layer of skin known as the stratum corneum. This is the top layer of skin where most skin problems reside. Problems with acne scars and scars are generally made of very dense and fibrous tissue.
Scar tissue is very different from normal skin tissue, which is soft and flexible. Scars are so hard and inflexible because excess collagen causes the skin in the scar area to be thicker than normal. This is the body's natural healing response.
Silicone gel
Silicone gel works by hydrating the stratum corneum of your skin. When you hydrate the scar in this way, you will have a chance to soften the scar. This is important because scars are usually dry and hard, which makes their appearance worse.
When you soften the scar and provide it with moisture, especially over a few weeks or months, it will start to lessen in appearance. Since the scar is no longer as tough as it used to be, it will be more flexible and have a similar color to the rest of your skin.
While it's impossible to get rid of scars with silicone gel completely, they can certainly do a lot of good for reducing the appearance of scars. Many people who use silicone gel regularly find that it helps with raised, flattened scars.
Silicone gel is also easily available, and you can use it whenever you want (although it's best to use it at least once daily until you start to see improvement).
Other Methods for Treating Your Acne Scars
Often, you can use silicone gel while trying other treatments for your acne scars. But what other treatments should you try, and which are the most efficient? Many people find that chemical peels are quite effective.
Chemical peels come in varying strengths, so you can choose one that suits the severity of your scar. Glycolic acid peels are quite light and only focus on the superficial layers of the skin. This can help make your skin appear brighter and healthier, but it won't eliminate acne scars.
Moderate exfoliants, on the other hand, penetrate deeper into the skin and can be very helpful for breaking down and reducing the appearance of mild to moderate acne scars. Your skin will be susceptible after this peel, so it's important to protect your skin and stay out of the sun.
Deep peels are the most intense, and you will need to go under general anesthesia for the procedure. It works very well in reducing the appearance of scars, although it takes a lot of recovery time, and you will need to wear bandages until your face heals.
Laser therapy is another common option for smoothing acne scars. Laser resurfacing is a therapy that involves using a laser to remove the top layer of your skin. While this may sound like a rather threatening procedure, it is quite safe and effective in its job.
What you need to know
Apart from reducing the appearance of acne scars, laser therapy can also reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation caused by acne and other skin problems such as wrinkles. However, laser therapy is expensive, and you can easily pay a thousand dollars or more for a single treatment.
Laser therapy will also make your skin quite sensitive after the procedure. Therefore, you'll want to wear sunscreen whenever you go out, and you only want to use gentle products on your face to ensure your skin heals properly. After you try a few different acne scar treatments, you'll eventually find one that works best for your skin.
All About Acne Scar Treatment
Acne scar treatment can be frustrating because nothing seems to work for your scar. However, you may be using the wrong treatment for your skin. Silicone gels, laser therapy, and chemical peels all work wonders in improving the appearance of acne scars.
The most accessible option is, of course, silicone gel, as it is very easy to use.