HOW DO I GET RID OF OLD ACNE SCARS Acne can leave scars that remain long after the active period of out-breaks is over. These marks can be quite unattractive and even disfiguring. Fortunately, there are methods that will remove these scars and make them less obvious. Three different types of scars resulting from acne are icepick scars, saucer-shaped scars, and raised, lumpy scars.
Icepick scars look like giant pores. They are called "icepicks" because they appear to have been made by a thin, sharp instrument. They are caused by an extremely large pimple or cyst that totally destroyed the follicle passage and its oil gland, leaving a hole in the skin where the follicle once was.
They can be helped with a process called the punch-graft technique that literally fills in the holes with portions of the patient's own skin. First the scar is evened out with an instrument that punches out a smooth cylinder that is just slightly wider than the original icepick hole. This is to even out the sides and the surface of the follicle in order for it to accept a graft better. Then a section of skin just slightly wider than the punched-out scar is removed from the back of the earlobe. This plug of skin is wedged into the follicle and held in place with surgical tape. Care must be taken not to dislodge the graft while it is healing, a process that takes about a week. The skin grows together and creates a smooth surface where once there was a hole. The surface appearance is not identical to that of the original skin, but, because the skin level is more even, the appearance is much improved, and any remaining defect can be completely covered with a light foundation.
Saucer-shaped scars arise primarily from cysts. The cyst has destroyed its area of the skin all the way down through the dermis. The dermis cannot regrow normally, and scar tissue develops. If this scar tissue is below the surface of the rest of the skin, the scar will look like an indented saucer. Treatment depends on the number and severity of these scars. Some saucer-shaped scars can be raised by the injection of the collagen foam Zyderm. Zyderm is injected under the scar to fill in the tissue that has been destroyed, raising up the skin to the surface level. As with the icepick scar, the new surface of the skin is not identical in coloration and texture to skin that has not been injured from acne, but, again, the smooth surface is much more acceptable cosmetically and can be covered with a light foundation makeup or tinted moisturizer.
If there are several cysts located close together and they all heal by scarring, the sear tissue can rise and form the third type of scar. the raised, lumpy scar. This condition is best treated by surgically- removing the raised, lumpy area, cutting out the scars, and neatly suturing the edges together. This will leave a thin, fine scar that will be a lot more attractive. The entire surface of the skin can then be treated with dermabrasion to even out the skin tone. Dermabrasion uses a motor-driven wire brush to remove the very top layers of the epidermis. With these top layers of skin cleared away, the edges of the incision scar are smoothed down and made practically invisible.
Dermabrasion can also be used after treatment of icepick scars and saucer-shaped depressions if there is significant scarring. Any and all of these techniques can be used on the same individual. In the past, dermabrasion was used as a treatment for active acne. It would destroy many oil glands as well as take off the top layers of skin, thus making the follicles shorter and thicker. This shape made it easier for the oil secreted by the glands not destroyed by dermabrasion to get out of the follicle. Newer treatments have replaced dermabrasion as a technique for controlling acne, but it is still used for removing scars.
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