Acne scars can sometimes appear and feel worse than the acne vulgaris itself. With acne, there is an end in sight—someday it will go away. But scars are permanent. For someone who’s suffered severe acne, dealing with the resulting scars can be just as depressing or even more so. A face pocked with ice pick scars is not just a cosmetic encumbrance, but also often takes a toll on a person’s confidence, self-esteem, and quality of life. Laser resurfacing has the capability to correct your skin once and for all.
Understanding Acne Scars
The body perceives acne inflammation as a skin injury. Thus, it sends an excess of fibroblasts to the affected area in an attempt to heal the wound. Since these fibroblasts are what synthesize collagen, this process leads to a jumbled configuration of collagen fibers. Acne scars consist of this fibrous, misconfigured tissue.
Acne scars can take on different forms and appearances, and are thus characterized. Different classifications of acne scars include:
- -Rolling scars
- -Hypertrophic scars
- -Boxcar scars
- -Ice pick scars
How Can Laser Resurfacing Correct Acne Scars?
Intensely focused, monochromatic light energy is able to target precise layers in the skin and treat them by either inducing burns or normalizing collagen density in order to reconstruct the scar tissue. Different types of laser systems can be used to accomplish this. At FineTouch Dermatology, Dr. Umar entrusts the treatment of acne scars to the Fraxel Laser family. This includes:
- -Fraxel Dual (erbium): A 1550nm wavelength that targets deep layers of tissue. It rebuilds the wrongly configured collagen structures without compromising any surrounding areas and is safe to use in people of all skin colors.
- -Fraxel Dual (thulium): A 1927nm wavelength refines surface issues, like pigmented acne scars and brown spots.
- -Fraxel Repair: Fractionated CO2 light energy (10,600nm) that induces microscopic burns in deep and surface layers of the skin. This promotes the growth of healthy new skin to fill the indented acne scar. This laser is not safe for use in people of tan or dark sin tones.