Treatment of acne scars

After puberty in most cases acne refers. However, what happens when the skin lesion disappears, leaving behind a myriad of scars and hairs that affect and alter the surface of our face?

The disease is cured but the sequelae remain. Acne mainly affects areas of the skin with higher density of sebaceous glands. These include the face, chest and upper back. The presence of pustules and nodules gives rise in some cases to scars that can leave terrible marks on the skin.

Acne scars

Acne scars are the result of infections and inflammations of the skin that in most cases have not been cured properly. Acne can leave scars for a lifetime.

Preventing Acne Scars

At present, acne scars can be treated due to innumerable advances in the field of aesthetics. The annoying brands that suffer both men and women can be eliminated in our days with various techniques. In this topic, it is vital to clarify that to prevent the formation of these unsightly scars is essential for the person to stop extracting the pimples and pimples because the only thing that would achieve is to spread the infection and cause marks of greater or lesser intensity. Prevention plays a relevant role in avoiding risks.

Types of Acne Scars

Generally speaking, there are two types of scars: pigmented scars and vulgar scars called "holes or holes".

Pigmented scars

They are spots that persist once the pimple or the pimple has disappeared. These pigmented spots acquire a rosacea or brown color to the face. This type of scars is quite common in darker skins, although it is true that this type of epidermis is less prone to suffer from acne. It can be said therefore that the darker the skin the more tendency there is to suffer this problem.

Holes or wells

They are cavities or gaps formed in the skin due to acne lesions of greater or lesser consideration and in most cases have been infected with pus. The person affected by this problem squeezes the grains and then generates these types of scars.

Ways to Remove Acne Scars

While proper acne treatment can minimize scarring, there are currently a number of procedures and techniques that effectively eliminate the marks caused by this skin lesion. These include dermabrasion, peeling, microdermabrasion and treatment with Co2 lasers.

The peeling

The peeling consists of the application of different substances on the skin in order to exfoliate the more extensive layers of the skin. It is an English word that comes from the verb "peel: peeling", ie lifting the skin in a figurative way. Peels not only eliminate acne scars-depending on their intensity- but are used with excellent results in the field of aesthetics to eliminate wrinkles and blur stains. The surgical time of the peeling depends on its penetration power and the treated extension. It must be taken into account that at greater depth greater risk. Generally anesthesia is required for its use, although in some cases for a deeper type of peeling-phenol-sedation is often used deep. This procedure produces an itching sensation at the beginning, followed by redness, crusting and alterations in the sensitivity of the skin. It is important to emphasize that if it is a deep-type peeling, it must be performed in the operating room with hospitalization for 1 to 2 days. The recovery of the skin depends largely on the peeling used ranging from 1 day, it simpler, up to six months deepest. In the case that phenol has been used, there will be a permanent bleaching of the skin and an inability to re-tan.

Dermabrasion

Dermabrasion is a treatment based on removing the epidermis and superficial dermis. Traditionally wet or dry sandpaper was used, although it has been replaced at present by devices with manual wheel drive. The materials used for dermabrasion can range from gypsum to aluminum oxide crystals, although the most widely used today are diamond drills attached to a motor of 12,000 to 15,000 revolutions per minute. It is possible that after the use of this technique there is a slight hypo-pigmentation in the treated area.

Chemical exfoliation

Chemical exfoliation is often done to treat those skin that suffer from scars caused by acne. This type of exfoliation consists of removing the top layer of the skin through the use of a chemical. It is one of the best techniques to remove superficial scars because the skin regenerates and considerably improves its appearance.

Infrared Laser and Co2 Laser

The technique of surface or infrared laser and the Co2 laser was investigated and implemented by various dermatologists with considerable success and is now used in many other specialties of medicine and science. Both are considered phototherapeutic treatments. The basic differences between the infrared laser and the Co2 laser are the depth to which they work and the effects they produce on the skin. The infrared works at a more superficial level so it is indicated for milder consequences of acne.

The Co2 laser

The Co2 laser unlike the surface or infrared laser is more effective to eliminate deep and severe acne sequels because it works at a greater depth. In turn this is a method that produces more intense burns on the skin making it more painful. This type of phototherapeutic treatment is of the ablative type, ie it vaporizes the surface of the skin to favor and achieve the formation of new tissues. Co2 laser treatment requires anesthesia and once it is finished, it is essential that the patient wear a protective dressing in the treated area. This bandage can be removed after 1 or 2 weeks depending on the sensitivity of the skin. It is vital that the skin - after the treatment - is not exposed to the sun rays because these are new tissues that need to be completely regenerated to avoid the appearance of spots.

Nowadays, non-ablative lasers have also been started - those that do not vaporize the surface of the skin - with good results. For this type of laser anesthesia is not necessary and an average of 5 sessions at intervals of 3 weeks would be enough to eliminate the scars. Laser treatments are contraindicated for all people whose skin is brown or have some type of risk of hyper pigmentation.

Both the infrared and laser treatment of the Co2 laser are effective solutions to eliminate the scars and marks caused by the acne, being these used in numerous aesthetic clinics of prestige.

Ridectomy

The ridectomy is a quite usual surgery technique in clinics and beauty centers. The ridectomy basically consists of a stretching of the skin. It is used in most cases when there is a severe laxity or flaccidity of the skin, obtaining magnificent results in the elimination of imperfections, scars and other sequelae caused by acne. This technique of plastic surgery is developed in the operating room with a slight local anesthesia and needs only a few hours of permanence in the hospital or clinic.

Collagen Injections

This technique is based on injecting a type of collagen that is extracted from the cow and is purified. The goal of this implant is to replace the natural collagen that has been lost and as a result fill the scars produced by acne. In certain cases, bovine tissue may be replaced by other materials such as hyaluronic acid, polymethyl methacrylate microspheres, silicones or gora-tex, among others. For more superficial scars one can also use autologous lipocolagen and laboratory-grown fibroblasts.

Puncturing grafts

These are small skin grafts that are intended to replace scarred skin. The skin is initially punctured to remove the scars and then replaced by a graft, in which case the tissue is usually removed from the earlobe.

Transfer of autologous fat

In this case, fat is used that comes from different parts of the body, to inject it into the skin and thus fill and correct the defects caused by acne. Said fat is injected under the surface of the skin in order to raise the sunken scars. In some cases it is possible that after the use of this method a reabsorption of the fat takes place so it would be necessary to repeat the operation.