Understanding Acne Scar Better

Acnes, by themselves can be quite a problem to handle. Add to this, the scars that are left behind by the eruptions and you have a whole new headache to deal with. You’ve barely survived the weeks of treatment for the pimples and blackheads you were suffering from, and now it’s back to square one as you try to deal with acne scar.

The Three Kinds of Acne…

Very often the acne scar you have depend on the type of acne you were suffering from. There are three basic kinds of acne:

• Mild Acne is characterized by the black heads and whiteheads. They are relatively easy to cure as compared to the other two.

• Moderate Acne includes red pimples that are highly inflamed (papules) and red pimples that have white centers (pustules).

• Severe Acne is the most painful form of acne and can be identified by the cysts that are pus-filled, called nodules. These cysts form under the skin, and are responsible for the more permanent acne scar.

…And the Four Kinds of Scars

Acne scar can be broadly divided into four types, which are:

• Ice Pick Scars – These are the most common type of scars. They literally look like you’ve been pierced by a sharp instrument, like an ice pick. Ice pick scars are rather narrow and deep.

• Rolling Scars – These scars are wide and shallow and because of that, they give the appearance of a rolling wave on the skin.

• Boxcar Scars – These scars are angular in shape and have edges that are well-defined. They usually appear on your cheeks or temples and lend a pitted appearance to your skin.

• Hypertrophic/Keloid Scars – Most commonly found among men, hypertrophic or keloid scars are tissue overgrowths, which tend to expand and grow larger than the wound that was made originally.

Can I Prevent These Scars?

You can prevent these scars by exercising some simple precaution. First of all avoid squeezing, or picking your pimple. Leave that to the experts. Popping pimples is supposed to be done under sterile conditions so that further spread of infection may be arrested. Do not attempt to do it yourself.

Do not use harsh skin care products as they could further aggravate the problem. See a doctor at the outset of the eruptions. You don’t need to wait around for the problem to get worse. The sooner you start treatment, the lesser chances there are of scarring.

What is the Treatment for these Scars?

There are several forms of treatments which either completely remove the acne scar or diminish them. Treatment varies depending on the kind of scarring you have. For keloid scars, steroids can be injected to make the skin flat. If you want to return depressed skin to its original level, regeneration is the preferred treatment. Other kinds of treatments for scarring include non ablative laser treatment which are generally considered quite effective, dermal fillers, which work well for shallow scars, subcision, which frees the deeper skin layers and punch excision, which is used to treat ice pick scars.