Are you tired of acne scars? Good news is that you no longer have acne. Bad news is that you’ve now got acne scars. The war does not end, does it? So you want to do something about it, but are not willing to go through any type of laser treatment. (Read up on acne scar laser treatment if you haven’t done so.) Remember we live in the information age. So that means we enjoy various technology, including none other than non-laser acne scar treatments for your acne scars. Read on below, but you’ll find out that in some acne scar cases, laser treatment may still beat the non-laser acne treatment.
Non-laser Acne Scar Treatments Available Today
Compare yourself the pros and cons of the various acne scar treatments available.
Collagen/Filler injections
Collagen and other fillers are injected through a needle directly into the acne scars. Collagen is the main protein of connective tissue found in bone, cartilage, skin and tendons. Where as collagen is the most commonly used filler, you should check with your doctor or dermatologist to see which filler works best for you. The injection works by having the filler fill under the skin to stretch and fill out the scar, so that your skin becomes plumper and smoother. Unfortunately, this type of acne scar treatment is not effective for harsher scars, such as ice-pick scars and keloids.
Although the procedure of collagen/filler injections is fairly fast and there is no recovery time, the result of this type of treatment is that it’s not permanent. The effect can last about 3-6 months, so that means you’ll have to go back for further injections if needed. And more usual than not, additional injections incur additional costs.
Dermabrasion
This type of acne scar treatment works reversely from the collagen/filler injections. While the injection fills up the skin, dermabrasion works by actually removing the scarred skin. Needless to say, this type of treatment is more invasive and takes longer to heal. Also, this treatment may not work for all skin color. What this treatment is most effective for is the harsh, ice-pick scars.
So how dermabrasion actually removes the scar is by scraping away the top most layer of the skin with a tool that has a swirling wire brush or diamond surfaced spinning blade, along of course with local or general anesthesia. During recovery time, your skin won’t be a pretty picture. Because old skin has been removed, your body will go into action to heal the skin. Clear fluid may form and your skin will be raw. Eventually the fluid will solidify and slowly form into new skin, which will bloosom into shiny and smoother new skin. Be patient as this may take 2-3 weeks.
Microdermabrasion
There is a less harsh treatment than dermabrasion known as microdermabrasion (thank you technology), meaning less skin is removed. This type of acne scar treatment is best for mild acne scars and probably not for deep scars. How it works is that a hand-held tool gently buffs the surface of your skin by first spraying miniscule crystals on your face and then sucking them up to remove the dead, scarred skin. Sound weird? It’s actually quite effective. Because skin is removed, your body will naturally want to replace the skin and grow new skin cells. With new skin cells in place, your skin will feel smoother and healthier. There are also new microdermabrasion devices that are crystal-less.
What’s also attractive about microdermabrasion is that the procedure typically only lasts about an hour or less, and your skin is minimally red. You can suspect that the procedure probably won’t need any anesthetics and you’ll be out and about in no time. Talk to your doctor or dermatologist though, because depending on your acne scar situation, you might be required to go back for a few more treatments to reach a desired result.
Chemabrasion/Chemical Peels
If you’re looking for a milder approach to treat your acne scars (and are afraid of spinning metal brushes via dermabrasion), chemabrasion is yet another option. Chemabrasion, also known as chemical peels, uses chemicals such as trichloroacetic acid and glycolic acid to peel away acne scars. Think of chemabrasion as a more potent exfoliating scrub, except that it can go deeper into the skin and that your doctor or dermatologist would perform the procedure, not you.
Different depth levels of acne scar would determine the right potent level of chemical peel for you.
- Light Peels – Peel away the surface layer of the skin (epidermis) to stimulate growth of new skin. This type of chemabrasion is not as aggressive as the peel doesn’t penetrate deeper into the inner layer of the skin (dermis). You may feel a slight burning during the procedure, but recovery should be fairly quick.
- Medium Peels – This level of peel attacks the dermis skin level. You can imagine that this peel is already mighty potent since no needles or lasers are used to penetrate into this depth level of the skin. Because the dermis is “injured”, collagen and new skin will be stimulated and will plump up the skin. Good news is that there is only a slight discomfort, and you’ll just feel like you got a (really) bad sunburn. Sometimes the doctor or dermatologist may use some cooling anesthesia to help the burning discomfort.
- Deep Peels – This is the harshest level of chemabrasion, as it involves attacking the mid dermis skin level. Although this offers dramatic results for deep scars, you also run into the risk of other scarring and redness of the skin. The procedure requires the use of anesthesia and monitoring of the vital signs. Recovery can take up to months and you may be bandaged. Consult with your doctor or dermatologist before taking on this treatment.
So Which Treatment is For You?
You are now knowledgeable in non-laser acne scar treatments. Before deciding which treatment works best for you, it’s still wiser to let your doctor or dermatologist do the hard work and tell you.
