Professional Techniques to Prevent and Improve Acne Scarring
If there’s one thing worse than acne, it’s the scarring it can leave behind.
The good news is, there are accessible skin-care treatments that can help minimize—or, in less-severe cases, eliminate—the appearance of those scars.
If you’d like to erase those blemishes from the past, and prevent new ones in the future, let’s get started.
Understanding why acne can leave scars
According to the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery, acne can cause scarring when it becomes inflamed “by skin pores engorged with excess oil, dead skin cells, and bacteria.” When those infected pores get enlarged, it can then damage the follicle walls. 1
Being the hard-working self-healer that it is, your body tries to mend itself by producing collagen, the protein that helps your skin appear firm, taut, and bouncy. Sometimes, though, your body doesn’t produce the right amount of collagen to smooth out your skin.
If it doesn’t make enough collagen, the scar will appear like a pit or groove in the skin. Or if it generates too much, the scar will look raised. For the most part, depressed scars are most common, which is what we’ll discuss here.
Preventing the risk of acne scars
Before we get into treatment methods, it’s important to talk about how to avoid scarring in the first place. Here are our top tips:
- If you tend to get cystic acne that’s swollen and painful, visit a skin-care professional and discuss how to build an at-home routine with products for your individual skin profile. If it’s within your budget, a professional acne-treatment plan that includes facials tailored to keep your pores clear and calm will also make a significant difference.
- Once you have a plan in place, don’t hold off on treating inflammatory acne, including possible spot treatments, at the earliest sign of a breakout.
- Under no circumstances should you pop, squeeze, pick, or extract your own blemishes. This will only increase the chances of scarring dramatically. We know how hard it can be, but resist the temptation!
Exploring professional treatment options
Let’s say you tried (or maybe you didn’t—nobody’s judging), but that strong-willed acne still left its mark. Whether it’s just one scar or several, there are two extraordinary treatments you can get to rejuvenate your skin.
Secret RF
As we’ve mentioned before, you often need more collagen to heal and replenish your skin. With this treatment, radiofrequency provides heat while microneedling (tiny, sterilized needles that penetrate the skin) stimulates the necessary collagen. Secret RF has been shown to improve not only acne scars, but also reduce fine lines, wrinkles, and looseness.
Generally, you’ll need 3 to 6 treatments (spaced 4 weeks apart) to achieve optimal results.
Opus
A first-of-its-kind laser treatment, Opus also harnesses the power of radiofrequency, but unlike Secret RF, it uses micro-plasma technology. The handheld Opus device consists of miniature metal pins powered with radiofrequency energy that react with the air to create plasma and trigger collagen production.
So why plasma? Not only does it help improve the overall tone and texture of skin, but it can help minimize the appearance of dark spots and scars, all while helping to heal the pores that were damaged.
With Opus, you’ll need 3 to 4 treatments (spaced 2 to 4 weeks apart) to achieve the best results.
Determining which is the best treatment for you
Given the sophisticated technology involved with these treatments, we understand if you have a few questions about how you’d go about choosing the right one. It truly depends on the type of scars you have, as well as their quantity and severity.
If you’d like a professional opinion, schedule a consultation with one of our experts. We can assess your skin, discuss your goals, and determine the most-effective approach to achieve clearer, smoother skin.
