Atrophic Acne Scars
What are Atrophic Acne Scars?
Atrophic scars are the most common type of acne scarring and occur anytime an acne scar leaves an indent. This means they include flat, thin or depressed scars. Atrophic scar types include Ice Pick scars, Boxcar scars, Rolling & Pitted scars.
Treating Atrophic Acne Scars
There are quite a few options available to treat atrophic acne scars, meaning indented acne scarring. There are professional in-clinic and at-home treatment methods available.
Therefore, many options are available for the treatment of acne scarring, including microneedling at home or in-clinic, topical treatments including Vitamin C and Copper Peptides as well as exfoliation creams which can all be used at home, and more intensive in-clinic treatments including chemical peeling, dermabrasion, laser treatment, punch techniques, fat transplantation, other tissue augmenting agents, needling, subcision, and combined therapy.
- Microneedling: Microneedling is a treatment that helps stimulate skin’s natural healing by inflicting minor surface wounds, and helps take off the top layer of damaged skin. You can micro-needle at home with a derma pen or derma roller for acne scars at home, and it is most effective when combined with a collagen boosting serum such as a Vitamin C serum for acne scars or a copper peptide serum.
At-home micro-needling 1-2X a month is the treatment that has worked the best for my own skin, and each night I like to layer a light application of the bright blue for copper peptide serum on my skin, and each morning wash it off and use a light layer of clear Vitamin C serum for a healthy protective glow.
You can also go to a clinic to get micro-needling done by a dermatologist, which is more expensive. Getting it done in-clinic you’ll still want to use an at-home skincare routine which can be the same collagen boosting at-night copper peptide routine and morning Vitamin C serum routine, or a different routine if recommended by your dermatologist.
- Topical Cream or Serum – such as Vitamin C or Copper Peptides applied over the scarred area with or without microneedling
- Exfoliation Creams -Eexfoliation creams work to remove damaged skin layers and remove them and are a great at-home treatment option
- Chemical Peels– These must be done by a professional and take off the top layer of skin to try to reveal healthy skin underneath, see your dermatologist for recommendations to see if it is a fit for you
- Laser treatment -These also take off a top layer of skin to reveal new skin underneath and can only be done by a professional
- Punch techniques – a technique used to lessen scarring done by a professional dermatologist
- Subcision – A professional dermatologist inserts a needle under the scarred area. The sharp edge of the needle is used to break fibrotic strands that are tether the scar to the tissue underneath.
- Dermabrasion – Dermabrasion is a type of surgical planing where the top layer of skin is removed to help show healthy skin underneath
- Fillers: Fillers are injected under the scarred area to give the scar a more lifted and lesser appearance. Most fillers are temporary and need to be done every few months to keep the scarred area’s appearance lifted.