Rolling Acne Scars
What are Rolling Acne Scars?
Rolling acne scars are a type of acne scar that is shallow and wide, with sloping edges. The sloped edges gives them the rolling look that resembles small hills, and makes skin look uneven.
What causes Rolling Acne Scars?
Long-term acne and acne inflammation with insufficient collagen production during the healing process is what causes rolling scars to form.
Shallow and wide, they have sloped edges, which gives them their “rolling” appearance. They may look like tiny valleys, and can cause your skin to look uneven or wavy.Rolling scars are usually caused by long-term acne. And while they may be hardly noticeable in younger people, they tend to get worse as you age and your skin starts to lose its tightness.If your rolling scars are especially shallow, they may fade with time. Most rolling scars will soften a bit eventually. But you’ll probably need treatment to get your skin back to its original state. The good news is, since rolling scars are so shallow and soft, they’re the easiest to treat.
Rolling Scars Treatment
Rolling acne scars are broad depressions with sloping edges. Rolling scars make up 15-25% of atrophic acne scarring.
This scar type tends to look worse as you get older and your skin becomes less elastic and tight. The good news is if your scars are very shallow, your skin naturally grows new layers over time causing them to soften and look less severe.
Rolling scars are also the easiest to treat because they tend to be shallower than other scar types, meaning fewer layers of damaged skin have to come off to make way for healthy new skin underneath than is the case when healing deeper scar types.
- Microneedling: Microneedling is the use of fine needles to go into the top layer of skin and create micro-damage that helps remove the top layer of skin, and at the same time stimulates the skin’s healing process to create new collagen and reveal a healthy layer of skin underneath.
You can do microneedling at home with a derma pen for acne scars, or with a microneedling roller for acne scars. You can also get it done in a dermatologist office as well, which is more expensive.
Microneedling also makes the skin more receptive to applying collagen boosting ingredients including Vitamin C and copper peptides, both of which can aid in collagen production and help further reduce the appearance of indented acne scarring including rolling scars.
Copper peptide cream is bright blue, making it easier to apply at night-time after microneedling so you’re not walking around with a bright blue face during the day, and Vitamin C is easy to apply in the morning because it is a clear serum that gives your face a nice healthy glow while giving the skin ingredients it needs to protect and repair at the same time.
- Lasers:
- Subcision is best suited for rolling acne scars, with less efficacy for icepick and boxcar scars. The procedure involves inserting a needle under the acne scar to sever the fibrous components that anchor the scar below the dermis. The release of the fibrous tether elevates the scar and, when successful, produces new collagen formation through normal physiological healing, without recreating a depression
- Subcision: Subcision is a procedure performed by a dermatologist where they use a needle to separate the top layer of skin from the scar tissue underneath. It can only be performed by a professional dermatologist so you can ask your dermatologist if the treatment is right for your situation
- Chemical peels: Chemical peels work by using chemicals to remove the top layer of skin in an effort to take away some of the damaged scarred skin and give the new healthy skin underneath a chance to appear. There are side effects from chemical peels including red skin, sensitivity and more, depending on the type of peel, and these can only be performed in a professional dermatologist’s office and under their supervision and recommendation.
- Lasers:Lasers also work by taking the top layer of skin off so the new skin underneath has a chance to show. Like chemical peels and some of the other procedure types, lasers are also only available under the supervision of and by a professional dermatologist. work similarly to peels and other treatment types that remove the top layer of skin so healthy new skin has a chance to grow underneath. This is another procedure only performed by a professional dermatologist in-office, and like the other procedures needs multiple sessions to see results, as well as comes with its own set of side effects including sensitivity to the sun.