Look Young Again!

How to Heal Acne Scars?

For those who suffer from minor acne you may find that you have scars that you want to get rid of. The surgical options are typically only used for those who have serious acne scarring. For those with minor acne scarring there are still several non-surgical options that will help get rid of or at least reduce you acne scars.

Topical Creams

One of the best options for helping your acne is topical creams such as Tretinoin. These creams will reduce acne scars and actually get rid of the fine acne scarring by smoothing the skin. These topical creams work by increasing your skin’s collagen production. Many of the topical creams that are used to treat acne scars work in the same manner as the creams that help to treat wrinkles.

Chemical Peels

Chemical peels are an option for those who have slightly worse acne scars that cannot be taken care of using topical creams. These peels will not only reduce your acne scars, but they will also improve the overall tone and luster of your skin. In order for this treatment to work you will need to have the chemical peels at least six times and they typically occur every one to two weeks.

Skin Fillers

Skin fillers are an option in which the depressed area of the acne scar is filled in by materials injected into it to elevate the area to the normal level of the skin around it. However, with this method the results are only temporary and usually last three to six months. It also only works with the rolling type of scars.

Injectables

Artecoll is new form of injectable that is the first acne scar treatment that allows long lasting results. The injection is a combination of collagen and small spheres called polymethylmethacrylate. There are also small doses of lidocaine in the medicine. The spheres are designed to be too large for the body to remove the foreign substance from your cells.

The ingredients in Artecoll are just now being applied to wrinkle and acne scar treatment, but they have been used for several years in dental prostheses, eye lenses, pacemakers and bone repair. The ingredients are inert in the skin so that the body does not reject the injections.

Artecoll is injected into the skin much like the injection used for collagen. The body then naturally produces collagen to form around the injected material and form a connective tissue. This adds volume to the skin and corrects the acne scar. It will take about three months before the connective tissue is fully formed in the body. In a sense the spheres are a skeleton that allows the body to build new material.

After the initial injections you will have some slight swelling but after a few weeks the swelling normally goes down. Some patients may also experience a redness and mild itching for a few days after the injection. Pain has also been reported but it is very uncommon in patients receiving the injections. Only one out of eight hundred patients have reported severe side effects such as granulomas and lumps near the injection sight. However, these side effects are easily treated with cortisone injections since you cannot reverse Artecoll injections. Since Artecoll cannot be reversed it is advisable that only a small amount is injected into the skin at a time so the effects can be seen before proceeding. Sometimes small collagen injections are required after the initial Artecoll injection to improve slight imperfections rather than injecting more Artecoll into the same area.

Typically doctors will test Aretcoll on a patient by injecting a small amount into the inside of the arm so that they can monitor any allergic reaction. If there are any reactions to Artecoll then further injections will not be conducted. In addition those with thin or loose skin or severe acne scars do not use the product. Those with immunologic disorders are advised not to have Aretcoll injections.