It is common for people – both men and women – to suffer from acne related problems in their teenage years. While these problems decline significantly over time, they usually leave a mark on your face in the form of acne scars. Depending on the severity of the scarring, it can affect your looks and dent your confidence greatly. What causes acne scars and how do you deal with them? Let us find out.
What Causes Acne Scars?
When your skin pores get clogged with excess oil and dead skin cells, it can result in bacterial growth in the region. This could happen if you have acne-prone skin due to genetic reasons, if you do not cleanse your face regularly, or if you lead a stressful lifestyle, among other reasons.
When the bacteria multiply rapidly, the clogged pores tend to swell up and form acne lesions. When these lesions swell up too much, it results in a rupture in the follicle wall. The infected material within the lesions, which is usually white in color due to the presence of white blood cells, spills out. This is what happens when you pop a zit or if it ruptures on its own.
To repair the damage done to the outer layer due to the rupture, your skin produces collagen fibers. If your skin produces too little collagen, you are likely to have atrophic or pitted scars. If it produces too much collagen, you are likely to have hypertrophic or raised scars.
How to Treat Acne Scars?
Minor acne scars and the redness and brown spots that develop as a result of inflammation tend to fade away over time. Deep scars, however, change your skin’s texture permanently and do not fade away. They also tend to become more noticeable as you age, since your skin gradually loses its capacity to produce new collagen fibers to keep your skin young and elastic.
The good news, however, is that there are cosmetic procedures available to treat acne scars successfully. One of the safest and most effective procedures is the CO2 laser resurfacing treatment.
CO2 LASER TREATMENT
BEFORE AFTER
How Does Laser Scar Removal Treatment Work?
The treatment uses laser beams to break down the Skin tissues in the scarred region. The beams penetrate deep into your skin and destroy the molecular bonds of the skin cells in and around the scars. The overactive oil glands beneath the skin surface, which cause acne, are also destroyed in the process. The heat produced by the laser beams leads your skin to repair itself by producing more collagen fibers and replace the damaged skin tissues with new, healthy skin tissues. Once the healing process is over, the scars diminish greatly and the affected area looks smoother, healthier, and more even in texture.
What Does the Procedure Involve?
Prior to the treatment, the scarred regions on your face are marked out. Your face is then numbed with the help of local anesthesia. The treatment usually lasts 30 to 45 minutes. Once it is over, topical medications or ointments are applied and your face is wrapped in bandages. It is a good idea to bring someone with you, as you may need someone to take you home after the procedure.
Generally, four to six treatments are required for acne scar removal, but the number of laser treatments required differs from person to person, depending on the severity of the scars, your skin condition, and a number of other factors. Only a dermatologist can tell you exactly how many treatments you require and expected outcome of the same.
The recovery time for CO2 laser treatment can be anywhere from five to seven days. Again, it may differ from one person to another, depending on skin type, depth and extent of the scars, and other factors.
Choosing the Right Dermatologist
The success of a CO2 laser treatment greatly depends on the competence and experience of the Dermatologist who performs it. So, it is very important to choose one who is qualified and experienced enough to perform the treatment safely and deliver the results.
One of the leading dermatologists in India today is Doctor Harmandeep Sidhu, who is the founder of Athena Skin & Laser Clinic in Chandigarh. Doctor Sidhu specializes in laser treatments and has treated a large number of local and international patients over the years successfully. The clinic has all the latest equipment and technologies and the support staff is qualified and courteous enough to handle patients from all walks of life. So, if you are looking for a dermatologist in Chandigarh who can offer a permanent solution to your acne scar problems, Doctor Sidhu is your best choice.