In the first part of our series on acne scarring we covered how to heal post inflammatory pigmentation, the kind of darkly colored mark that occurs after a blemish is formed. They can take months to heal, but with proper skincare and patience, the skin will regenerate and the skin s regular, uniform tone will return. The second type of acne scar that can occur, and that is much harder to get rid of, are the skin indentations known as rolling or ice pick scars. When it comes to these guys, a combination of high quality, botanically active skincare and other, more clinical treatments are usually necessary to help fill in the skin.
Rolling acne scars occur when the skin s collagen has been significantly damaged to the point that a depression on the surface occurs. While these can happen from a severe case of acne alone, picking the skin often makes these much worse. So, just like for post inflammatory scarring, do not pick your face! It can be tempting, but the consequences are just not worth it.
The good news is that there are things you can do to fill in and smooth out your rolling and ice pick scars. The bad news is that you most likely will need to do more than simply use topical skincare products to do so. That s because the collagen and skin has been so damaged that simple topical products alone probably won t facilitate enough radical healing for a significant change to take place. You need other treatments for that. And thankfully, other treatments do exist!
For acne scar indentations, the two best procedures are microneedling with PRF, and sublative laser with PRF. PRF is basically your body s own growth factor. First, your blood is drawn, then the PRF is separated from the blood via centrifuge, and it is then applied to your face during the treatment. And yes, in case you were wondering, they do cost a lot of money and you do need to go to a medi-spa to get these done. But if you do choose to go this route and find a reputable, responsible, clean and experienced practitioner, the results can be pretty amazing.
For the right skincare ingredients to accompany your treatments, or to use in place of them (because let s face it, not all of us are going to have the money to pay for advanced skincare treatments), stay tuned for part 3!