The fight against acne has many fronts. Even after clearing up acne, scarring can be an issue, especially from nodular or cystic acne. A cream or pill will not be able to change the actual skin tissue in this instance. A physical intervention must be entertained in order to bring the skin back to its former glory. Laser skin resurfacing for acne scars is a viable option for eliminating pits and scars obtained from persistent acne breakouts.
Patients have undergone laser treatment and have experienced measurable improvement in the appearance of scarring with some achieving almost complete eradication of acne scarring.
Lasers come in two categories, ablative and nonablative. Ablative lasers remove the actual skin by vaporizing the tissue and causing new tissue to regenerate. Two type of ablative lasers are YAG and CO2 lasers. Nonablative lasers do not burn away skin and instead, stimulate changes in the skin from within by tightening the skin and giving the scars the appearance of improvement. Two examples of nonablative lasers are the Smoothbeam and the N-Lite laser.
Lasers have come a long way since their arrival in the acne treatment arena. The most exciting development in laser therapy has been the fine tuning of laser therapies for darker skinned ethnicities. Earlier versions of lasers caused excessive scarring in darker skin pigmentations, but today these problems have been eradicated by using different types of nonablative lasers.
Fractionated infrared lasers and radiofrequency devices are nonablative laser which may be helpful in treating acne scars among African-Americans. These lasers work by treating only portions or “fractions” of a dedicated treatment area while leaving neighboring areas untouched allowing a controlled healing process that has less frequency of scarring. More treatments are required, but the result is quite worth it.
In an article by the American Academy of Dermatology, it was said that, “”Laser technology has made great inroads in the treatment of acne, which until recently has been treated almost exclusively – and with varying degrees of success – with topical, systemic and hormonal medications.” The application of laser technology has now taken a step even further and has advanced from not only active acne breakouts but also the treatment of acne scarring. It is now a proven fact that laser skin resurfacing for acne scars is a viable option for those seeking a remedy for acne scars.
