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Acne Scar Revision/Treatment

Acne scars can be a source of painful memories of our skin's past. This is especially true when there are a large number of deep acne scars in multiple areas. While new treatments such as dermabrasion and lasers help in smoothing out superficial layers of the skin, I have developed proprietary techniques to help with the more difficult deeper scars.

First, I would like to provide an explanation why deep acne scars are difficult to correct. Acne scars are like volcanic eruptions where the skin dermis is being repeatedly irritated and damaged with the cycle of cyst becoming puss erupting out of our skin. While a regular scar may have 1 line/root holding the skin down, acne scars are more like tree roots that have spread throughout an area of the skin holding multiple areas of the superficial skin down. Without disconnecting the core scar releasing these deeper roots, you will have limited improvement.

In the case of severe acne scars, I have developed a two part procedure that first releases the underlying roots and then applying treatments that address the outer layers of the skin such as dermabrastion, dermal etching, lasers, and skin peels.

For example, the patient below is a 26 year old female who wanted to improve her complexion. She had deep acne scarring on her bilateral cheeks. By combining different treatments, I was able to significantly improve this patient's skin.
 
Before After
   
   


Small scars can be released using the subcision technique. But in the case of the patient above where there are a large number of scars, she needed a skin lift that is somewhat similar to an endoscopic facelift. Her first set of procedures focused on the deeper layers of her skin while her second set of procedures focused on smoothing out the epidermis. This patient had the following treatments:

1st set of procedures:
  • Surgical Subcision/Skin Lift
  • Dermabrasion
  • Dermal Etching
  • TCA Peel

2nd set of procedures:

  • Dermal Etching
  • Dermabrasion

Treating acne scars requires patience. Even if the patient wants a more aggressive treatment, I remind the patient that the body heals on its own timeline. For patient's with sensitive skin, being too aggressive can cause more harm than good.

Procedures that deal with the outer layers of the skin can range between $100 to $2,000. In the case where I have to address the deeper layers of the skin, the cost can start at $7,500.