What are recommended treatments for severe acne scars if derma rollers and CO2 fractional lasers are ineffective? (photo)

Doctor's Answers 2

For severe acne scars, treatment results tend to be poorer.

You may consider the following strategies:

  • Opt for more aggressive Fractional CO2 laser treatment parameters.
  • Consider combination treatments such as subcision, scar excision.

Fractional CO2 Laser Treatment is effective for treating most kinds of atrophic acne scar and has a downtime of 5 - 10 days.

Subcision is when a small needle is used to release the fibrous scar tissue beneath the scar. As the area heals, the new collagen also helps to push the base of the acne scar up.

Scar excision involves using a tiny hole-punch like device to cut out the acne scar. The wound is then sutured closed, with the stitch removed within a week

For severe acne scars, sometimes only 20-30% overall improvement may be achieved.

For your acne scars, personally I would recommend:

  • Subscision
  • Fractional CO2 Laser Treatment (you will most likely require stronger settings as Dr Chin has mentioned)
  • TCA CROSS for some of your ice pick scars. Ice pick scars respond greatly to Chemical Peels, TCA Cross.

Dermal Rollers will not have effective results. Dermal Rollers are treatment tools with microneedles that are used to create micro punctured holes so that the skin will secrete collagen to the micro punctured holes in order to repair the damaged skin cells.

I think there is definitely still room for improvement so do not lose hope yet.

Similar Questions

How many acne scar treatment sessions do I need for mild acne scarring before I can achieve significant improvements? (photo)

Hi there, One session of Picosure will give you noticeable results of 5-10% improvement with no downtime. PicoSure utilities the Focus Lens which targets the laser energy at 20x the usual strength deep under the skin, WITHOUT removing the top layer of the skin. Therefore it has no downtime. It is also proven to produce noticeable collagen at the areas where the scars are. For moderate improvement, I suggest that you will need 5-6 sessions of Picosure.

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Human

Are there any topical products that can help with pitted acne scars, or must I opt for fractional laser treatment? (photo)

Hello Bemme Thank you for your question. You can try topical retinoids (retin A/ differin) which will help with mild acne scars, acne control, skin texture and oily skin. Use it at night for 1 to 2 months, and you should be able to see some results. However it is not enough to shrink your pores. A fractional resurfacing laser or microneedling fractional radiofrequency treatment can be done in combination for better results and more severe acne scars and uneven skin texture. It will also improve small to medium sized pores. Speak to a doctor to find out more. Hope this helps!

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Dr Jiwei Wu

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