Acne affects all walks of life. Be you man or woman, young or old, acne brings it ugly, irritating, and just downright painful blemishes to everyone. 85% of all teenagers suffer from acne, as well as 20% percent of all adults.
As if suffering through and fighting off acne isn’t horrible enough to begin with—what about those who end up with ugly acne scarring? It’s like being punished twice for the same offense! While acne fluctuates, changes, and usually goes away, acne scars have the potential of staying unchanged for the rest of your life. You bet it’s not fair, but 25% of those who get acne end up with unsightly scars from it. So how do you get rid of pimple or acne scars?
Acne scarring has different levels of severity. Blackheads and whiteheads generally don’t cause enough damage to leave a scar. These usually just leave brownish or grey-colored marks for a week or so before disappearing. The deeper and thicker patches of pustules, such as cystic acne, are usually the culprit behind long-term scarring. The scars can range from being small and inconspicuous to large groups of elongated keloids, which are red, raised formations of fibrous scar tissue.
The most effective way to treat acne scarring, as with anything else, is prevention. Catch and treat acne as early as possible. Minimal acne means minimal scar potential. When acne does occur, don’t pick. Popping zits is a sure way to cause the most damage to the skin.
Aside from that, there are several procedures for getting rid of acne scars, including—
- laser treatment
- fractional laser treatment
- microdermabrasion
(NOTE: Although expensive, in 2010 microdermabrasion was one of the top 5 non-surgical procedures for men and women throughout the world.) These treatments help replenish the skin and take only a few weeks to heal.
No matter what stage of acne you are in, there are options. Talk with your physician about the best way for you to get rid of your acne scars. The worst thing you can do is nothing-unless, of course, you think of acne scars as cute and honorable little badges of the Acne Wars.
