Skin Surgery to clear acne scars

Skin surgery is one option for the treatment of acne scars. If you are distressed by your appearance, then skin surgery may be for you. Discuss with your doctor your feelings about your acne scars, the side effects, and which skin surgery procedures will be right for you.

Acne scars come in two shapes, raised or lowered compared to the surrounding skin. Scars that are lower or indented can be treated with skin surgery.

Acne scars that are raised are termed “keloid” or hypertrophic, and whether or not they form depends on the person’s tendency to form such scars. It is easier to prevent keloid acne scars than to treat them, because skin that has a tendency to scar with acne, will form scars after skin surgery. So a dermatologist may forgo any skin surgery when dealing with raised acne scars.

The acne scars which are indented into the skin have been classified into three types. “Icepick” acne scars look like the indentation was made with a sharp pointed object which means the acne scar narrows to a point. “Boxcar” scars are boxy in shape, with a floor of skin inside the acne scar surrounded by walls. Boxcar acne scars can be further classified as shallow or deep. “Rolling” acne scars feel like the skin is rolled up and uneven beneath a normal-looking surface, due to new fibers being constructed and improperly attached in response to an attack of acne.

Punch excision

In this acne scar skin surgery, the floor of the scar is cut out with a sharp cookie cutter like tool. Then the remaining sides of the incision are joined together with stitches. The thinking is that this scar will be much easier to heal or to work with, than the old acne scar.

Punch excision with skin graft

Sometimes the floor of the boxcar type of acne scar is so broad that the sides of the scar cannot be joined together. In these cases, the hole left by the punch tool will be filled with a similar sized piece of skin lifted from behind the ear, or some other location on the body. If a scar still results from this skin surgery, the sides of the scar can be blended in with the normal skin with microdermabrasion.

Punch Elevation

In this skin surgery, the floor of the acne scar is punched out by the tool, and reattached with stitches to the upper parts of the scar. This skin surgery works best with acne scars that have even non-sloping “walls” in their boxcar acne scar and a floor that resembles their normal skin in tone. Since the floor of the acne scar fits evenly at the top as it did at the bottom, there is no need to cut a skin graft from another location. In a one-step skin surgery, the scar is filled in with its own “floor”.

Subcision

To treat rolling acne scars, the process is to cut the existing underlying fiber bands that have attached one layer of the skin (epidermis) to another layer (dermis) in an incorrect manner. A specially shaped knife is inserted between the eipdermis and dermis. With some postoperative treatments like bandaging, silicon gel sheets, and/or hydrocortisone injections, the band will re-form normally, leaving the skin feeling and looking smooth.

Skin resurfacing

Lasers in this skin surgery are used to burn away the top layer of acne scarred skin, leaving the underlying layers exposed. New skin cells grow to fill in the exposed area. They grow together smoothly, reconstructing the area of the former acne scar.
[tags] acne scars, skin surgery to clear acne scars, skin resurfacing [/tags]