Acne scars can often look like shallow indentations or lesions, usually on the face. They can also be slightly raised and thick looking. They can form anywhere on the body where acne breakouts occur. Some confuse the discoloration of the skin after a pimple heals for scarring, but this is post-inflammatory acne hyperpigmentation.

If you have acne scars, you are not alone. Roughly 40% of active acne patients have them, too. While post-acne hyperpigmentation can sometimes rebalance naturally over time, acne scarring does not always decrease in appearance without treatment.

What Is Microdermabrasion?

Microdermabrasion works in the upper dermis and stratus corneum of the skin, not the deep dermis. It is an aesthetic treatment that removes the outermost layer of skin to encourage the body to produce healthy, vibrant skin. By itself, it is not the best treatment for acne scars since they can often reach the deep dermis.

How to Treat Acne Scarring

Treating acne scarring involves a unique and multipronged approach for each individual patient. It is important to pinpoint why acne breakouts happen and address reducing those breakouts through better skin health and care before tackling scars.

Once breakouts are under control, there is a combination of treatments that can address and decrease the appearance of acne scars. The combination of treatments will depend on your desired results and the visible scarring and/or hyperpigmentation. Some of the tools we use include:

• Chemical Peel: Multiple skin issues can be treated with a chemical peel. When it comes to acne, we use this treatment to help control it, minimize scaring, and decrease discoloration.

• BBL: Broad Band Light or BBL is one of our most powerful tools. It can treat deep lesion acne scars and address hyperpigmentation. We often combine it with products to tame acne and improve overall skin health and appearance.

• Halo: Skin texture can be negatively impacted by acne scars. Halo is one of our preferred options for treating skin texture issues. It is an excellent tool for reversing and diminishing the look of scars.

• Vivace Radiofrequency: Microneedling is yet another option that can help focus on skin texture and reduce the visibility of scars. We specialize in multiple microneedling tools, with Vivace being one of the cutting-edge technologies at our disposal.

If you have acne scars, contact us today for a free consultation. We take a unique, multipronged approach to acne challenges. You will not find a more qualified team of acne experts anywhere else in Hampton Roads.