Intense acne battles are generally not without their scars. The more difficult the battle, the more prominent your scars are likely to be. While some scarred pores are easily tightened by home remedies and good skin care, others need a stronger treatment to renew the skin to full health. In fact, doctors have developed several ways to resurface the skin after severe acne scarring. Each treatment is designed for a specific type and level of scarring.

Acne scars have been classified into three groups: icepick, boxcar and rolling. Icepick scars are quite obviously named; they are scars that make the skin appear to have been pricked with an icepick and are difficult to treat. Less difficult scars to treat are boxcar scars; these have a rounded shape with vertical edges. Finally, acne scars that make the skin appear to be undulating are classified as rolling scars.

Deep and difficult icepick and boxcar scars can be treated by “punch” methods. Punch excision is a local anesthetic procedure that literally “punches” the scar out and then sutures the healthy skin together. The new scar is then easily resurfaced or goes away on its own. Sometimes, instead of stitching the skin together, a skin graft can be placed where the scar once was. Punch elevation uses the same tool, but instead of taking out the whole scar it only takes the base. The base is then elevated to the top of the scar wall, thus evening out the surface of the skin.

Rolling scars can be treated by Subcision, or subcutaneous incision. This procedure also uses a local anesthetic and is used to break up the fibers that make the skin appear to undulate. A special needle is placed between the layers of skin and moved about to break up the fibers. The skin may appear to be bruised for a week or so, but this leaves no scarring.

Less dramatic scars can be treated with dermal fillers or resurfaced with lasers. Dermal fillers are injections of a substance- such as fat or collagen- that fills and evens out the surface of the skin once marked by a scar. Laser procedures burn the top layers of skin away to the depth where skin is healthy, and then the new skin that heals is much more even.

Procedures for dramatic acne scar treatment appear intrusive, but, if you and your dermatologist determine one of them will work for your skin, the results will be well worth the treatment.