How To Heal Acne Scars
Learn How To Speed Up Acne Scar Healing

Approximately 80% of the population suffers from acne during their teen years and on into their twenties. In addition, about 5% of the adult population will also experience acne breakouts and continue to suffer these breakouts later in life. For the most part, acne sufferers deal with the acne, survive it, and go on with their lives. However, there are some who have severe acne, which results in scars being left as a constant reminder of their disfiguring and embarrassing acne episodes.

When acne becomes severely inflamed, you pick at your acne, which then causes it not to heal properly; the end result will most likely be acne scars.

If you don't let the acne and scars get the best of you, and you tend to them in a timely fashion, you can keep the scars to a minimum. This means that you must decide to employ consistently an acne skin care routine, with an emphasis on treating the scars, assuming they aren't too deep. There is hope, the scars need not be permanent, but it requires your consistent attention. Fortunately, there are numerous acne skin care products available; along with medications that your dermatologist can prescribe that will give you a fighting chance. If, however, your scars are deep, then you most likely will require medical intervention to truly improve your skin. A surgical procedure or perhaps skin resurfacing might be an option that could possibly improve the tone and texture of your acne-scarred skin.

Severe acne has a way of leaving its mark to serve as a constant reminder. You might have some hyperpigmented marks or redness on your skin as a result of various acne outbreaks. These marks are technically not considered to be scars, but rather are a post-inflammatory change in the skin, which might remain for several months. When this occurs, your skin is actually trying to regenerate healthy skin while healing the damaged areas. The hope is that once your skin heals and repairs itself that the marks will no longer be visible. If the marks remain visible after about 8 to 12 months, then they are most likely a permanent situation unless you seek medical intervention.

The bottom line is that you can strive to keep your acne from becoming too severe. Seek out an acne treatment as soon as possible. Don't wait too long so that your only options are the ones that are geared toward the painful medical route. Treat your acne scars ASAP so they have a fighting chance of being less noticeable. Here are a few acne scar treatment options that you might want to consider trying:

Honey

For many, honey has served to reduce the appearance of acne scars. It is a great natural alternative to painful surgery. All you have to do is apply a little honey directly to the scar before going to bed. Place a piece of plastic over the honey and you're good to go. If you do not wish to sleep with honey on your face, then opt for leaving it on for an hour and then wash it off with warm water. Just to be clear, honey is not going to remove the scars, only reduce their appearance.

A variation of this treatment would be to mix in a little lemon juice. It will lighten red areas, which in turn will make scars appear less noticeable. If you have sensitive or dry skin however, lemon juice would not be a good choice as it can dry out the skin and/or cause irritation to sensitive skin.

Glycolic Acid

Glycolic acid is another option to consider. It is one of my favorite ingredients, as it offers many great benefits for the skin. Glycolic acid can have a positive effect on acne scars by reducing their appearance. This is not something that happens overnight, but rather will take several weeks to accomplish. Remember, for the most part, the scars have taken up residency deeper into the skin and they are not just barely on the surface. If you don't see the degree of improvement that you are hoping for, then a visit to your local dermatologist might be in order, as he or she can prescribe a lotion with a pharmaceutical grade percentage of glycolic acid. A person with oily skin or acneic skin should seek out water-based, rather than oil-based lotions that contain glycolic acid.

In addition, your doctor might determine it to be necessary to prescribe a bleaching cream and/or Retin-A or Retinova to help your skin exfoliate to a deeper level, which is where the scars reside. However, these retinoids are a two-edged sword for some. On the one hand, they inhibit acne breakouts and exfoliate the skin to reveal healthy, glowing skin. On the other hand, for some they cause redness, irritation, inflammation, and discomfort and cannot be tolerated. Your doctor will be able to determine whether you are a candidate for these types of medications.

Laser resurfacing

Laser resurfacing will help to reduce blemishes and acne scars, as well as smooth out facial wrinkles and skin irregularities. This procedure removes your skin, layer by layer. Your doctor will direct short, concentrated pulsating beams of light at the damaged skin. Laser resurfacing is one of those painful options that I alluded to earlier. Recovery doesn't happen overnight and your will definitely experience discomfort for several days. More bad news, you might need to have multiple procedures in order to achieve the results you seek. In addition to it being physically painful, it is also painful to your wallet.

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