Friday, October 23, 2009

Types of Acne Scars!!

Acne is the global health problems faced by millions of people worldwide. Children, teenagers, adults, and old age group people all suffer from this health issue once in their lifetime. Acne is a skin disease which is characterized by pimples, whiteheads, blackheads and blemishes on the face, shoulder, neck, and back. Acne is curable if treated properly in time otherwise it will leave certain acne scars on face. Acne scars are of different types i.e.

Ice pick scars: - These are generally deep, narrow in appearance that extends into the dermis. Ice pick scars make deep hole in the skin. It may develop due to an infection from a cyst or deep inflamed blemish. As a result skin tissue gets destroyed leaving a column like scar.

Treatment: - it can be treated with the help of punch excision, punch grafting

Boxcar Scars: - These scars are oval or round in appearance with steep vertical sides. Boxcar scars are wider than ice picks. These scars develop when an inflammatory breakout destroys collagen. At this point of time skin over this area is left without support resulting in a depressed area.

Treatment: - It can be treated with the help of punch excision, elevation, laser resurfacing, and dermal fillers etc

Rolling Scars: - Rolling scars causes rolling or wave-like undulations. It may develop due to the formation of fibrous tissue bands between the skin and subcutaneous tissue. These fibrous tissue bands pull the epidermis and bind it to deeper structures of the skin. This pulling of epidermis leads to rolling appearance of the skin.

Treatment: - It can be treated with subcision

Hypertrophic or keloid Scars: - It looks like a firm and raised mass of tissue. These scars often grow larger than the original wound. Hypertrophic scars develop due to the overproduction of collagen not due to the loss of tissue.

Treatment: - It can be treated with steroid creams, injections, tapes and interferon injections.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Early Acne Scars: Their Effect and Treatment!!

Acne is a skin disease which involves the occurrence of pimples, whiteheads, blackheads on the face, shoulder, back and neck. Acne mainly affects individuals in their teens and twenties. Most of the people recover from acne without any permanent effects however some are left with disfiguring acne scars. These acne scars are either removed by using certain skin care products or by surgical methods.

Early Acne Scars:

After the healing process of an acne lesion, a red or hyperpigmented mark is usually seen in that area. This mark is actually not a scar but rather a post-inflammatory change. The marks remain on the skin till approximately 6-12 months and after that disappear naturally. However if the mark remain present on the skin for more than 1 year it is considered to be a permanent defect or scar.

Treatment for Early Acne Scars:

Early acne scars are considered to be post-inflammatory changes which can be facilitated by following procedures:

• Apply good sunscreen on your face before going into the sunlight as it restricts the healing process of these scars.

• Right amount of Alpha-hydroxy acids and Beta-hydroxy acids helps in the skin remodeling process. Make sure that both acids should have appropriate pH.

• Use Tretinoin which boots the skin remodeling process as well as heal post-inflammatory changes

• You can try natural or herbal skin care supplements which can work for improving overall skin health i.e. FitoDerm. A complete skin care formula that removes all acne scars from your skin including pimples, whiteheads and blackheads. FitoDerm is a potent and pure herbal supplement that makes your skin glow naturally by providing essential nutrients to your skin.