I am sure that you, or someone in your inner circle, has struggled with acne at some point in their life.  The truth is, acne not only affects your physical appearance and perception of yourself, but it can really cause emotional damage.  According to the American Academy of Dermatology, acne sufferers have been known to experience depression, anxiety, and self-esteem issues.  With mental illness awareness on the rise, we thought it was very important to shed some light on the struggles associated with this skin disorder.

Once you get your acne under control, you may be faced with a new battle; acne scarring. There are several different types of scarring such as: ice pick, rolling, boxcar and atrophic. If your skin holds onto pigment after experiencing a comedone or cyst, that symptom may be something different than scarring. t This is a medical condition known as post inflammatory hyper pigmentation (PIH).  PIH can make the scarring appear more prominent.  A successful treatment option to reduce PIH is a series of chemical peels.

Lasers can be used to resurface the skin and heal scarring.  All risks and contraindications should be discussed with your Medical Provider prior to having a laser treatment done.  There are many different types of lasers used to treat acne scarring such as: C02, Fraxel, Fractional and IPL (Intense Pulsed Light).  Although lasers can lead to positive results, they can be extremely costly and painful, with extensive amounts of down time.

I am excited to share with you another option for treatment that I believe is the hidden gem of scarring treatments.  Micro-needling, is a procedure designed to put microscopic punctures in the skin to cause a controlled injury, resulting in increased collagen and elastin production.  This treatment is very affordable and there is virtually no down time.  Most patients are pink and slightly swollen for three to seven days post treatment.  We have had great success in the office with this procedure.   We have treated patients not only with acne scarring, but we have also worked on accidental scarring as well as surgical scarring.  It is recommended that you plan on having a series of micro-needling done, depending on the extent of the scarring that you are experiencing.   You may need anywhere between 3-6 treatments spaced one month apart to achieve your desired results.

It has been extremely rewarding for me as a professional Medical Aesthetician, to be able to help people with something that can have such an impact on ones self-esteem.  It is certainly worth coming in for a complimentary cosmetic consultation, to see if you are a good candidate for this procedure. If you have questions or concerns that you would like to discuss, please don’t hesitate to give our office a call at (609) 926-8899 extension (1117).

Nicole Grifo

Medical Aesthetician