Acne

Q: I suffered from acne as a teenager and have been left with terrible scarring on my cheeks, shoulders and back. What options are available to me to help lessen the scarring and are they painful?

A: There are a number of cosmetic treatments available to alleviate the impact of acne scarring although it cannot be eliminated altogether.

One option is dermabrasion which improves skin irregularities by removing the outer layer of the skin, making it smoother and more uniform.

Dermabrasion is usually performed under local anesthetic and in outpatient care but, if the area to be treated is particularly large (e.g. dermabrasion on the whole face), general anesthetic and, hence, one-day hospitalization may be needed.

Acne scars can also be improved by chemical peel treatment. Peels are chemical solutions which allow the skin of the face to be improved and smoothed by removing its outer layers damaged by pathological events (scars, acne, precancerous lesions, etc.), by hyperpigmentation or by the effects of the ageing process (wrinkles, loss of skin elasticity or tone, etc.).

Depending on the skin layer on which they act, peels are divided into three main categories: superficial peels (AHA), intermediate peels (TCA) and deep peels (Phenol).

The treatment with superficial and intermediate peels do not require anesthesia, while deep peels need local anesthetic with sedation and are performed in outpatient care or with one-day hospitalisation.

Acne can also be treated by laser. CO2 laser usually provides better results, though it is more invasive than Herbium laser. In both cases, an anesthetic ointment is applied or local anesthetic is administered before the treatment.