Many people these days are looking for home remedies. If the worst of your acne is behind you, but you have been left with bad or even minor scarring, you probably want to get rid of those acne scars.

The mainstream dermatology solutions can be very harsh. Chemical peels remove a layer of your skin. If well done and if your skin is not too sensitive, a chemical peel can give lasting benefits. But for some people, something goes wrong and they are left with worse scarring than before.

Laser resurfacing uses light to remove or blur the signs of acne scars so that they are less noticeable. This can be a successful way to minimize scarring but it is expensive.

When it comes to home remedies, these are more effective on relatively light scarring. Natural remedies rely on the body’s own healing process to heal the scars. The actual remedies that we use are therefore intended to help the body to get back to its normal condition in which it can heal itself.

This is a gentler and often slower way of removing scars but it can be more effective in the long term. It involves considering how you will look and feel in 20 or 30 years time, not only right now.

Many natural remedies for acne scars rely on food products. The nutrients that they contain can nourish the skin and help it to regain its natural beauty. In this respect you can either take the nutrients internally or externally, or both.

Taking a long hard look at your diet is one of the best things that you can do for your skin. Cut out refined sugar. Do not cook with oil or eat fried foods, because cooked oils contain free radicals that will suck up all the good antioxidants you are taking in, and stop them getting to your skin.

Add into your diet all foods that are high in antioxidants. These include raw vegetables, salad and fresh fruits. Try eating ‘all raw’ for breakfast and lunch – for example, a big fruit smoothie for breakfast, fresh fruit for snacks, and a big salad with nuts and avocado for lunch. Do this for 6 months and you should see an improvement in your skin.

You can also use face packs made with sliced or blended vegetables that are high in antioxidants. Tomatoes and cucumber are a good combination. Cucumber is well known as a skin remedy as it tightens and tones the pores. Tomatoes have a very high antioxidant component. However, do not use tomato on your skin if you are allergic to it.

Fresh aloe vera juice can be a very effective way to treat acne scars. Aloe vera is a succulent plant that you can keep in a pot indoors. You will need a leaf about 2 inches wide. Remove it from the plant and peel it. Put the flesh in a blender and puree it. Then apply it as a face pack twice a day for at least 5 minutes each time. The puree will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, but take it out an hour before using it to let it revive to room temperature. This is great for scars and also for healing and preventing pimples.

Tea tree oil is an antibacterial that can help prevent scarring and clean the skin to give it the best chance of healing scars that are already present. Use this in addition to other acne scar home remedies.

If over-the-counter products have been ineffective however, it is time for you to make an appointment with your family physician or dermatologist. Your doctor can prescribe topical treatments that are stronger and more effective than the ones available without a prescription.

Your specialist may begin with simple external applications such as benzoil peroxide. Formulations containing benzoil peroxide work by killing bacteria that are trapped in your pores by excess oil. Unfortunately, superficial skin medications do not address deep infections that cannot be reached from the skin’s surface.

Deeper body surface infections may respond to management with an antibiotic. Two of the most common antibiotics used for curing body surface infections are tetracycline and erythromycin. These medications eliminate the bacteria causing infection in the deepest layers of the skin.

Your physician may prescribe a chemical peel as well as medication. A chemical such as glycolic acid is used to cause the uppermost layer of your skin to peel off. Other, less extreme ways of removing the top layer of your skin comprise scrubbing your face with slightly abrasive pads or employing skin washes that contain beads or microscopic particles.

It has long been recognized that exposure to sunshine can be used as a body surface treatment. Special lighting is now available that can reduce the number of inflamed skin lesions by about 70% or so within about a month. One advantage of this technique is that it has no known side effects, although it is not as efficacious if the infection is severe.

Birth control pills are sometimes prescribed to manage body surface breakout, but the pill has arguably serious side effects. The Diane-35, which was specifically developed to treat severe cases of zits (and not for birth control), has been linked to a small but elevated risk of blood clots compared to other birth control pills. You should also know that if you are taking tetracycline, it negates the contraceptive effectiveness of the pill.

Finding a cure for the breakout is the objective, but the approach should be chosen based on the severity of your skin breakout and the risks linked with potential treatments. Whether the treatments you choose are topical or internal, your doctor can explain what you need to take into consideration prior to making a decision. Body surface medications may be more effective than topical treatments, but they have potentially more serious side effects. You need professional advice and realistic expectations for any method of curing acne you try.

Microderm abrasion to treat acne scars

Microderm abrasion is a process of using some kind of an abrasive to scrape off the top layer of skin. You have to do microderm abrasion a few times to get the full affect needed to get rid of your acne scars. One time doing microderm abrasion is not going to do much so this is why you need to keep having your skin scraped to get rid of the scars that you have. You have the choice of doing microderm abrasion either at home or going out ot a clinic of some time to get the process done.

Chemical peels to treat acne scars

Chemical peels are a process of using some kind of an acid to burn off the top layer of skin. You have to do chemical peeling a few times to get the full affect needed to get rid of your acne scars. One time doing chemical peel is not going to do much so this is why you need to keep having your skin burned to get rid of the scars that you have.

You can get a package at the local pharmacy to do a chemical peel but there are a couple of problems with this. First of all the chemicals that are used are not strong enough and will not do a satisfactory job and secondly a clinic is going to do a much better job than we can really do at home. Since this is your skin I would really encourage you to go to a clinic or some kind of specialist to get this done instead so that you can keep your skin in better shape. Just think how much better job a person that does these chemical peels could do than you can do yourself.

Laser Therapy to treat acne scars

Fractional laser resurfacing is a procedure which wounds the skin using microscopic pulses of light. It takes a few  treatments for scars to soften as the body regenerates fresh skin. Several lasers are now on the marketas yoou will see from the marketing of the clinics that offer this laser therapy treatment.  Laser resurfacing is a technique used during laser surgery where molecular bonds of a material are dissolved by a laser. CO2 or erbium energy is used to treat the areas of discoloration closer to the surface and also penetrates deep into the dermis, eliminating damaged cells and stimulating the growth of new collagen.

This is a treatment that can really only be done at a clinic unless you can come up with the money for a specialized laser

How to decide on what acne scar treatment to use

So these are probably the three most popular and effective treatments for getting rid of acne scars. To decide what you want ot do take your budget and call or visit places that do each of these therapies. Ask questions about what you can expect with your scarring and ask them point blank if they believe this is better than the other treatments and listen carefully to the answers.

I hope that this helps you out. Let us all know in the comments below what kind of treatment that you have tried and how well it worked for you.

MicroDerm Abrasion For deep acne scar

deep acne scar treatment

Microderm Abrasion is a technique performed by a plastic surgeon, sometimes in conjunction with a chemical peel. It removes the top layer of skin on the premise that the new skin underneath will be  free of deep acne scar problems.

The skin can take a long time to heal after this treatment and sometimes reacts badly to the process. Some people end off more badly scarred by the abrasion than they were by their acne. On darker skinned people it can cause pigmentation changes that will take a long time to fade. It is also very expensive.

Microderm abrasion is very hard to control and can go wrong even in the most expert hands. Think hard before deciding on this treatment.

Microderm abrasion is a gentler technique that may be performed by a dermatologist or even a beauty parlor rather than a plastic surgeon. It is not so likely to cause new scars but will only be effective on scarring that was mild already.

Punch Grafts

This is a surgical treatment for pitted acne scars that involves removing the scarred area and inserting a graft, usually taken from behind the ear. Local anesthetic will be given. Removal is quick and even the placing of the graft does not take long. The treated area will be dressed for a week and then should steadily heal.

Punch grafts are sometimes used on deep scars before a chemical peel or dermabrasion is applied to make the area smoother.

This technique works best on deep but small ice-pick type scars. It is not so effective on large areas of scarring.

Collagen Injections as Deep Acne Scar Treatment

Collagen is a substance produced by the body when forming and repairing skin. It can be injected into deep acne scar areas to help the process along. Think of it as being like Botox: it plumps out the flesh under the skin so the scar is hidden, but it is a temporary measure. Within 6 months the injected collagen will be reabsorbed by the body and if the scar has not healed by itself in that time, it will be visible again. You would then need another treatment.

Collagen may be human-sourced or cattle-sourced. Collagen from cows is cheaper but cannot be used on some people, e.g. if you have an autoimmune disease including type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and many other conditions.

Laser Treatment

Laser treatment for deep acne scar can be very effective but it is probably the most expensive treatment out there. Expect to pay $300 to $500 per session. For some types of scars one treatment is enough, but for others you may need up to 10 sessions.

Laser treatments for acne scars vary in the type of laser that is used. Some aim to smooth the skin, others are for reducing redness. Carbon dioxide laser treatment actually removes affected tissue. The stronger kinds of laser treatment can cause redness that may last for several months.

When you understand your options, you should consult with a dermatologist to help you choose which treatment for deep acne scar is best for your situation.