Acne Scar Treatment Options After Fraxel?

Certainly, one of the most distressing issues that a young individual has to deal with is the presence of acne. The resultant scarring that can result from the acne that you had suffered from in your youth seems quite unfair. Laser therapy has had excellent success in diminishing the appearance of acne scarring. Fraxel laser is a less invasive modality to deliver the laser energy and still obtain excellent outcomes. Unfortunately, acne scarring takes on many forms. The most severe scars... more

The tried and true method for acne scar treatment is dermabrasion (not microdermabrasion which is a spa technique). This procedure works better if individual deeper scars are first treated with subcision, cross treatment, or excision. Dermabrasion has a completely different effect on scars than laser, whether fractionated or not.

Your choice of follow on treatments after Fraxel would depend on the type of acne scars you have. Before agreeing to any single type of laser or surgical method, you should try to evaluate as many as possible as some are more effective than others for certain types of scars. You will have a more complete picture when evaluating numerous options together Check these options out with local reputable practitioners. Fractional CO2 Resurfacing (unless you had this already). The original... more

I find that combining laser resurfacing with surigcal treatment including subcision/excision of scars, possibly dermal grafts, and injections give the best results. Even under the best of circumstances it is reasonable to expect improvement and not perfection.

Acne scars a difficult problem and may require multiple modalities to obtain the best result. Realistically, it is better to expect a partial correction than than complete eradication of the scars. Treatments may include active management of acne, as well as lasers, scar revision, punch grafting, fillers, fat injections, dermabrasion, chemical peels, etc.