Best Laser Treatment for Acne Scarring on Asian Skin?

First of all I'm Asian, and for the last few years, my skin has gone through minor to severe scarring from acne. I have boxcar scars on my forehead, and pitted and rolling scars on my cheeks. I want to get surgery to remove the scars and smooth out areas, where the skin looks uneven. I heard CO2 is more ablative and risky and most people would choose fractionated laser as an option. The question is which laser is best for Asian skin? I heard active/Deep FX lasers are in right now?

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cheeks forehead skin acne scars boxcar scar pitted scar uneven Asian

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1 Doctor Answer | Asked by p4percut in NY

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Fill Rather than Ablate Acne Scars: Changing the Paradigm

First of all, if you have these deeper types of scars, I do not believe in trying to level down the skin with an aggressive laser. i believe that holes need filling. in short, don't take normal skin down to abnormal skin but raise abnormal holes closer to normal skin. i use permanent fillers like silicone to get very good results on deeper scars. i use CROSS TCA 100% acid to scar the holes up if they are tiny. i do a lot on asian and hispanic skin with safety. however, with CROSS... more

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chiasnguy 9 Feb 2013

I had laser skin resurfacing in October for acne scars. My doctor said she used erbium on my cheek where I had deeper scars and fraxel for the rest of my face. I was pretreated with hydroquinone to prevent hyperpigmentation which I was really concerned about. It's been 3 months and what a rough recovery. I did not expect the downtime to be so long. Going into it she said I would be presentable in a month. WRONG!The most troublesome side effects were redness and hyperpigmentation. Redness all over my face but especially on my cheeks and brownish discoloration on my cheeks,temples and mostly where she used the Erbium. I followed the after care instructions: wore sunscreen, stayed out of the sun and had to wear make up (which is very distressing for a guy). To say that it was very disruptive to my social and recreational life is an understatement. Long story short, it's been 3 months and while the redness started to subside, it was blotchy. I was more red in areas where she really went deep. The hyperpigmentation got lighter but still obvious. I was so sick of it so I consulted another clinic and they recommended MELANAGE peel. It's been a week after the peel and so far I'm it looks like I will be HAPPY with the results. It did not hurt, but the first 3 days I was peeling like crazy and very red. This made me feel rather depressed and worried that I would have to go through more downtime. BUT after that the redness lessened and I could tell the brown discoloration has lightened significantly. I'm still peeling minimally and continuing with the creams they gave me. The results take up to 8 weeks for full effect. I'm very satisfied with the results so far. My skin looks more even, the pores are much smaller and the discoloration is lighter. In hindsight I'm still not sure if the laser surgery was worth the downtime. The scars have gotten shallower and my doctor says benefits from laser continue up to 6 months. I am certain though that I would not want to relive the past 3 months.

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