Which is Safer for Asian Skin with Acne Scars, Laser or Peels?

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3 Doctor Answers | Asked by anon

Doctor Answers (3)
Community Comments (1)

Lasers or Peels for Asian Skin

The best treatment for your acne scars depends on the type of acne scars present on your skin. Both lasers and peels can be effective methods of treating acne scars on Asian skin, but it depends what type of lasers and peels you are considering. I tend to have the best results with fractional resurfacing laser treatments, which are safe for Asian skin types. The Fractional CO2 and Fraxel laser can both produce a dramatic improvement in acne scars safely in Asian skin.... more

Improving asian skin with acne scars

One of the most common complications seen from treating darker skin types is post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. This is an undesirable patchy darkening of the skin which may be temporary or permanent. Any technology used to treat acne scar comes with this risk. In the hands of an experienced dermatologist these risks can be minimized. Many types of treatment are available to treat acne scars and must be tailored to the individual, both skin coloring, type of acne scar and desired... more

Both are safe

It depends on the peel or which laser used, but most of all, it depends on the experience of the dermatologist with these modalities. The pre-treatment and post-treatment protocols and if you follow them closely are also critical to success.

Comments (1)

chiasnguy 9 Feb 2013

I had laser skin resurfacing in October for acne scars. My doctor said she used a combination of CO2 and 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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