How Can I Remove Old Acne Scars on my Forehead?

Our office has many different treatments for acne scars depending on the depth of atrophy or hypertrophy. Acne scars require a combination approach using our HI DEF protocol which uses a combination of lasers, topical scar modulation, and RF treatments to pixelate scars, improve contour, reduce hyperpigmentation, and improve the visibility of the scars so that they are no longer visible in ambient light. Everyone has a unique pattern of acne scarring and we employ our HIDEF technique to improve texture, color, contour, and topography. We often use a combination of treatments that begin with a careful examination to examine the micro texturing of the acne scars. Atrophic acne scars and indented acne scars can benefit from injectable fillers such as Radiesse, Sculptra, and Restylane with or without subcision to remove tethered scars and atrophic depression. Hyper-redness in scars can be been improved with V beam laser, Excel V, BBL, IPL, and Venus RF to improve the redness and reduce the visibility of deep scars. Fractional Thulium laser and clear & brilliant can also reduce the inflammation and redness of the scar when combined with topical therapy. Fractional laser such as Fraxel, erbium, and CO2 laser can be combined with radio frequency and also fractional RF to improve textual issues and microtopography. Subcision and TCA cross are also used for deep ice pick scars and narrow valley scars in order to improve the micro texture. Above all, our combination approach with our clinical nurses and board-certified plastic surgeons can improve the quality of your skin by using at home Melarase creams combined with PRP treatments in our office to improve your skin quality and tone. I recommend getting a formal evaluation with an experienced team of experts in order to reduce your acne scarring.

Finally, hyperpigmentation of scars can be improved with at-home Melarase AM, Melarase PM, and Melapads to help reduce active PIH and melanin deposition.

Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 Surgeon

Acne scarring is a very difficult situation to treat.  There are many different types of acne scars.  Some are deep and they may need to be excised, while some are superficial and may respond to the CO2 or fraxel laser. Fraxel treatment is able to precisely treat thousands of microscopic areas of skin, using pinpoint laser beams that penetrate beneath the skin's surface to stimulate new collagen growth.  With the CO2 laser the damaged skin is replaced with fresh, healthy skin.  Unfortunately, flat, white scars are not treated easily.  The only possibilities are to excise them or add pigmentation through a tattooing procedure.  Consult  your plastic surgeon to see what is the best option for your skin.

There is not a good treatment for flat white scars. Some reports have shown improvement after fraxel laser but there is not complete reversal. One approach is to lighten the surrounding darker skin, if present, with a laser that helps with pigment such as Fraxel, IPL or alexandrite laser (like gentlelase). Chemical peels may also help even out skin tone but will not repigment white scars.