How many Genius treatments for acne scarring?

"​Acne scars need a combination approach for long-term improvement. Everyone has a unique pattern of acne scarring, and most people have various types of scars, so we create a tailored treatment plan for each patient. We often use:
- Injectable fillers like Bellafill and Sculptra (with or without subcision) for atrophic, indented scars.
- Subcision for depressed, tethered scars.
- Vascular lasers like Yellow laser, Aerolase, excel V, BBL, or IPL for redness or thick acne scars.
- Lasers such as Fraxel, Erbium, CO2, Halo or fractional radiofrequency (Venus Viva, Skinfinity, Morpheus, PiXel8, Fractora, Intensif microneedling RF) for textural issues and superficial scarring.
- TCA CROSS and punch excision for deep ice pick scars and narrow box car scars.

All lasers are combined with microneedling/PRP to improve the results and accelerate your healing time. Keep in mind that a personalized combination treatment by an expert physician will give you the improvement you're looking for. I recommend getting a formal evaluation with an experienced cosmetic dermatologist and acne scarring expert. Best, Dr. Emer. ​"

Each treatment is so individualized that it is very hard to give a general treatment plan. Most people have about 3 treatments but more might be needed. Usually not less than 3. A physical exam with angled lighting and touching the skin gives a better idea of the quality of the scars. Since RFM requires the body to lay down new collagen, there is an unknown as to how one's body reacts to the procedure.

Genius, as with most non invasive treatments, will need to be performed multiple times. For mild skin tightening 2 treatments may suffice but for more skin tightening or acne scars 3 or more treatments may be needed.

Answer is ' it depends'. Every device, including RF, lasers etc.. should be viewed as adjunctive therapy in the context of scar revision. Very rarely do patients present with scars that will improve with one device/ method.Acne scar revision is a sub-specialised field. For the best results, one should target the acne scar type with ideal treatments and not just one device. 
For example deep ice pick scars, and narrow box car scars can be treated with TCA CROSS peels, mixed scars, rolling, and atrophic scars treated with fractional devices such as Fraxel, fractional lasers, PRP and INFINI radiofrequency. Atrophic scars (depressions) can be treated with either fat grafts, or dermal fillers. Tethered and anchored scars are best treated with surgical techniques such as subcision. Other surgical techniques that we use include punch elevation, surgical elevation, punch excision and traditional excision of focal scars. 

 

The majority of patients will have a collection of different scar types, and hence a tailored treatment METHOD will be best. Careful examination, especially under angled lighting with scar mapping will give you an understanding of what are the best options for your scars. In the majority of patients its finding the correct combination that give you best results, and everyone is unique! All the best, 

Dr Davin Lim. Acne scar dermatologist specialist. Brisbane, Australia.