Is this a scar? What treatment will smooth this out? (Photo)

From the photo, it does appear that what you’re seeing is consistent with a scar, likely from a previous injury, breakout, or minor skin trauma. Scars can vary in texture, color, and depth, and over time some can become more noticeable or raised, while others may fade naturally.

To smooth it out, there are several approaches depending on the type and age of the scar:

Topical treatments: Silicone gels or sheets, certain retinoids, or creams with ingredients like vitamin C can help improve texture and pigmentation over time, especially for newer scars.

Procedures: Microneedling, laser resurfacing, or chemical peels can help remodel scar tissue and smooth the skin’s surface.

Injections: For raised scars, corticosteroid injections or filler can sometimes soften and flatten the area.

Consistency is key with any treatment. While some improvement is often achievable, scars rarely disappear completely, but they can become much less noticeable and blend more naturally with your surrounding skin.

Our office has many different treatments for scars depending on the depth of atrophy or hypertrophy. 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 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 scars and indented 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 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 lasers 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 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