Your appearance will always attract anyone’s first sight. That being said, it is not wrong for anyone to constantly feel conscious with their appearance.
Yet, one of the most natural yet unwanted visitors that keep creeping onto our skin and leave behind ‘memorabilia’ even when they’re gone is acne.
Not only can it be painful at times, but acne is typically bothersome and also commonly a cause of social distress. Though acne heals over time with the help of topical treatments, the scars it leaves takes a much longer time to heal.
What Causes Acne Scars?
Due to the inflammation of acne, scars are formed. The acne pore swells up with bacteria, oil and dead skin cells that cause a breakdown in the pore’s wall.
The skin then actively repairs itself by producing new collagen fibres to heal the aggravated skin. This oftentimes causes hyperpigmentation and uneven skin texture.
Especially, if you’re one to pick on your acne, this action can aggravate and worsen the appearances of scars.
How to Clear Acne Scars?
All is not lost as there are ways you can do to save your skin from acne scarring. Some of the best tips are here:
1. Prevention
The most crucial step of them all is to treat acne at the root of its phase and prevent scarring from happening. Acne happens mainly due to hormonal stress or having skin that thinks it’s dry.
So, it is highly important to practice a good skincare regimen and make sure that you moisturise even when acne formation is happening. More often than not, acne does go away and heal naturally without leaving behind scars if you moisturise enough.
Even though at most times you can get extremely agitated by the sight of acne, it is vital to avoid picking at it or you will only worsen the scarring even more.
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2. Sunscreen Protection
Sunscreen is the epitome of everyday skincare routine against UV rays of the sun. Apart from that, applying sunscreen on your acne scars is very important. This is because a slight exposure to the sun can cause more melanin production, which leads to further darkening.
3. Retinol
Also known as vitamin A, retinols have garnered raving reviews on its efficacy as a skincare active ingredient. It is also known to effectively treat acne scars. Technically speaking, Retinol helps to increase the rate of cell turnover thereby, reducing hyperpigmentation that occurs post-breakout.
4. Chemical Peels
Chemical peels involve a process whereby concentrated chemicals are layered onto the skin’s surface to diminish scar cells and encourage new ones to grow. However, you should refer to a dermatologist before considering chemical peels as they can recommend the most suitable type according to your skin type, acne severity and scarring.
5. Laser Treatment
Then, of course, the most costly step to treating acne scars would be laser treatment. It repairs the skin by removing the outermost skin layer to reveal younger skin cells beneath.
This no doubt reduces the look of scars. Still, prior to resorting to laser treatments, it is advisable that you refer to a specialist first, as the results vary based on your skin’s condition.
Lucky us, acne scars CAN be treated and there are various topical treatments in the market that can help you clear off your acne scar woes.
Takeaway; acne scars can cause a sense of insecurity and low self-esteem. Yet, it is always worth noting that these scars aren’t permanent.
They can be treated through proper topical treatments or medical treatments. Still, scars or not, imperfections are not a beauty flaw. They remind us that we are all human and we couldn’t be more beautiful than we already are.