I had severe acne that left heavy scarring on my face

Question:

During my teenage years, I had severe acne that left heavy scarring on my face. I am now in my mid-twenties and would like to minimize the appearance of these scars. What would be the best procedure to be performed on someone who has multiple small scars?

Answer:

Providing your acne has become stabilized there are several things that can be    done.  A choice of chemical peels is excellent for patients that still have some active acne; however, it really does not assist or help in improving the scarring.  For patients who have deep ice-pick type scars, the best choice is direct excision of these more noticeable deep ice-pick type scars.  Shallow rolling scarring throughout the face as well as a combination of shallow rolling scarring with ice-pick type scars is really best addressed using a combined resurfacing technique using the carbon dioxide laser in conjunction with dermabrasion.  Dermabrasion is a technique that has been used for almost 40 years and is effective; however, incorporating the carbon dioxide laser does give us better results with collagen tightening.  These before-and-after photos can be seen on our website and I typically tell patients that they can see 40-60% improvement.  It is virtually impossible to eradicate the scarring completely; however, if someone is willing to accept a significant degree of improvement they are typically very happy.