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Question: Can laser skin resurfacing get rid of acne scars?
Answer: The short answer to your question is that nothing can get rid of acne scars since once scars are in the skin there really is no way to make a scar completely disappear. The goal is to try to make a scar less visible and, from that respect, we can certainly do various different laser treatments to the skin to make acne scarring much less noticeable.
Question: My daughter is 20 and had problems with acne that have finally subsided leaving her with scars. Can fat injections help to smooth out the scars from adolescent acne problems?
Answer: Fat injections can definitely improve upon acne scarring but is certainly not going to be 100% effective and requires experienced hands to not only place fat into this area but also to lyse or cut the scar tissue beneath the acne scarring in a very precise and consistent manner. Depending on your daughter’s actual appearance of the acne scarring, I may or may not recommend laser treatments for a better result in my hands.
Question: My skin is incredibly oily and I have intermittent bouts of acne. Do you think microdermabrasion would solve this problem?
Answer: Microdermabrasion certainly will not solve oily skin problems, but microdermabrasion does help with acne by getting rid of the dead layer of skin on the surface which can clog pores and promote acne. Microdermabrasion further improves the efficacy of good skin care and this will also in turn improve you overall skin health and should reduce your acne significantly.
Question: I have severe acne on my face and especially my cheeks. I really want to have cheek implants but I am worried that this procedure will be a hindrance to improving my skin condition. Is this something I should be worried about?
Answer: No, you really should not worry about cheek implants creating any issues with your skin since the implants are literally placed down directly against the facial bones and really will in no way affect your overlying skin. You certainly can still undergo treatment for your acne scarring and I personally like the ProFractional laser by Sciton as my gold standard for treatment of acne scarring of the face.
Question: I have very bad facial acne scars. I hate looking like this and it seems to look even worse every year. I am Mexican and have darker skin, is there a laser peel that I can have that will not change my skin color but will get rid of some of the pitting on my face?
Answer: That is a very good question and a very difficult problem to correct. First of all, bad acne scarring is virtually impossible to completely get rid of but we can certainly perform different procedures to improve upon the appearance of acne scarring and with your darker skin type this greatly limits the type of techniques that are available for treatment of this. I would recommend consideration of a ProFractional laser treatment by Sciton as this laser only injures a small percentage of the actual skin by lasering small tunnels in the skin. These injuries cause the skin to deposit large amounts of collagen in the deeper layer and this causes remodeling of the surface of the skin which can greatly reduce the appearance of acne scarring. I would recommend a small test spot before treating the entire area to assure that it does not affect your overall skin coloration. But more than likely it will be safe to use in your skin type.
Question: I would like microdermabrasion to treat my facial acne scars and wrinkles on my cheeks. I have read that it will also remove sun spots which is wonderful. What is the recovery time for microdermabrasion? Are there any complications associated with this procedure?
Answer: There is no downtime associated with microdermabrasion as it simply exfoliates the superficial layer of the skin and essentially polishes the skin. This can certainly help with some minor pigmentation issues but more importantly it will allow skin care products to work more effectively that can significantly improve sun spots. There really are no complications associated with microdermabrasion when it is performed in experienced hands.
Question: Do I need to stop using my prescription topical acne medication before undergoing a dermabrasion procedure?
Answer: It really depends on which prescription topical acne medication you are using and whether you are undergoing a microdermabrasion or true dermabrasion. I would discuss this with your physician as to whether or not you need to stop any sort of topical medications.
Question: I have deep acne scars on my cheeks. How well do fat transfers work on acne scars? I am not sure if I want to go through such an invasive procedure if there is a risk it might not work very well.
Answer: I think in experienced hands fat transfer can work quite well for acne scars and though I would not consider myself a world expert in this technique I have performed fat transfer on acne scarring with good results. I use what is called a pickle fork injection cannula that can cut the scar band that is typically underneath the acne depressions and then fat is injected into this pocket. The unreliable portion of fat transfer for acne scarring is the fact that some of the fat will most likely not survive and some of this volume that fills in the defect of the acne scar will be unfortunately lost. The bottom line is there is really no perfect answer for the treatment of acne scarring and frequently multiple different types of procedures may be necessary to give an adequate improvement.
Question: I am getting married in 3 months and want to do something about these old acne scars and to try to prevent more from coming up before the wedding. Is there any laser treatment, facial, or peel that could accomplish this?
Answer: With only 3 months until your wedding this is a bit of a difficulty as virtually all of the treatments that are going to improve acne scarring require a rather aggressive approach, thus leading to some moderate downtime. My personal opinion at this time is that fractionated Erbium laser resurfacing seems to be an excellent option for patients that desire significant reduction in the appearance of their acne scarring. Unfortunately, I typically recommend 3 treatments spaced 1 month apart, which really will not work for someone that is trying to get married in 3 months as the last treatment would be within a month of your wedding date and I would be concerned that you would still have some significant pinkness to the skin from the laser. A single, deep resurfacing can certainly provide excellent improvement in acne scarring and is typically healed within a week but redness and pinkness can take several weeks to slowly subside. I certainly feel this would be an option for you as by the time 3 months rolls around the pinkness should be extremely mild, if present at all.
Question: I am a 34-year-old Caucasian man. I have terrible acne all over my back, so I am trying to find out what the best treatment would be. I have been using an acne body wash but it does not seem to be helping much. What other treatments do you recommend?
Answer: As a facial plastic surgeon, I do not consider myself an expert on acne treatment of the back and I would, therefore, recommend that you have a consultation with a board-certified dermatologist to see what best treatment options are available. I would mention though that there are certain other topical applications of antibiotic gels or even oral antibiotics that can improve acne if patients are extremely resistant to these products, then consideration of the use of Accutane may be prudent. Accutane is extraordinarily strong in its effect regarding acne and certainly comes with various potential side effects but, for acne that is truly uncontrolled in any other way, Accutane can be a miracle for those patients who are suffering. I certainly do not prescribe Accutane personally but refer my patients in need of such a product to a board-certified dermatologist.
