The overwhelming majority of people out there are under the impression that acne scars are simply just acne scars. However, nothing could be further from the truth since there are many different types of acne scars.
Acne scars come in a lot of different shapes, sizes, configurations, and even colors – which is why they are so difficult for most people to categorize.
This is why you want to understand exactly which types of acne scars you’re dealing with at any one particular point in time. In fact, a majority of people typically deal at least 2 types of acne scars. Think this could be you? After reading thing article you should know enough to be able to identify some of the different types of acne of scars.
Let’s get right to it!
Types of Acne Scars: Depressed Acne Scars
If you’ve ever noticed acne scarring on someone (or yourself), the odds are good that you’ve noticed depressed acne scars or acne pitting.
Have a significant amount of acne scarring is of this variety, and most types of acne scars are going to cause at least some kind of depressions on your skin. This is the kind of acne scarring that you’re going to have to deal with when you fight through inflammatory acne, kind of acne that causes a world of breakouts across your skin every time it decides to rear its ugly head.
Of the depressed acne scars out there, there are actually three types of acne scars in a “subset”:
- Rolling scars – typically rather shallow but quite broad
- Boxcar scars – deep scars that look like canyons or craters are carved into your face
- Ice pick scars -very deep, but very narrow. Usually, have some kind of scar tissue at the bottom of the “pick”. These are difficult to be removed by laser surgery.
Rolling Acne Scars
Rolling acne scars are the most common type of depressed acne scars. If you were dealing with a significant amount of face acne for an extended period of time, the odds are good that you’re dealing with rolling acne scars.
These kinds of acne scars seem to stretch all over the face in a rolling pattern, looking like a spider web or a net of scars that cut in various directions. Most of these types of scars are only “surface deep” and shallow, which makes it easier to get rid of the use of laser technology.
The trouble here is that your skin is almost always going to lose a significant amount of elasticity, which makes the scars themselves look a lot more pronounced later in life. Laser resurfacing, IPL light technology and chemical peels have all been proven to be effective at getting rid of these types of scars.
Raised Acne Scars
Finally, you might be dealing with these types of scars if you had to deal with hypertrophic or keloid types of acne.
These types of scars are different from the previously mentioned types of scars in that they don’t actually depress the skin. Instead, as the name suggests, they raise the skin because of the buildup of fibrous and scar tissue that happens underneath the healthier layers.
Raised acne scars are not as common as depressed acne scars, but they are also some of the easiest to banish once and for all. You’ll want to move forward with a chemical peel, microdermabrasion, or laser ablation to get rid of these raised acne scars.
Your dermatologist is always going to be able to make the right recommendation to help you get rid of the types of acne scars you’re dealing with! If you’re unsure about laser removal then check out our posts “Everything You Need To Know About Laser Surgery For Acne” and “The Benefits And Drawbacks of Laser Resurfacing Acne Scars”.
Conclusion:
Acne scars are hard to get rid of. If laser surgery isn’t an option, then your best bet is some acne-fighting foundation.