6/2/2017
Skin Aspirations | Everything you need to know about types of acne scars
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Everything you need to know about types of acne scars
If you have acne scars, you are not alone. Medical studies have suggested that acne affects 34% to 90% of males and 27% to 80% of females at some point during their lifetime, with the peak incidence reported to be between the ages of 14-17 years for females and 16-19 years for males. Although prevalence rates for acne vary among different reports depending on the methodology used for analysis, the bottom line is that acne is a very common disorder. Crucially, these studies likely underestimate the true occurrence rates of acne. This is because the data are based primarily on those patients who attend clinics for acne treatment, with only up to 16% of individuals with visible facial acne estimated to actually seek treatment from a skin therapist or dermatologist. A signi․cant proportion of acne sufferers will have some form of scarring to show for it. Medical studies suggest that between 30% and 95% of patients with acne develop some form of scarring. Importantly, seeking early treatment for acne helps to reduce the risk and severity of acne scarring. With the easy availability of multiple high street/department store treatments that have limited effectiveness and treatments advertised on the TV/internet that are poorly validated, patients often use treatments for acne that are either ineffective or are not properly matched with the severity of their acne. As a result, their acne persists or worsens, allowing for additional development of new acne lesions, thus increasing the risk of scarring. One study showed that overall, 16% of patients with acne seek proper treatment, and among those seeking such help, 74% wait greater than 12 months, 12% wait 6 to 12 months, 6% wait 6 months, and only 7% wait less than 3 months to seek professional help for their acne. So you may be wondering, what type of acne scars do I have? Well in this blog post, you will ․nd out about each type of acne scar with pictures to help you discover the answer. Scar is de․ned as ‘‘the ․brous tissue that replaces normal tissue destroyed by injury or disease’’. Causes of acne scar formation can be broadly categorized as either the result of increased tissue formation or, more commonly, loss or damage of local tissue. The bottom line is that the amount, type, and depth of scarring are dependent on the location, nature, and intensity of your response to skin inammation caused by P acnes bacteria. There have been numerous attempts to classify acne scars in order to standardise severity assessments and treatment method. Unfortuantely, there is a lack of consensus in medical literature regarding acne scar terminology and classi․cation. The classi․cation system frequently used in clinical practice for acne scars is based on both clinical and anatomical features. Acne scars have been generally classi․ed into those involving tissue loss (atrophic) and those that produce tissue excess (hypertrophic). The major types of atrophic scars are ice pick scars, rolling or super․cial scars, and boxcar or depressed scars. So far, it is not known why certain types of atrophic scars develop as opposed to others. The table below summarises the most commonly used acne scar classi․cation system:
ClassiҜcation of Acne Scars Scar Type
Clinical Features
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6/2/2017
Skin Aspirations | Everything you need to know about types of acne scars
Atrophic Ice pick
Narrow (<2 mm), deep, sharply marginated epithelial
They often resemble a large, empty pore on the skin and it is these
tracts, and conical or cyclindrical shape
scars that are the most obvious and unfortunately the most dicult to CONDITIONS
cover up
Rolling
Usually wider than 4–5 mm, shallow, anchored to
Rolling scars have rounded, sloping edges, hence the name ‘rolling
(super․cial, subcutis by ․brosis (subdermal tethering)
scars’. They often have a rough texture and a wavy or rippling
deep soft
appearance
scars) Boxcar
Flat, u-shaped base; sharply marginated vertical edges;
Not to be confused with rolling scars, boxcar scars can appear similar
(depressed broader than ice-pick scars; round, polygonal, or linear
however these scars have steep, de․ned edges and resemble chicken
․brotic
pox scars
shape; shallow (0.1–0.5 mm) or deep (>0.5 mm)
scars)
Hypertrophic Keloidal
Raised, excess proliferation of ․brotic tissue, extends
Keloid scars are formed when scar tissue forms on the skin in excess,
obviously beyond the focus of the preexisting acne lesion as a result of excess collagen production. Most commonly seen on chest, back, and/or shoulders HypertrophicRaised, excess proliferation of ․brotic tissue, remain
Hypertrophic scars are what keloid scars would have been, had the
reasonably within con․nes of the preexisting acne lesion body switched off its collagen production when the acne wound were ․lled. Most commonly seen on chest, back, and/or shoulders To treat acne scars, we recommend visiting to our skin therapy room in Chelsea for a free consultation. Our preferred method to treat acne scarring is skin needling. Skin needling is also known as Collagen Induction Therapy, Micro-needling or Dermarolling. This treatment stimulates the skin to repair itself naturally and safely, by creating controlled micro injuries in the skin which stimulate the production of collagen and elastin, vital components of healthy skin.
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