Scar or mark
Run a finger over it. If the skin dips or is raised, it is a scar: tissue was lost or overproduced during healing, and only something that remodels tissue will change it. If the surface is smooth and only the color is different, it is post-inflammatory pigmentation or erythema, and it will fade over months provided nothing new appears and you keep it out of the sun. People spend a lot of money treating marks that were going to fade anyway, and a lot of time waiting for scars that never will.
Not all scars are the same shape
Depressed scars come in types that respond differently. Rolling scars have soft sloping edges and improve most readily. Boxcar scars have defined edges and a flat base. Ice pick scars are narrow and deep, and they are the most stubborn because the damage extends further down than most resurfacing reaches. A face usually has a mixture, which is why a plan often combines approaches rather than repeating one treatment.
What suits you is decided at consultation, from your skin and your history. Consultations are complimentary.
What actually improves them
Microneedling is the workhorse: controlled micro-injury prompts collagen that fills depressed scarring from beneath, done as a series. Chemical peels improve surface texture and the tone around scarring. RF skin resurfacing works deeper on texture. Where a single depressed scar is tethered down, releasing it and supporting it is a different technique again. Results are measured in months across a series.
Performed or supervised by our medical director, Marc L. Epstein, M.D.
Settle the acne first
Treating scarring while acne is still active does not work and can make things worse. Needling across inflamed skin risks spreading bacteria, and any new breakout adds new damage while you are paying to repair the old. If you are still breaking out, that comes first, and it is the right sequence rather than a delay.
What suits you is decided at consultation, from your skin and your history. Consultations are complimentary.
What improvement actually looks like
Significant improvement, not erasure. A good result is scarring that no longer catches the light in a way that draws attention, on skin with better overall texture. Anyone promising smooth skin from a fixed number of sessions is selling you something. Photographs at the start, taken in the same light, are the only reliable way to judge progress, because you see your face daily and gradual change is invisible from the inside.
Performed or supervised by our medical director, Marc L. Epstein, M.D.
What suits you is decided at consultation, from your skin and your history. Consultations are complimentary.
Performed or supervised by our medical director, Marc L. Epstein, M.D.
What suits you is decided at consultation, from your skin and your history. Consultations are complimentary.
Performed or supervised by our medical director, Marc L. Epstein, M.D.
