Hello there! How are you doing?

I'm Dr Peter Ch'ng and here's Episode 3 of our Patient Mailbox series. We collect handpicked questions submitted by patients suffering from various skin diseases and condition, and personally answer them with our best efforts. I hope to help any one of you who face challenges from similar situations.

Editor’s Note: Dr Peter Ch’ng is a Consultant Dermatologist actively involved in numerous talks and workshops, and is an esteemed contributor to dermatology research and publishing internationally. He practices at both Peter Ch'ng Clinic Skin & Laser Specialist in Desa Park City and Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

Question:

Hi Dr Peter,

I’m Amirah, 27 this year doing customer service. I used to have acne during my teenage years going into early adulthood. And because I used to squeeze them regularly, my face is left with acne scars now even though I seldom have acne anymore.

Due of this I always have to conceal these scars with makeup everytime I go out, whether it is to work or to meet up with people, because when I don't, I get people staring at me or asking me about my face.

However, I’ve also read that long term overuse of makeup can be bad for my skin as well. Is this true?

How can I get rid of my acne scars then?

Answer:

Firstly, what type of acne scars do you have? We should identify the type of acne scars we have, so that we know what caused them in the first place, and what are the most important treatment methods.

Acne scars

There are 3 general types of acne scars:

Pseudo-scars

• usually occurs after inflammatory acne
• inflamed acne causes permanent dilation among the small blood capillaries near the skin surface
• even when the acne is gone, red marks still stay on the face

Depressed acne scars

• one of the most common type of acne scars
• usually due to the pressure of popping pimples/heavily inflamed acne
• the collagen on the skin is injured, leaving scars that are depressed, look like tiny holes

Hypertrophic acne scars

• the result of overreaction of skin cells during the recovering process of acne
• creates a lump over the surface of acne

So how can you effectively get rid of your acne scars?

Laser Treatments

Both Fractional Carbon Dioxide (Fractional CO2) and Copper Bromide lasers can be used in treating acne scars and effectively removing them.

During the laser treatment process, the segmented lasers emits rays directly on the skin, creating tiny wounds that are invisible to the naked eye.

These rays trigger collagen production and restoration, allowing your skin to smooth out the acne scars with healthy collagen quickly.

Laser treatments can be used for all types of acne scars.

*Editor’s note: If you’re interested in getting a laser treatment for your acne scars, call us at +6011-22882299, WhatsApp us here, or book an appointment with Dr Peter here!

Radiofrequency treatment

A Radiofrequency (RF) treatment uses radiofrequency energy to penetrate the layers of the skin, particularly where the acne scarring starts from.

Through heating of the radiofrequency, collagen production is stimulated for the resurfacing of the facial skin with acne scars.

Radiofrequency treatment is also a newer type of treatment that doesn't use lasers on the skin, and is useful for depressed and pseudo-scars.

*Editor’s note: If you’re interested in getting a radiofrequency treatment for your acne scars, call us at +6011-22882299, WhatsApp us here, or book an appointment with Dr Peter here!

Filler injection

Injecting fillers into the skin can directly help in new collagen formation, leading to tissue regeneration and augmentation. These fillers are usually hyaluronic acid based, and can give results immediately due to its direct method.

Filler injection is especially effective for depressed acne scars, as they can fill in the volume loss caused by acne scarring.

*Editor’s note: If you’re interested in getting filler injections for your acne scars, call us at +6011-22882299, WhatsApp us here, or book an appointment with Dr Peter here!

Chemical Peel

Chemical peels are acids that are applied on the acne scars to cause the skin to peel. This process stimulates the skin cells to regenerate faster and thus fastening the process of acne scar healing.

Chemical peeling is a simple procedure in healing acne scars. Like dotting, we use an icepick to drop acid or medicinal chemicals on the acne scars to promote skin restoration.

Chemical peel is usually used only for light or mild acne scars.

*Editor’s note: If you’re interested in getting a chemical peel treatment for your acne scars, call us at +6011-22882299, WhatsApp us here, or book an appointment with Dr Peter here!

Concealing acne scars

Also, here's my two cents on long term use of concealer or foundation makeup to cover acne scars.

First of all, we want to treat the root cause of these scars and also acne, because if we just cover them with makeup and concealers, these will always only be a camoufalge. But the root cause is still there, and our facial condition won't get any better.

Furthermore, by concealing our acne scars, we are blocking our skin pores even more. And because of this, acne will be even worse, resulting in more acne scars.

Acne is temporary, but acne scars can be permanent. So I hope we now have a clearer idea on how we can finally treat these acne scars. The war with acne is over, but we're not quite done yet - let's get rid of these acne scars!

Look out for next week's entry about the bad habits that can cause acne scars!

Cheers.

*Editor’s note: As an esteemed dermatologist and skin specialist, Dr Peter prides himself in being able to treat acne patients of all types, with a 100% acne treatment success record. If you’d like to ask more about acne or have a discussion with Dr Peter, you can contact us at +6011-22882299, Whatsapp us here, or book an appointment with Dr Peter here!

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If you’d like to ask more about your skin condition or have a discussion with Dr Peter, you can contact us at +6011-22882299, Whatsapp us, or book an appointment with Dr Peter here!