Acne and Scar Treatment

What is Acne?

Acne is a chronic inflammatory condition of the skin that usually occurs due to the overactivity of sebaceous glands in the skin. It predominantly occurs in the younger age group and can express as simple blackheads and whiteheads to huge infected cysts and nodules. It is seen most commonly of face, but maybe found on chest and back too.
The sebaceous glands produce sebum that is necessary for our skin to protect itself from external environmental hazards and also retain the water on the skin to prevent dehydration. Hormones, especially the androgens continue to rise during puberty. These cause hypertrophy of sebaceous glands thereby causing excessive production of sebum. This combined with disturbed maturation of the dead superficial skin cells causes clogging of the funnel through which the sebum was supposed to be draining. This causes comedones (black & whiteheads). If superimposed by bacterial contamination, these can lead to an infected type of acne.
Acne should be treated and managed in early periods as it can lead to severe scarring (acne scars) and hyperpigmentations (blackening of skin) of the face that can have serious aesthetic issues on the face thereby leading to psychological depression and lower self-esteem.

What are Acne Scars?

These are permanent indentations found in the skin due to severe acne forms during the adolescence. Infected acne causes loss of soft tissue underneath the skin. Once the acne heals, the body tries to repair by producing fibrous collagen tissue. This causes pulling of the skin down in areas where scarred tissues are formed with acne healing. Picking of acne or squeezing them increases the chances of scarring. The scarring can be simple atrophic slightly depressed to heavily depressed larger and broader indentations. Some types of acne leave scars that appear as enlarged, raised growths of tissue, called the hypertrophic scars. These acne scars are caused by too much scar tissue formation.
Acne scars can literally cause scars on a human self-confidence. These appear highly unesthetic on the face and socially indents on an individual’s self-esteem.

How are Acne and Acne scar treated?

There are many treatment modalities in managing Acne and acne scars. The earlier the acne condition is recognized and treatment initiated, the lesser chances of scarring. Hence, early intervention is necessary.

The various treatments of acne include reducing the sebaceous gland activity using retinoids and oral contraceptives, managing the bacterial contamination with antibiotics, removing the clogged materials by physical means of comedone extraction or incision and drainage of infected pus, reducing the inflammation by performing certain chemical peels like salicylic acid peels and putting patients regimes to control acne spikes.

The acne scars are managed depending on what kind of scars are found in the patient. The treatment modalities include microdermabrasion, chemical peels, PRP and microneedling therapy, laser therapy, and surgical dermabrasion. The treatment would depend on the type, depth, severity, and expectations of the patient.

What to expect and how to go ahead with the treatments with Dr. Arun once you have decided?

Dr. Arun Panda is a fellowship-trained Facial Cosmetic Surgeon. He is well experienced in various Facial plastic surgeries, Non-surgical Facial aesthetic procedures, and Hair Transplant surgery. His practice is totally dedicated to what he mentions as “creating beautiful faces”! Nonsurgical facial aesthetic procedures require an aesthetic approach and a multitude of equipment to deliver satisfactory results. His practice is equipped with every possible device and lasers to deliver the best possible aesthetics. His international training helps him to have a global and realistic approach to all facial aesthetic concerns.  

Treating an acne patient requires close association with the patient’s physician and gynecologist. Once the patient’s hormonal condition is evaluated, treatment is initiated to reduce acne aggressively as scar formation needs to be kept at minimal levels. Procedures deemed necessary will be explained in detail by Dr. Arun. Acne scar treatment will be decided by     Dr. Arun depending on the clinical examination. The number of sessions for each treatment, its outcomes, and the pros and cons of each treatment will be discussed in detail before initializing any treatment.

Statistics (scale of 1 to 10):

Invasiveness: 2-3
Pain factor: 2-3
Patient satisfaction: 10