Acne, the most common skin disorder of the teenagers, is a malfunctioning or disorder of pilosebaceous structure, which consist of sebaceous gland (that secrete skin oil) a hair and hair follicle. You can find these structures all over the skin of the body except palms, soles and lower lip that lack this structure.

These units are more concentrated on the face, neck and chest. Sebaceous glands secret sebum (skin oil), which moisturize the skin and hair naturally while avoiding skin dryness. At the reach of adolescence these glands enlarge and produce more secretions under the influence of androgen hormone. The size of these glands restore after the age of twenty.

Role of Bacteria

Propionibacterium acnes is a bacteria used to live on the skin. It feed and reproduces on the sebum, therefore multiply quickly during puberty. People suffering from acne always have the greater number of bacteria than the people without acne. White blood cells of the body rush to kill that bacteria and release some enzyme.

This enzyme ruptures the walls of the follicle and allows the direct contact of dermis and follicle contents. This process results in inflammation which can be seen superficially in the form of red bumps, nodules and papules commonly known as acne lesions. Propionibacterium acnes also form fatty acid that in addition to inflammation also cause irritation in acne lesions.

Though most of the people clearly come out of the attack of acne, but in some cases people are left with ugly acne scars. Some mild acne scars can be removed with the topical treatment, but in more complicated cases acne scar remain permanent and require surgical procedures for removal.

Acne Scars

Healing of acne lesion after leaves a red mark on the skin. This mark can be referred as hyperpigmentation but not scar. This redness disappears on its own with the passage of time. After one year if the discoloration of skin persists in that specific area, that mark is known as scar.

Treating Acne Scars

The post-inflammatory changes caused by acne are part of the skin’s natural healing process. There are certain practices and medications that can help facilitate this healing process.

The healing of the scars is a natural process. If the scar persists you can take the following measures to facilitate healing process.

• Use a good sunscreen and avoid sun exposure for longer duration.
• Alpha-Hydroxy Acids and Beta-Hydroxy Acid formulation with good concentration and ph can speed up the skin remodeling.

Acne Scar Removal

For the removal of permanent acne scars various dermatological procedures are used after keeping in view the following things:

• Age, health condition, and medical history
• Type and harshness of the scar
• Drug tolerance, procedures, or therapies
• Patient’s choice.

There are some procedures used to minimize the acne scars, which are as following:

Chemical peels

This method is especially used to treat sun-damaged skin, and superficial scars. IN this procedure, the outermost layer of skin is removed by the use of chemicals. As the skin regenerate itself it looks smoother after complete regeneration.

Dermabrasion

Dermabrasion involves removal of top layer of the skin with electrical instruments. As the skin heals after the procedure, the surface appears smoother and fresher.

Punch grafting

This technique involves the replacement of scarred skin with healthy skin. A hole is made in the skin to remove acne scar and get replaced with unscarred skin.

Laser treatment

In this procedure, high-energy light is used to burn away damaged skin. Laser resurfacing used to remove wrinkles and fine acne scars.

Fat transfer

This special method, surgeon use the fats from another site of same person’s body and inject them into the skin. The fat is placed underneath the skin surface to elevate depressed scars. This method is helpful in removing nodulocystic acne scars.