“What can I do about my acne scars?” We hear this question every day. Depending on the amount of scarring, the depth of the scars, and your skin type, the answer ranges from “some improvement” to “a lot of improvement.”
Although it is hard to hear that there is no procedure that can promise to obliterate scars completely, laser technology has improved all along. Reach out now to discuss acne scar laser treatment in Los Angeles.
Acne scars are a result of tissue destruction that comes from inflamed pimples and cysts. When you had red, tender, and swollen pimples, the infection literally destroyed tissue at various levels of your skin. Picking and squeezing likely made things worse, but when you have acne, it’s hard to think about anything past making it go away!
Scar tissue itself is denser than normal skin and tends to contract, so you often see young scars deepen as time passes – a good reason to treat earlier than later. Scar tissue does not share the same regenerative properties as undamaged skin since it’s missing hair follicles and a healthy blood supply. This makes successful treatment without substantial downtime more difficult and lengthy. But scars CAN BE IMPROVED with a laser treatment in Los Angeles!
Lasers have “targets.” A Los Angeles laser is designed to smooth scars, acne, or otherwise target the water in your skin. With fractional lasers, tiny columns of laser beams penetrate your skin, effectively coagulating tissue. It’s a sort of controlled injury. Your skin’s response to this heat-derived injury is to produce new collagen. The untreated skin next to the treated skin assists in healing through its healthier blood supply and regenerative properties. As the skin heals and produces new collagen, the scar is smoothed and lifted by the new collagen matrix.
Successive treatments repeat this process.
Your scars did not appear overnight, and it will take a measured amount of time to make them less obvious. So be prepared to commit to a program of treatment that will have you seeing better-looking skin. We take into consideration that you have a life to live and long downtimes are unacceptable to nearly everyone. Fractional lasers treat the problem by affecting only a percentage of skin during a treatment in Los Angeles. Multiple treatments allow more of a full surface coverage plus cumulative collagen build to smooth the treated areas. Be patient. Nature takes time to do her magic.
Controlling your acne is a first step. Acne that continues unabated will create more scarring and misery. An acne control program will bring you immense relief and save your skin at the same time. We can work hand-in-hand with you with first getting any active acne calmed and controlled and then begin the process of scar smoothing in Los Angeles. Our team can recommend some excellent acne treatment programs that are very successful and fast-acting.
The benefits of fractional over conventional full-surface lasers are many:
Lasers are fantastic in what they can accomplish. But lasers work by heating the skin. Light skin is more easily treated because there is less pigment that can be called up by the laser heat. Darker skin will need certain pretreatment to lessen the potential for pigment formation. For some skins, we skip lasers altogether and opt for radio frequency, which can bypass most of the pigment in the skin.
Fraxel has become the gold standard for acne scar treatments in Los Angeles. With a long history and a unique delivery system, we chose Fraxel for its proven performance and evenness of treatment.
Fraxel is not a panacea for every skin. Darker skins are more sensitive to laser, and that must be considered. When it is deemed you are not a good laser candidate in Los Angeles because of heightened pigmentation risks, then we may instead recommend Genius RF MicroNeedling, which was developed with this problem in mind.
Our laser and technology team are dedicated professionals who seek the most extensive training possible. Ray Jalian, Board Certified Dermatologist and our “in-house laser guru”, and Angela Sarff, Nurse Practitioner, have impeccable education and experience with all our systems. You will always receive an honest assessment of treatment potential – not a promise that is beyond reach.
Please contact the office of Rebecca Fitzgerald, MD, today for more information about acne scar laser treatment in Los Angeles.
