Thankfully, it’s all treatable once you play detective and know which type of marking you are dealing with. Here’s how to fix it:
ACNE MARKS
You know the ones. Even when you don’t pick at or pop it, the aftermath of a great honking whitehead on your face leaves a red mark in its place — for months.
Contrary to what you might thing, these marks aren’t scars. They’re the hyperpigmentation that occurs when your skin’s natural defenses send a horde of melanin (the substance that gives your skin color) to the area to protect it. “It does fade, but it can be very cosmetically distressing to people, especially on darker skin tones because they contain more melanin naturally.”
Since these marks will eventually fade naturally, no heavy-duty treatment is needed. However, you can treat this type of mark with a variety of topical skin lightening treatments:
1. “It depends on the severity, but hydroquinone really is the gold standard for skin lightening creams,” Dr. Chwalek explains. Some stronger formulations (4%) of this ingredient do require a prescription, but a lighter 2% over the counter option is available.
2. “Glycolic acid or alpha hydroxyl acid can help,” she says. “Vitamin C and kojic acid are also beneficial.” They each work in a different way though, she explains, “either by targeting the pigment and breaking it up or actually improving the turnover of cells so the pigment fades faster.” Try folding these ingredients into your regular skincare routine products to create a cocktail of mark-fighting ingredients for a quicker result.
DEPRESSED MARKS
Occasionally, you have some acne marks that run deeper into the skin’s surface, or your skin has been lowered or indented by surgical or traumatic scarring — this is known as a depressed scar. These types of marks don’t respond to topical creams and need to be addressed using more intense methods.
3-4. “Laser treatments nearly always work better than anything topical” in these situations, says Dr. Simzar. “Chemical peels can work as well, but they only address what’s on the surface of our skin, whereas laser goes into deeper issues.” Dermatologist Anthony Youn M.D., who practices in Michigan, agrees. “In general, the more aggressive the treatment, the more dramatic the result,” he says.
He breaks it down: “Lasers function in two capacities. The heat generated by the laser causes the collagen in the skin to break down and then reform into tighter bundles, resulting in smoother, tighter skin. Ablative (stronger) lasers also remove the upper layer of the skin, causing the body to heal in a smoother fashion.”
