You are not alone! In fact, everyone goes through this stage in their lives. Unfortunately, so many teenagers and young adults with problems of Pimples are seriously misinformed by marketing and sales gimmicks. They end up hopping from product to product, without seeing any significant or lasting result and finally end up battling acne for many years, with nothing but deep depressed scars to show for it.
After this depressing battle, you’re then left with a long period of recovery. Unfortunately for many, the recovery is incomplete, and you are left with rough skin, open pores, ice pick scars, rolling scars, box car scars and pigmented or purple scars.
Many people do not realize that there is actually very effective treatments for scars available!
Here are a few important facts about Acne Scars which you need to know about.
Important Fact No 1: Your doctor is the person best equipped to deal with Pimple Scars.Stop spending thousands in beauty salons and hopping from one treatment to another. Only a doctor can administer EVIDENCE BASED TREATMENTS that have been medically researched to improve your skin. Acne scar treatment is a complex topic with varying types of treatments. You can only improve with a TREATMENT REGIMEN THAT IS CUSTOMISED TO YOUR SKIN. Important Fact No 2: Acne Scars CAN BE COMPLETELY TREATED using the CORRECT equipment and Treatments.There are 1001 different lasers and treatment machines in the market which claim to improve acne scars and Pimples. From our years of testing and experience treating patients, we have selected as part of our protocol ONLY 3 MACHINES which are extremely effective in treating Acne Scars. Many patients who have gone through this protocol have been SUCCESSFULLY TREATED and now have GREAT LOOKING SKIN. Important Fact No 3: Acne Scars Should Improve with Every Treatment.With our treatments that have been curated and selected for their efficacy, YOU WILL SEE RESULTS WITH EVERY TREATMENT. Acne scars cannot be treated overnight. Just like it took many years to develop a face full of scars, it also takes many months to treat them. I have encountered many patients who have spent months with other treatments, to finally have NO RESULT. Depending on the depth of the scars, a number of treatments may be necessary to achieve a good final result. |
Your skin is important to you. In this day and age, appearance is more and more important in society. Having a great complexion is an asset.
With the advent of technology, NEW OPTIONS are now available to sufferers of acne scars. Compared with other conventional treatments like full laser resurfacing and dermabrasion, our treatments are lower downtime, safer and less painful.
We make no secret of the treatments which we use to improve your scars. Our custom tailored protocol may include:
1. Fractional Radiofrequency Treatment – Infini
Fractional RF is excellent for very deep scars. With RF, the depth of treatment can be up to 3.5mm deep, providing the maximal result from a non-invasive treatment. The RF treatment has an added advantage of lifting the face, making one look younger. After developing the protocol for this treatment known as Infini for the last 1.5 years, and using it on many pimple scar patients, I am now absolutely convinced that this is the single best treatment for depressed acne scars. I have tried eMatrix, eTwo, Scarlet, Intracel, Sciton Profractional, Fraxel, Pixel, and many other treatments purported to improve acne scars. Some work some don’t work so well, but this is the treatment I have found to be very consistent in producing obvious and significant improvements to skin. I had a lady who came to me for moderate acne scarring and after 4 treatments her face is smooth and almost scar free. Not everyone achieves this kind of result, but it is impressive to say the least. I used to think that deep acne scars would never have this kind of result, but this has redefined my thinking about acne scar treatments. If you have scars like these, don’t worry! They are treatable with Infini.
2. Fractional CO2 Laser Treatment
Fractional CO2 excels at treating depressed acne scars. The depth of treatment for CO2 laser is up to 1.5mm deep, and has the bonus of making skin fairer and giving it a radiant glow. For the more budget conscious, this is a great option. Used alone for superficial scars, or in conjunction with Infini, the results are excellent.
3. Q-switched Nd:YAG Laser
The Q-switched laser excels at lightening pigmented and vascular scars. Often, scars are purple or brown, making acne look worse than it actually is. Once it is effectively lightened with the laser, skin looks noticeably clearer. This laser also gives skin a nice glow and smoothness. This laser has no downtime and is not very painful. Hence, it is well tolerated by almost all of my patients and they can pop in to the clinic, do the treatment and get back to work after that. Performed at an interval of once every 2-4 weeks, the scar lightening is accelerated.
4. Scar lightening peels and creams
We make use of a combination of peels and creams which can lighten scars and promote healing. In particular, I like to use Cosmelan to really lighten pigmented acne scars. Cosmelan only helps a little for pitted or depressed scars, but for pigmented scars, it is very effective.
5. Subcision and Fillers
For certain very deep scars, we make use of subcision to free the scars deep attachments and add some filler to get an immediate lifting of the scar. In needle subcision, we make use of a fine needle to go under the scar to break up the tight collagen bands under the skin. This frees up the deep attachments to allow the skin to flatten and elevate. Subcision is a double edged sword and should be used only selectively. This is because the trauma of the procedure may actually result in a worse scar being formed instead.
About Dr Chow Yuen Ho, MBBS
Dr Chow Yuen Ho graduated from Medical School in National University of Singapore in 1999 and has a special interest in aesthetics and skincare. He trained in Singapore General Hospital Department of Dermatology and started TCS Aesthetics Central, an aesthetic and cosmetic surgery clinic at The Central at Clarke Quay. He has been treating patients with acne for over a decade and has developed his protocol which he finds is suitable for oily Singaporean and tropical skin types.
Dr Chow suffered from severe acne during his younger days. It was only after he consulted with a doctor that his acne was successfully treated. He has undergone several laser treatments to improve his acne scars, and hence the treatment of acne and pimple scars is an area of special interest for him.
Unfortunately not for all types of scars. Certain lightening creams may work on pigmented scars and purple scars, but for depressed scars, it is safe to say that most DIY treatments do not work well. In addition, there are some self peel kits available on the internet which may potentially cause serious burns to the skin. Patients are well advised to steer clear of self administered AHA/BHA/PHA peels of high concentrations for safety reasons.
We are confident that you will see improvements WITH EVERY TREATMENT. You do not need a course of treatments to see improvements. For patients who are younger and do not smoke, their skin will heal faster. Hence they see results sooner than others.
To get complete healing of scars, typical healing times may be between 3 months to as many as 12 months for patients with deep scars. We cannot guarantee complete healing of scars, as everybody’s skin varies. However, we are confident of a marked improvement in the skin.
Important note: The Ministry of Health of Singapore does not allow the publishing of before and after photographs and patient testimonials in advertising materials. We try our best to respect and abide by all MOH guidelines on advertising and would be happy to show you more photographs and pictures from our delighted patients when you come in for a consultation.