What are Ice Pick Scars?
There are many types of acne scars; ice pick scars are those with the rough edges and steep sides, as if hacked by an ice pick. If you were to see ice pick scar pictures, you'd recognize them as a common type of acne scarring. These scars can be shallow or deep, hard or soft. It is common for ice pick scars to extend all the way to the dermis or even subcutaneous skin layers. With time, ice pick scars can become depressed fibrotic scars.
Acne scars form due to the body's inflammatory response to acne lesions. These scars are categorized into loss of tissue scars. Boxcar scars and rolling scars are also characterized by loss of tissue.
On the other end of the spectrum are scars caused by the excess production of collagen; these include hypertrophic scars and keloids.
How To Get Rid Of Ice Pick Scars
As ice pick scars are typically deep, most acne scar removal methods are not effective. Dermabrasion and chemical peels only remove the superficial layer of skin and microdermabrasion even less so.
Another ice pick scar removal method is the use of lasers. Different lasers can be used to burn away a layer of skin. The fundamentals are the same in that this procedure stimulates new skin cell generation. Lasers also can improve the shape as well as reduce the redness of scars.
Although you might be eager to pursue acne scar treatment, to avoid improper healing and further scarring, do not move forward with any resurfacing procedure for at least 12 months after completing accutane.
If your scars are more than superficial, you might look into punch techniques. Unfortunately, ice pick scars are often too deep for punch grafts but it has been found helpful in removing scars where loss of tissue is involved. A punch graft or punch replacement is the procedure that removes scar tissue and transplants skin from another part of the body. Punch excision is similar to punch graft except no graft is transplanted. The wound is then closed by stretching the skin and left to heal. In punch elevation, a surgeon cuts the scar, allowing it to raise to the regular skin level. The recovery time involved is typically several weeks long.
An option for treating ice pick scars without physical removal of scar tissue is stretching of the skin. Unfortunately, this does not work for most as it is only effective on soft scars and most ice pick scars are deep and hard. Collagen or fat injections (also known as autologous fat transfer) can be injected into the skin to fill in the space below the area stretched. With fat transfer, the body reabsorbs it back into the body between half a year to a year and a half later and requires follow up injections.
Get rid of your ice pick scars or of deep boxcar acne scars with a chemical free cream that eliminates scar tissue and redness while improving the cell matrix of your skin.
