Acne scar is a mark left over on the skin after the acne has been treated and cured. These disfiguring acne scars create embarrassment and complex in the affected person. Dermatologist prescribes topical skin care products that remove scarring. More stubborn scars can be removed by surgery followed by skin surfacing.

Following the healing of an acne lesion, a red or black colored mark is left on the skin. This is the post inflammatory stage. The skin heals and remodels itself after the acne treatment for 6 months. As such the skin gets normal tone but if the color change persists even after a year, this defect is called the scar. Preventing acne lesions affecting the skin is the best method of avoiding acne scars. People in the teens should be educated on the factors that give rise to acne and the respective treatments to be administered for each acne type.

Certain medications help the natural healing process of the skin during the post-inflammatory stages. Using the sun screen to protect the skin from exposure to the sun is a preventive step in damage control. Tretinoin is a good acne scar treatment which can be used to quicken the skin's natural reforming process and thereby helps in post-inflammatory stages. A formulation of alpha-hydroxy acid and beta-hydroxy acid in a specified concentration is a good acne scar treatment. The acne affected person should not squeeze or pick the scabs which cover the infection during healing.

Scientists have classified acne scars into three types i.e. icepick, rolling and boxcar depending on their appearance. The first type of scar named icepick is sharp and looks as if the skin is holed by icepick. The scars are deeper up to subcutaneous layers. Skin resurfacing operation like dermabrasion or laser resurfacing cannot make the icepick scars disappear.

The rolling scars give the skin an undulating appearance. The normal skin is knotted to the subcutaneous tissue underneath. The fibrous bands which tie the tope skin have to be broken up to remove the scars. The skin resurfacing technique does not help.

Concave depressions having sharp edges at the skin level are the boxcar scar type. Some scars which are not deep are cured by skin resurfacing techniques. But deeper marks should be cleared by full thickness acne scar treatment techniques. Dermal fillers like bovine collagen, human collagen are clinically injected into the scars to raise the depressed skin to the normal level. This is not a onetime acne scar treatment and should be repeated as and when necessary.

Punch excision is an acne scar treatment used in deep scars of icepick and boxcar types. The surgeon uses a punch biopsy tool with diameter of 1.5 mm to excise the scar using local anesthesia. Then he sutures the skin edges together. The new scar fades away or may be corrected using resurfacing techniques. The skin suturing technique can be replaced by filling the punched portion with skin graft taken from behind the ear of the patient. The skin surface may differ in color and again resurfacing technique can rectify the defect.

In deeper boxcar type scars, the base of the scar is excised using the punch biopsy tool. Then the base is elevated to the level of the rest of the skin and attached with skin glue called Derma bond. Here there is no color mismatch. With all these fine techniques, the face and upper neck portions of the person start looking near to normal and relieves him/her from the complex.