Taking Initial Treatment Steps

The oral and topical treatments used to treat acne don’t do very
much to improve the appearance of acne scars. However, derma-
tologists and plastic surgeons do offer a number of treatment
options if you have scars. The type of treatment you decide upon
should be the one that is best for you in terms of your type of skin,
the cost of the treatment, and what you want it to accomplish.
Deciding whether you want
to do anything about it
A decision to seek treatment for acne scars, and the specific treat-
ments that you may choose, depend on a number of factors that
you and your doctor can discuss and weigh:
 How do you feel about your scars? You may have scars and
could care less about them or they may be psychologically
distressing to you. Do the scars emotionally affect your life?
Are you willing to live with your scars and wait for them to
fade over time?
 What’s your age, overall health, and medical history? If
you’re a teenager or healthy adult, you’d probably want to
wait until your acne is no longer active. If you’re an adult or
senior who has medical problems and are taking several med-
ications, consult with your primary care provider before
embarking on any surgical procedure.
 How bad are your scars? Are they disfiguring? The severity
of the scars can affect whether you’re willing to go through
treatment.
 What kind of scars do you have? Some scars respond more
readily to treatment, and others, like keloids, indicate that
treatment could actually cause more scarring. What’s your doctor’s opinion? An expert opinion as to
whether scar treatment is justified in your particular case may
help you decide upon the most effective treatment for you.
 What do you want to accomplish? Maybe you just want to
diminish the appearance of deep scars or maybe you’re trying
out for a part in a feature film.
 How will you pay for treatment? Get a handle on your
finances and insurance coverage before you make any deci-
sions. You need to determine the costs that you’ll have to pay
out of pocket and whether you can afford to do so. A signifi-
cant investment of time and money is often needed.
Most of these procedures aren’t covered by health insurance
plans because they’re generally considered to be cosmetic in
nature. It may go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway:
They’re all pretty expensive. Just to give you an idea, a laser
skin resurfacing can cost from $4,000 to $5,000 or more!
Also be aware that acne scars are particularly difficult to treat and
they can’t always be effectively corrected by one single treatment
method. In fact, using more than one method may yield better
results. Before committing to treatment of acne scars, you should
have a discussion with your doctor.