10 Ways to Classify Your Acne Scars

For most of us that endure the ravages of acne, you don’t really care much about scientifically classifying your lesions or scars. You just wish they would go away! That is completely understandable – however, understanding the type of acne scarring that you have could actually be the first step in figuring out how you can get rid of it. Laser acne therapy and dermal fillers for acne scars are now very popular, very long-lasting and very effective treatments for acne scarring, with laser therapy also having some benefits for active acne. The treatment types will vary depending on what type of scarring you have, though – so today we help you take that initial step of classifying your scars to help prepare you for acne scar treatments. 

Grading levels of acne scarring

The first four ways of classifying your acne scars relate to their severity, generalizing about the individual differences between scars. You might have Grade 1, 2, 3 or 4 acne scarring, with different laser acne treatment or pigmentation treatment options for each level.

Grade 1 scarring: Is mostly pigment-based. Ordinary scars from cuts to your skin appear white – in grade 1 acne scarring the lesions are also white or hypo-pigmented.

Grade 2 scarring:  Grade 2 scarring is defined as being visible at distances of less than 50cm, and able to be covered by makeup. Of course, not everyone is happy with needing lifelong cosmetics to ‘look normal’, and for many people cosmetic use causes breakouts – so laser acne treatment is a real possibility at this stage.

Grade 3 scarring: Grade 3 scarring is not easily covered by cosmetics, and is visible from more than 50cm away. When we talk about rolling scars, shallow boxcar scars and hypertrophic scars later on, remember that those scars will often fit into grade 3.

Grade 4 scarring: Is also difficult to cover and seen at distances greater than 50cm away, but cannot be flattened by stretching the skin. Icepick scars, deep divots, keloid scarring and sever boxcar scars fit into this category – more on those names in a second. These may need a combination of laser acne scar treatment and dermal fillers to improve their appearance.

Specific types of acne scarring

When you are looking at a particular acne scar, or a confined area or type of acne scarring, there are also other ways to classify them. These include:

Macular scarring: This type of scarring is the only one counted in grade 1 acne scarring. Laser acne scar treatment isn’t effective for macular scarring, and it usually isn’t feasible to remove the rest of the pigmentation in the face to match the lightened area. The most usual treatment is with lightening creams to help even out skin tone.

Boxcar scars: These acne scars look as if they have been punched out with a hole punch. If you cross sectioned them, they would have sharp vertical edges. They might be treated by either dermal filler or laser acne scar treatment, depending on their severity.

Rolling scars: Where acne scars have been deep and the overlying skin tethered to structures beneath, these are known as rolling scars. Large uneven patches can be treated with lasers or skin needling.

Deep divots and ice-pick scars: Deep scars that have involved the loss of subcutaneous tissue are either deep divots (larger surface area) or ice pick scars (small holes). Chemical peels, microdermabrasion, laser acne scar treatment and skin needling can do a lot to improve the look of these scars.

Hypertrophic scarring: These are often pigmented scars. The pigment can be removed by laser, and the surrounding area treated with either fillers or laser to stimulate collagen production.

Keloid scarring: These scars are big, red-purple and nasty – skin needling and skin resurfacing by laser is the treatment of choice, but doesn’t completely eradicate the scars.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 01:47 and is filed under Acne and Acne Scarring . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.