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Usually, the mild type of acne occurring in most people does not leave scars, or if it does, the scarring heals naturally over time. But people suffering from severe forms of acne such as nodular cystic acne can be left with noticeable scarring in the skin.

There are also spots and pigmentation that relate to acne that are not precisely scars but resemble them physically. These disappear eventually but are visible enough to cause embarrassment. Macules are like pseudo- scars, which are sometimes left behind by an inflamed acne pimple. These flat red spots are just the final stage of any inflamed lesion. Unlike a scar, a macule can take time to disappear, but once it vanishes, it leaves no trace behind.

A discoloration of the skin my occur following the curing of any inflamed acne pimple. It is more usual in dark skinned people, but can take place in white skin also. This is called "post inflammatory pigmentation." It may need treatment by a dermatologist.

Finding solutions for different acne scars

Based on the shape of tissue, acne scars are classified in two categories. One type of scar consists of augmented skin tissue, and the others are specified by the diminution in tissue on the site of acne. Overgrowth of scar tissue is called Keloid and is more pronounced in African-Americans. The profound, linear scar formed by acne is refered to as the ice-pick scar. These are quite deep and eliminating them is difficult.

One more cause of acne scarring is the pinching and squeezing of acne. This spreads the infection to surrounding skin and damages unhealed tissue, which results in pit-like scars.

Treatment of acne scarring varies from simple acne scar cream to laser treatment, skin graft, and painful dermabrasion. Filling agents are also used to remove acne scars. Most filling agents are provisional, like collagen. For deep ice-pick scars, the best treatment is to cut the scars and replace them with a skin graft taken from behind the ear. This technique is known as punch grafting.

Dermabrasion is virtually the opposite of the cutting down technique. Here, the normal skin is eliminated to bring the acne scar to a lower level. In this case the scar remains the same but the height of rest of the skin varies, making them shallower. It confers skin a softer surface.

In acne scar treatment, another method is laser surgery. In this treatment, carbon dioxide is used, which removes skin very finely, layer by layer, thus reducing the harm to healthy tissue. Like dermabrasion, this method also leaves skin red for months.

In peeling treatments, chemicals are used to remove the outermost layer of skin, the epidermis. To diminish different kinds of scarring, superficial peels, medium-depth peels, and deep peels are used. These are mostly helpful for shallow, superficial scars. Scars produced by cystic acne and acne rosacea are treated by this method. Peeling is a long procedure that requires a preparation period of several weeks before the actual procedure.