How much improvement can you expect from acne scar treatment?
For atrophic acne scars an improvement of thirty to fifty per cent across a full course of treatment is achievable, and occasionally more. It is not possible to eliminate acne scars entirely, whatever method is used.
In practice it means scars are shallower and less visible, and skin is less uneven. Under a magnifying mirror the scars will still be present. It is important to be aware that before and after photographs used in advertising are frequently taken under different lighting and at different angles and may not be representative of the true effects of a treatment.
How much improvement a particular patient will achieve depends upon several factors. Scar type matters, as rolling and shallow boxcar scars respond considerably better than ice pick scars. Whether the scars are tethered matters, since releasing tethering produces some of the largest single improvements available. The number of procedures the patient is willing to undergo, and over what period, is relevant, as is skin type, which determines how aggressively resurfacing can be used. Finally, whether the acne itself is under control matters a great deal, since active acne produces new scars throughout.
Results should be judged against photographs taken in identical lighting rather than against memory, which is unreliable as changes are gradual.
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