Before addressing a treatment for acne scars, it's important to point out that reddish acne marks that resemble scars are not actually scars because no permanent change has happened. In other words they are not true scarring and disappear in time, however, while they are visible they can cause embarrassment.

Lesions known as macules or "pseudo-scars" are flat, red or reddish spots that appear in the final stage of most inflamed acne lesions. After the inflammation of an acne lesion is gone, a macule may remain to "mark the spot" for up to 24 more weeks. When a macule eventually disappears, no trace of it will remain, unlike a scar.

After the inflammation of an acne lesion has passed, skin pigmentation can become dark or discolorated. The lesion's color can range from light brown to black. Under sunlight exposure (UV rays), lesions may become darker. It occurs more frequently in darker-skinned people, but can be sometimes seen in people with white skin. Early application of a natural skin care cream minimizes the development of post-inflammatory pigmentation and also vanishes older marks. If untreated, post-inflammatory pigmentation can even continue for up to 18 months, specially with excessive sun exposure.

Causes of Acne Scars

Acne scars appear when spots become inflamed or don't heal properly. While scarring for some people seems to depend on genetic factors or skin color, precautions can be taken to prevent scars along with treatments, which significantly reduce a scarred skin's appearance.

Basically, scars form at the site of injury and are the evident reminders of wound and tissue repair. In the case of acne, the injury is originated by the body's inflammatory response to sebum, bacteria, and dead cells in the plugged sebaceous follicle. There are two types of true scars:

(1) Depressed areas such as pitted acne scarring or ice-pick scars, and

(2) Raised thickened tissue such as keloids.

When tissue suffers an injury, the body rushes in its 'repair kit' to the wound site. The skin activitates all its defensive and repair systems, where elements such as white blood cells, inflammatory molecules, and regenerative elements have the mission of repairing tissue and controlling infection. However, when their mission is done they may leave a somewhat messy repair patch in the form of fibrous scar tissue, or deteriorated tissue. It's not always that way.

White blood cells and inflammatory molecules may stay at the site of an active acne lesion for days or even weeks. This can result in an acne scar in people who easily scar. The occurrence and incidence of scarring is still not well understood, however. There is considerable variation in scarring between one person and another, meaning that some people are more susceptible to scarring than others (ex. genetic factors or skin color). Scarring frequently is a consequence of severe inflammatory nodular cystic acne that occurs deep in the skin. But, scarring may also appear from more superficial inflamed lesions.