Acne Scarring

Q: Dr. Eppley, I have some deep acne scarring and red pigmentation. I had Matrix laser done with 4 treatments. They promise at least 80% improvement. There was no change. Even they admitted to no improvement. But no offer to help any further. It was a complete waste of time and money. I read your testimonial and hope you can help. As I get older scars getting worse. I have watched about all types of acne scarring procedures on Youtube, excision and then follow up with deep laser seems to be my guess. But I’m not a doctor. I’ll send pictures.

A: Trying to improve acne scarring is a challenge to say the least. There are no magical treatments and modest improvement at best is really what is obtainable. You are correct in that excision without or without fat grafting of the deepest ones is the most effective. Fractional lasers and the newer HALO system offers some improvement of the more shallow ones. Older patients also have another treatment option as their loose facial skin contributes to the worsening acne appearance. Tightening the skin on the side of the face (mini-facelift) can also be effective as the scars get stretched out and more flattened by some doing.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana