Acne scars: prevention and treatment

Although acne is not a life-threatening condition, it can greatly impact one’s quality-of-life and self-esteem. Everyone eventually outgrows acne. However, for those unfortunate individuals who develop acne scars, the skin defects are much longer lasting than acne itself.  Thus, the primary treatment goal is to prevent or at least minimize acne scar formation. 

In recent years, we have learned that many matrix degrading metalloproteinases are active, especially in inflamed acne lesions. Furthermore, natural history studies have revealed that atrophic scars can also arise from uninflamed comedones, particularly the larger ones.  In terms of prevention, therapeutic strategy must include ways to quench the inflammation, MMPs and removal of the comedones.  

To treat the commonest atrophic scars of acne, agents like topical retinoids which can build up dermal matrix (collagen) have been shown to be beneficial. Thus, evidence-based therapeutic approaches are available to both prevent and treat acne scars.