What do they look like?

• These scars are often undulating and make the skin look uneven or lumpy.
• They can have shallow depressions termed “box-car’ scars and deeper scar pits termed ‘ice-pick’ scars.
• They are often similar in colour to the surrounding skin unless the acne is still active in which case they can be purple or red.
• They mainly occur on the cheeks, jaw, forehead, shoulders, back and chest.

How can this scar be improved?

• Scars like these respond very well to CO2 laser resurfacing, which removed the top few layers of skin and leaves the scarred area much smoother.
• In addition to the CO2 laser, ‘ice pick’ scars which go very deep are sometimes best treated with very narrow surgical excision (using a punch biopsy or narrow blade) to allow for smoother skin healing on removal of the thin scar.
• Any CO2 laser treatment of acne scarring must be at least 6 months post-cessation of any retinoid treatment to allow for optimal healing of the treated scars.