Before addressing a treatment for acne scars, it's pertinent 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 real scarring and disappear in time, nonetheless while they are visible they can cause uneasiness.

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 6 more months. When a macule finally fades, no trace of it will remain, unlike a scar.

Post-inflammatory pigmentation is darkening or discoloration of the skin at the site of a healed or healing inflamed acne lesion. The lesion's color varies from light brown to black. Under sunlight exposure (UV rays), lesions may become darker. It happens more frequently in darker-skinned people, but is occasionally seen in people with white skin. Early application of a natural skin care product attenuates the occurrence of post-inflammatory pigmentation and also eliminates existing marks. Some post-inflammatory pigmentation if untreated may continue for up to 18 months, specially with exaggerated sun exposure.

Scars formed by Acne

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

Basically, scars appear at the site of damage and are the visible reminders of wound and tissue repair. In the case of acne, the injury is caused by the body's inflammatory reaction to sebum, bacteria, and dead cells in the plugged sebaceous follicle. Two types of true scars exist:

(1) Depressed areas, commonly associated with pitted acne scarring or ice-pick scars, and

(2) Raised hardened tissue such as keloids.

When tissue suffers an injury, the body sends in its 'repair kit' to the wound site. The skin activitates all its immune and repair systems, where elements such as white blood cells, inflammatory molecules, and reconstructive elements have the mission of repairing tissue and fighting infection. However, when their job is done they can leave a somewhat messy repair site in the form of fibrous scar tissue, or eroded tissue. But sometimes it's different.

Leukocytes and inflammatory molecules may remain at the site of an active acne lesion for days or even weeks. In people who are susceptible to scarring the result may be an acne scar. More studies about the occurrence and incidence of scarring are needed. There is considerable variation in scarring between one person and another, indicating that some people are more susceptible to scarring than others (ex. hereditary factors or skin color). Scarring frequently results from severe inflammatory nodular cystic acne that happens deep in the skin. But, scarring may also arise from more superficial inflamed lesions.