Prevention is always the best way to avoid scarring and blemishes from developing in the first place by using a good skin care routine that will keep congestion and breakouts under control. It is also important to avoid picking, poking, or touching a pimple as tempting as it can be!
If the blemishes are already there what can you do? While there isn’t a magic wand that can get rid of them overnight, it’s important to mention that there’s a difference between acne marks and acne scars and it’s going to be very helpful to learn how to distinguish between the two in order to successfully treat them.
Clients often mistake dark spots and blemishes for acne scars but they’re actually quite different. The red, purple or brown marks that linger after a pimple or blemish has disappeared can be post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation which can take 3-6 months to go away on their own but there are topical products and treatments that will help. For marks that are more brownish in colour, pigment-lightening ingredients like retinol, vitamin C, arbutin, kojic acid, or licorice can help treat discolouration. Products such as retinol, vitamin c serums, sunscreens and skin lighteners can certainly assist with speeding up the process for you.
Skincare Routine Essentials
- Vitamin C (containing pure L-ascorbic acid) can help build collagen and promote healing (SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF)
- A high quality Sun Protection will protect from UVA and UVB rays and avoid further darkening and pigmentation of blemishes and acne marks (SkinCeuticals Brightening UV Defense)
- Retinol is a superficial treatment that helps with acne marks by causing accelerated cell turnover and pushing cells with discoloured pigment up to the surface (Obagi Retinol 1.0)
- Skin Lighteners (SkinCeuticals Advanced Pigment Corrector)
- Exfoliation (SkinCeuticals Retexturing Activator)
Potential Treatments
Skin-brightening ingredients are fantastic for discolouration left from spots and blemishes but they don’t work as well for pink or red acne marks unrelated to the skin’s pigment or melanin. For these marks in particular I would recommend protecting with antioxidant/sun protection and reducing with laser treatment such as Affirm Laser Rejuvenation which is available exclusively at our clinics. It usually takes a course of 4-6 treatments to significantly reduce the appearance of red marks left by pimples and spots but they can lighten up significantly after just one treatment.
Affirm laser rejuvenation is a non-ablative fractional treatment that promotes overall skin rejuvenation, helps improve skin tone and texture thereby making the blemishes repair and heal to reveal a new skin with minimal recovery time.
Superficial and deep thermal heat will rejuvenate the top layer treating superficial texture while also targeting deeper layers to stimulate collagen remodeling skin tissue especially for red blemishes and acne scars. A consultation and patch test is required prior to treatment pricing starts at €300 per treatment for full face.
