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Before discussing acne scars and their treatment, 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 true scarring and disappear in time, however, while they are visible they can cause embarrassment.

Flat, red or reddish spots that appear at the final stage of most inflamed acne lesions are called Macules or "pseudo-scars". 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 disappears, 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. Lesions may become darker if exposed to sunlight (UV rays). It happens more frequently in darker-skinned people, but can be occasionally observed in people with fair skin. Early application of a natural skin care cream attenuates the development of post-inflammatory pigmentation and also vanishes existing marks. Some post-inflammatory pigmentation if untreated may continue for up to 18 months, especially with excessive sun exposure.

Causes of Acne Scars

Acne scars appear after inflammation or improper healing of some spots. While scarring for some people seems to depend on hereditary factors or skin color, precautions can be taken to avoid scars along with solutions, which significantly reduce a scarred skin's appearance.

Basically, scars form at the site of damage and are the evident reminders of injury and tissue repair. In the case of acne, the injury is originated by the body's inflammatory reaction to sebum, bacteria, and dead cells in the plugged sebaceous follicle. There are two types of true scars:

(1) Depressed areas such as pitted acne scarring or ice-pick scars, and

(2) Raised thickened tissue such as keloids.

When tissue suffers a lesion, the body sends in its 'repair kit' to the injury site. The skin activitates all its immune and repair systems, where elements such as white blood cells, inflammatory molecules, and regenerative elements have the task of repairing tissue and fighting infection. However, when their job is done they can leave a somewhat messy repair patch in the form of fibrous scar tissue, or eroded tissue. It's not always that way.

Leukocytes and inflammatory molecules may remain at the site of an active acne lesion for days or even weeks. This can result in an acne scar in people who easily scar. The occurrence and incidence of scarring is still not well understood, however. There is an important variation in scarring between one person and another, meaning that some people are more susceptible to scarring than others (ex. hereditary factors or skin color). Scarring usually is a consequence of severe inflammatory nodular cystic acne that happens deep within the skin. But, scarring may also appear from more superficial inflamed lesions.