Acne scars, the permanent marks left behind by acne blemishes, are best avoided if possible.
However, sometimes you can’t help it, and your skin scars, leaving you with permanent marks that will last forever, if left untreated.
Fortunately, we have a much better understanding of acne scars and scar tissue than we did in past years, and there are several treatment options available. The treatment that will be best for you depends entirely on the type of scars you have.
There are 4 basic types of acne scars: Ice-pick, boxcar, rolling, and hypertrophic.
In this article we’ll take an in-depth look at ice-pick acne scars. We’ll start with talking about what they actually are, what causes them, and finally we’ll discuss the treatment options available for someone with this type of acne scarring.
What Are Ice-Pick Acne Scars?
Ice-pick scars are probably the most common type of acne scars. They are narrow, but deep, pits in the skin that extend from the surface to deep layers of the dermis. The scars look like small hole in the skin, like it has been literally poked with an ice-pick.
Ice-pick scars are typically less than 2mm in diameter, however their depth into the skin makes them rather difficult to treat.
See below for a better understanding of what ice-pick acne scars look like.
Ice-Pick Acne Scar Pictures
What Causes Ice-Pick Acne Scars?
Ice-pick scars, like all scars, are caused as a result of the body trying to repair itself after injury.
In the case of acne scars, the injury is actually the comedone (pimple) that is really a hair follicle that has been burst open due to being clogged and filled with sebum.
As the body trying to repair the damaged tissue, the structure of a naturally occurring substance known as collagen gets altered, which gives the appearance of scar tissue.
Ice-Pick Scar Treatment Options
Unfortunately, treatment options for ice-pick scars are rather limited. Although they are very narrow, the depth of the scar makes many scar reduction techniques (such as dermabrasion) ineffective.
Punch Excision
The most popular, and most effective treatment, for ice-pick scars is called punch excision.
During this procedure, a small cutting tool which is literally like a cookie-cutter for your skin is used to remove the entire ice-pick scar. This forces your body to replace the skin in the area, and while the new tissue may also have scar tissue, it will be a type of scar that is typically less noticeable and is easier to treat with other scar treatment options such as dermabrasion or chemical peels.
Chemical Peels
A chemical peel can be used to remove the surface layers of skin, forcing them to regenerate. This removes some of the scar tissue as the body grows new skin.
Many ice-pick scars are too deep to be fully eliminated with chemical peels, however it can be an effective treatment if performed 6-8 weeks after punch excision has been performed.
Laser Resurfacing
Similar to the way chemical peels work, only using a laser to remove the top layers of skin rather than a chemical.
This type of procedure is typically more accurate and requires less downtime than a chemical peel, however it is also more costly.
Just the same as with chemical peels, many ice-pick scars are too deep to be effectively removed with laser resurfacing, however after punch excision it can do a better job of removing excess scar tissue.
