Acne, also known as pimples, is a by-product of youthful vigor and should have gone away with youth, but it leaves a mark when the geese pass by. According to statistics, the prevalence of acne in adolescents between the ages of 10 and 18 is higher than 50%, and nearly 10% of acne sufferers will have acne scars that are either mild or severe. These often appear as acne pits of varying sizes and depths. Severe facial depressed acne scarring can have a negative impact on social activities and mental health. Effective treatments for this type of facial depressed acne scarring currently include: oral medications, chemical peels, mechanical skin abrasion, and laser abrasion. Since medication is relatively mild, chemical peels tend to cause incurable hyperpigmentation, and mechanical abrasion such as skin grinding wheels do not easily control the depth of treatment and do not facilitate precise grinding of individual or very small areas of depressed scarring, it is difficult to achieve optimal results. Therefore, laser is the commonly used method. Lasers are divided into non-ablative and ablative treatments.
Non-ablative treatment: including 532 nm KTP laser (green light), 585 nm pulsed dye laser (yellow light), 1064 nm/1320 nm Nd:YAG laser (infrared light) and 1450 nm diode laser (infrared light), using the principle of selective photothermal action, different lasers are selected to act on different target tissues (water, hemoglobin and melanin). The laser selectively stimulates the regeneration of collagen fibers in the dermis, while the epidermis is not affected. Due to its less invasive action, its efficiency is 40% to 50%, and it is commonly used to treat patients with darker skin tones, which reduces the probability of postoperative hyperpigmentation. Therefore, the above lasers and intense pulsed light containing the above wavelengths are both better for acne scarring and do not produce missed work due to scab formation, which is more suitable for students or office workers.
Exfoliative laser: including CO2 laser and Er:YAG laser, although it can achieve good results and improve the texture of the skin with an efficiency rate of 25% to 90%, its adverse effects include persistent erythema and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation for yellow people, especially occurring in patients with dark complexion, thus limiting its application.
Fractional laser: It is a new type of device that uses “selective photothermal action” to produce multiple light spots on the skin based on a peel or non-peel laser, and controls the depth, width and density of the treatment area by the range of light spots on the skin, while the surrounding skin remains intact and the wound heals quickly. It can effectively treat acne scarring. It can peel off tissue and stimulate collagen tissue regeneration. The improvement rate of acne is 43%-79.9%. Although there is a missed work period for scab formation, the results are definite, faster healing than exfoliative laser, less likely to leave pigmentation, and effective. Once it was introduced, it was warmly welcomed. It is more suitable for students or staff with vacation schedule.