What Kind of Acne Causes Scars; Scarring Types and Causes

What’s more horrible than those pimples popping up on your face are the scars your acne leaves behind. Pimples may be temporary, but scars can be permanent. However, you can get rid of acne scars if you know what causes acne scars.

Let’s have a look at the types and causes of acne scars so that you know what kind of acne scarring you have and how to fight it.

Acne Types that Leaves Scars

There are three common types of acne scarring:

  1. Atrophic scars
  2. Hypertrophic scars
  3. Keloid Scars

1. Atrophic Scars

Atrophic scars occur when the skin can’t regenerate tissues, appearing as a depressed region, often looking pitted. Atrophic scars are mainly caused by collagen degradation because of inflammatory conditions like acne or chickenpox.

Atrophic scars are divided into three types, i.e.,

Ice Pick Scars

Ice pack scars are deep or small scars that go down into the dermis. These V-shaped scars make your skin look like some sharp instrument or if an ice pick has pierced your skin. Ice pick scars appear as thin, small, and deep holes in the skin.

Cause: Ice picks may form by an infection caused by a cyst, or it may be a deep inflamed blemish that extends to the surface.

Boxcar Scars

Unlike ice pick scars, boxcar scars are wider and oval with a strongly defined outline. These scars often give your skin an uneven, pitted appearance.

Causes: Boxcar scars develop if a person has inflammatory acne for a very long time. What happens is that the body stops producing enough collagen needed for healing. Thus, the inflamed lesions extend deeper into the skin.

Rolling Scars

Rolling scars give the skin a rolling or uneven appearance. They are usually a few millimeters in width; the size depends on your skin’s healing process.

Causes: These scars develop when bands of scars tissues develop beneath the skin and give skin an uneven, wavy appearance. . Picking or squeezing your acne can also cause rolling scars.

2. Hypertrophic Scars

Acne scars that are firm, thick, or raised just above the surface of the skin are called hypertrophic scars. These acne scars are often found on the torso (primarily in men), but they can appear anywhere on the body. Hypertrophic scars commonly happen after a severe injury or trauma.

Causes: Hypertrophic scars develop because of the abnormal production of collagen and a decrease in elastin.

3. Keloid Scars

Keloids are a more serious form of raised scar. Unlike hypertrophic scars, they grow bigger than the original wound. Keloids grow after the skin wound heals, and unfortunately, these scars grow larger than the original wound.

Causes: Keloid scars occur because the skin does not recognize that the wound has already healed and continues producing collagen. Other causes of keloid scars include burns, ear piercing, chickenpox, surgical incision sites, scratches, vaccination sites.

To Wrap It Up

Treating acne scars becomes easy when you know the root cause of scarring. I hope this article helps you learn what kind of acne scarring you have. Click here to know various treatments for acne scarring.

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