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A guide to acne scars and Fraxel® DUAL treatment
At Essential Dermatology in Natick, Marlborough, and Needham, Massachusetts, Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Michael Krathen and our team understand how breakouts, injuries, and surgeries can leave lasting scars. These marks serve as unpleasant reminders of painful experiences. We take pride in helping you leave these behind with effective acne scar treatment. If you’re searching for a “doctor to treat scars near me in MetroWest, Massachusetts,” keep in mind that the best therapy depends on factors unique to you. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.
What do you mean by “scar type”?
Any scar caused by acne, chickenpox, surgery, or injury develops during the healing process. How the scar heals affects the features or type of the present scar. For instance, you may develop atrophic or depressed scars when insufficient collagen is produced during the healing process. This can result in a lack of tissue in the traumatized areas. These areas may look like small dents, dips, and dimples. Likewise, you may develop hypertrophic or raised scars. These scars occur when there is an overproduction of collagen during the healing process. This can result in excess tissue and areas that look bumpy or lumpy and stick out above the surrounding skin. As it relates specifically to acne scars, the type of scarring that results later also depends on the kind of acne you had in the first place and how your acne was treated. Sometimes, you may have more than one type of acne scar.
Why does the type of scar matter?
We must understand everything we can about the conditions or skin concerns we must treat. Without this knowledge, we could not develop a treatment plan that effectively addresses the problem. It would be like aiming at the wrong target. For acne scars, some types of treatments available at our offices in Natick and Marlborough may be better for atrophic scars than hypertrophic scars, or the opposite may be true.
What therapies do you offer?
Lasers can be a particularly effective way to treat many kinds of scars because they stimulate changes to the structural components within the skin. Notably, lasers like the Fraxel® DUAL system trigger the production of collagen. You’ll remember that the lack of collagen can be responsible for your scars and areas that look and feel different from the surrounding skin. We can compensate for the lack of collagen during the healing process by stimulating more of this essential, firming protein and component of healthy skin. In turn, Fraxel® DUAL can make a tremendous difference in the appearance of depressed scars; however, Fraxel® and other lasers may also be used to treat raised scars. In these cases, the laser- or light-based treatment may be used with other therapies that first aim to reduce the scar.
Call Our Office for More Information
Essential Dermatology - Natick
New Patients: (508) 545-9713 | Existing Patients:
(508) 827-2615
Essential Dermatology - Marlborough
New Patients: (508) 545-9611 | Existing Patients:
(508) 827-2615
Essential Dermatology - Needham
New Patients: (508) 484-8292 | Existing Patients:
(508) 827-2615
Cosmetic Appointment
How do lasers work on acne scars?
All lasers generally involve directing a beam of light toward the area of concern. The energy from the laser beam generates heat. The Fraxel® DUAL laser is a non-ablative fractional laser. This is just the medical way of referring to a laser that does not remove tissue and treats a fraction of the skin at a time. Fractional, non-wounding lasers provide the best of both worlds; we can deeply treat “remodeled” tissues without the pain and risks of severe side effects and complications associated with ablative lasers that remove tissue. Fraxel® DUAL is highly tolerable with built-in cooling and anesthetic. Treatment is often described as a temporary sensation of warmth and prickling. Afterward, your face may look sunburnt for a week. But you can get back to most (non-strenuous) activities right away.
Do I need more than one treatment?
Most acne scars can be improved with two to three sessions spaced six weeks apart. Since collagen builds gradually, results improve over the next three to six months. Because the treatment works beneath the surface, results are long-lasting. With proper skincare, they can last for years.
To learn more about overcoming acne scars, request a consultation at Essential Dermatology by calling (508) 545-9713 (Natick, MA) or (508) 545-9611 (Marlborough) or (508) 484-8292.
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Meet Dr. Michael Krathen
Dr. Michael Krathen is a board-certified dermatologist with over a decade of medical training and experience. He studied biology and Spanish, graduating summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where he also completed medical school. His training included a medical internship at the Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and a dermatology residency at the combined Boston University/Tufts Residency Program.
Author of various medical journal articles, Dr. Krathen taught at Stanford University School of Medicine and the VA Hospital in Jamaica Plain.
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