Acne Scar Reduction by Subcision

Subcision is a simple and safe in-office surgery procedure for the really deep kinds of acne scars that leave depressions in the skin. If the acne scarring has severe depressions, we usually do subcision before we start with any acne scar skin rejuvenation treatments such as Fraxel Dual, Dermapen skin needling or RF Needling.

With this treatment, skin in the affected area is separated from the scar tissue and this allows the skin to grow more level. After subcision, other treatments, such as Fraxel Dual, Pearl Fractional, CO2 Fractional laser, Rf Needling, Carboxytherapy and Dermapen Skin Needling will smooth out the scar tissue itself and even out the skin colour.

It is mainly useful for rolling scars and boxcar scars (distensible, depressed scars with gently sloping edges). This procedure is not so successful for “ice pick" acne scars which look like large, deep pores.

For men who have acne scarring, these treatments are aimed at breaking down the scar tissue and causing the skin to regenerate and heal normally. In this way, scars can be significantly improved, resulting in much smoother, youthful-looking skin.

The area to be treated is marked off with a white pencil. Subcision is performed under local topical anesthesia with Lidocaine Adrenaline, a substance that numbs and blanches the skin so that excessive bruising is minimised.

Magic Mesolift, in which a filler is combined with growth factor serum and injected into the treated area in order to speed up the healing process and lift the scarred area more effectively.

Mesotherapy using Dermaheal SRS growth factors can be injected by meso-papule over the treated area.

Filler or HA injections can be performed to raise the indented areas immediately.

Repeated treatments are required for better cosmetic results. Repeat sessions are done after a 3-month interval. The number of session is dependent on the severity of the scarring.

Other treatments such as Fraxel Dual, RF Needling, FSR and Dermapen can be started as early as 3 weeks after each subcision treatment.

PRE-OPERATIVE CARE

The procedure is preferably done before a weekend or holiday for working patients as there may be bruising and swelling afterward.

Stop all aspirin, anti-inflammatories, and omega 3 supplements 7-10 days before the treatment.

POST-OPERATIVE CARE

Ice application on the operated site on the day, anti-inflammatory drugs for 5–7 days only if necessary.

SUMMARY

Subcision is a safe, simple technique that provides significant long-term improvement in the “rolling scars” of selected patients. It can be safely and easily combined with other treatments for acne scars. Subcision may be performed alone (as a stand-alone treatment) or as an adjunct to other procedures like Fraxel Dual, Pearl Fractional, CO2 Fractional Laser, Rf Needling, FSR and Dermapen Skin Needling.