3 Tips for Healing Acne Scars
I recently got an email about this, and since a lot of people have to deal with acne scars it’s well worth repeating. Even after you finally achieve clear skin, acne scars can leave unsightly blemishes that can take a long time to go away, but there are thankfully some things you can do to help speed your skin’s repair process. Just remember that these tips apply mainly to minor acne scars. Very large or deep acne scars are usually beyond your control, and may require a surgical solution. You should see a dermatologist first in these cases.
The first thing to think about is exfoliation. You’ll want to be regularly shedding that top layer of your skin so as to stimulate the process of tissue repair and get rid of those dead cells. This can be done with microdermabrasion kits (which you should be careful with and only use as a dermatologist suggests), exfoliation scrubs, or chemical peels and lotions. Of these, the easiest and often most helpful are exfoliating scrubs and pastes. These give you direct control over the exfoliation process, and are usually less risky than other methods. With scrubs your results are clear and can be felt as soon as you finish. Chemical peels use acid to burn away the top layer of skin, but these can be overly abrasive, or alternately not work at all. While some peels claim to nourish your skin with extracts and nutrients, the fact is this is mostly BS. Common sense should tell you that your skin will get much better nourishment from eating an apple than from rubbing apple extract on your face. The best nourishment works from the inside-out.
On that note, the second tip is to take the right supplements to promote your skin’s healing. If you are already using a vitamin B5 acne treatment such as Clear5, adding a daily dose of vitamin C is your best bet. As I’ve mentioned before, vitamins B5 and C work especially well together to promote tissue repair, but you need enough vitamin C. Some other B5 treatments already include C, but it’s often not enough to make a difference. You’ll want to take at least 400 mg of vitamin C daily to best compliment your B5 regimen and help your skin repair from those scars as quickly as possible.
Lastly, go out and get some sun. I’m not saying that you should engage in serious tanning. Too mush sun can be harmful. But the fact is, most people err on the side of not getting enough sun. Try to get at least 15 minutes of direct sunlight each day. Besides providing your body with vitamin D, this can be a very helpful step to improving the appearance of those acne scars. Sunlight can aid your skin’s healing process, as it promotes both circulation and exfoliation.
