Skin Resurfacing Methods - What Can They Yield?

You've had acne scars for a while, what are your choices? Is there a treatment out there that works, can they be removed permanently? How effective are present treatments on different types of acne scarring? Do they work only on the surface or do they work deep within my skin? These are the type of questions you may have on your mind. Here we address them and explain what different methods available for acne scars resurfacing can yield.

First identify your facial acne scar. What type of scars do you have? Are they hypertrophic or ice-pick scars? (You can find out more with a click on scars types) Are your scars a consequence of acne lesions or a consequence of injuries or accidents? Scars arising from acne breakouts are mostly limited to scarring with loss of tissues or decreased skin tissue (known as atrophic acne scarring), which means there is nothing raised or lobulated (tissue formation increased) there; it's more of a pitted appearance like an irregular surface.

Where are your scars located? Are they on your face or your body? Body scarring tends to respond more slowly to most skin resurfacing methods. One obvious reason is that microcirculation of facial skin is more robust compared to that of the rest of the body.

Third question, how deep are those acne scars? Is it true that the deeper they are, the less chance of improvement? No, that isn't true. No matter how deep they are, there are treatment that work no matter how deep they are. With the aid of current methods your overall skin appearance can improve significantly. Scars will get better and your skin can change. However, you should keep your expectations in a realistic range. Complete eradication of body or face scars may not be feasible using current treatments.

Now if you have decided to treat acne scarring, which treatment suits you better? There are many factors you will want to consider. Among the most important ones are: recovery period, cost, skin type, an at home regimen as oppose to a professional in office procedure. Can you stay home for three four weeks after a procedure at a plastic surgeon office? For how long you've been having these scars? Ongoing treatments versus one-time procedures? Which one works better? Does the result of dermatolgy or surgeon removal procedures last longer? Are the results permanent? These are the type of questions you may have for at a dermatologist or a plastic surgeon. See also the frequently asked questions page.

Some scars can get healed on their own. Spontaneous recovery of hypertrophic lesions is sometimes seen. The oidd thing is you would have to wait at least six to twelve months to see how your skin heals itself, or not. The truth is most current facial skin treatments work through skin resurfacing, renewing your skin by removing the top layer of the skin. The results may vary though. One factor that especially affects the results is individual's skin type. Interestingly, individual's skin type can make you a better candidate for certain procedures. Most of the treatments act on the epidermis, removing the top layer of the skin, while their influence on the dermis, the second top layer, if any, is minimal.

The organization or arrangement of the extracellular fibers is usually impaired as a result of your own skin's healing mechanisms in response to an injury. Disorderly reorganization of extracellular fibers is normally clearly noticeable. Rearranging these haphazardly-arranged collagen fibers in the dermis is not something most procedures/treatments can achieve. There are some hopes in that regard using Vitamin C serums enriched with antioxidants, however, the net result is not very promising, especially when they are used alone.

Having said all that, should you treat acne scarring? Our answer is yes, we understand the amount of distress scars can bring to your life and we are here to help. Deep facial acne scarring may not be relieved entirely, however, their appearance can be greatly improved. Your face can experience smoothness, vitality and a healthy glow. Simultaneously, the appearance of your deep facial scarring can become less noticeable when all the area surrounding them is characterized by more uniformity, and smoothness.

There are numerous procedures that can be used to correct acne scars. Each procedure has its own risks and benefits, and several procedures are normally combined to create the smoothest appearing skin. Here is a brief discussion of the more effective acne treatment procedures.

Dermal Fillers
There are many types of dermal fillers that can be injected into acne scars to raise the surface of the skin and give a smoother look. Examples of dermal fillers are fat, bovine collagen, human collagen, hyaluronic acid derivatives, and polytheyl-methacrylate microspheres with collagen. The injection of these materials does not permanently correct acne scars, so further injections are necessary.

Punch Excision
This method of surgically correcting acne scars is used on deep scars such as icepick and deep boxcar scars.

This procedure uses a punch biopsy tool which is basically a round, sharp "cookie-cutter" tool that comes in diameters ranging from 1.5 mm to 3.5 mm. The size of the tool is matched to the size of the scar to include the walls of the scar. Under local anesthesia the scar is excised with the punch tool and the skin edges are sutured together. The newly produced scar eventually fades and may not be noticeable. If it is noticeable, it is more amenable now to resurfacing techniques.

Punch Excision with Skin Graft Replacement
With this method the scar is excised with the punch tool as above. Instead of suturing the skin edges together, the defect is filled with a punch skin graft usually taken from behind the ear. With this procedure a color and texture difference may be noticeable, but a skin resurfacing technique can be used 4-6 weeks after the grafting to correct this difference.

Punch Elevation
This method of surgically correcting acne scars is used on deep boxcar scars that have sharp edges and normal appearing bases. The same punch tool as above is used to excise the base of the scar leaving the walls of the scar intact. The excised base is then elevated to the surface of the skin and attached with sutures, steri-strips, or skin glue called Dermabond. This method lessens the risk of color or texture differences as can be seen with graft replacement, and lessens the risk of producing a visible scar as can be seen when wound edges are sutured.

Subcutaneous Incision
Subcutaneous incision, also known as Subcision, is used to break up the fibrous bands that cause rolling scars. Subcision is performed under local anesthesia by inserting a specially beveled needle under the skin so that it is parallel to the skin surface. Staying in the plane between the dermis and the subcutaneous tissue, the needle is gently advanced and retracted in a piston-like motion cutting the tethering bands. This procedure causes bruising which fades after about 1 week. The risks of subcision include bleeding and the formation of subcutaneous nodules. Bleeding can be controlled with proper use of anesthetics and bandaging, and the subcutaneous nodules can be treated with injection of corticosteroids into the nodule.

Laser Resurfacing
Laser resurfacing is a popular treatment for many skin defects. The most popular laser types used for resurfacing of acne scars are the carbon dioxide (CO2) and erbium:YAG (Er:YAG) lasers. Lasers work by essentially burning the top layers of skin to a precise depth. The skin then heals replacing the burned layers with newer appearing skin. The correct post-operative care of skin that has undergone laser resurfacing is a very important factor in determining the success of the procedure.

Removal of a scar using an at-home regimen such as a cream or lotion is a lengthy treatment that requires patience. However, we offer a skin care product tailored for scarring using a combination of abrading micro-crystals and a high-potency biological skin regenerating substance. This skin care product changes your complexion dramatically within one month, while more results will be noticeable with continous use. In two months the glow and smoothness in your skin is what is going to be noticed instead of the scarrings. Scars may never disappear completely, yet, your skin will divert into a skin strikingly different in terms of overall smoothness and radiance. Our microdermabrasion scars resurfacing product takes six to twelve months to smooth away scarrings. How much it takes for your skin depends on the depth of the scars. Location, type and depth of scars are factors that significantly affect the treatment. This renders "scars reduction" a more appropriate term than "scar removal" for what has been designed to alleviate scarrings' appearance.

The treatment works on the surface of the skin, the epidermis, as well as deep within the dermis layer. It also benefits from the retexturizing properties of enzymes and glycoconjugates for the removal of acne scar and damaged skin and it can be used by those still with active acne. The product also provides the skin with the nutrients it needs the most to make up for lost nutrients while the epidermis goes through skin renewal. The result is a new skin, where scars are hardly recognizable because overall smoothness of the skin overwhelms the gradually-disappearing scarrings.

The microdermabrasion treatment for acne scarring is a high potency resurfacing cream that retexturizes your skin. This retexturizer also nourishes the skin with essential elements and protects it against free radicals. Scarring starts to fade away gradually and your skin tone and texture dramatically changes. Glow becomes more noticeable in your skin rather than scarring.

The micro-crystals will remove the outermost microns of the skin, removing damaged and altered cells, and often causing pigmented areas to fade. The enzymes will penetrate deeply and act by dissolving damaged tissues deeper within the dermis and the results will be softer, smoother and a better color of the skin. The outcome depends on how much improvement you are seeking. The stronger the microdermabrasion massage used, the better the result, but the more redness and peeling it will cause and the recovery period will take longer as well.

This skin retexturizer also contains ingredients that will keep your skin moisturized and nourished all day long. This soothing cream helps your skin to rebuild and revitalize itself and facilitates scars healing and skin repairing. The exfoliating agent increases penetration of essential nutrients provided by the cream. For more information on acne scars, and its treatment with the home microdermabrasion method please see our comprehensive website.

Proteins & Enzymes In a Natural Skin Resurfacing Cream

Globular or “spheroproteins” as those in the cream are highly soluble in aqueous solutions. They act as enzymes and signal transduction proteins. Nearly all enzymes with major metabolic functions are globular in shape, as well as many signal transduction proteins.

Metabolism is the biochemical modification of chemical compounds in living organisms and cells. This includes the biosynthesis of complex organic molecules (anabolism) and their breakdown (catabolism). Metabolism usually consists of sequences of enzymatic steps, also called metabolic pathways. 

Cell metabolism is the process (or really the sum of many ongoing individual processes) by which living cells process nutrient molecules and maintain a living state. Metabolism has two distinct divisions: anabolism, in which a cell uses energy and reducing power to construct complex molecules and perform other life functions such a creating cellular structure; and catabolism, in which a cell breaks down complex molecules and uses energy and reducing power to construct complex molecules and perform other biological functions. Cell metabolism involves extremely complex sequences of controlled chemical reactions called metabolic pathways.

Protein catabolism is the breakdown of proteins into amino acids and simple derivative compounds, for transport into the cell through the plasma membrane and ultimately for the polymerisation into new proteins via the use of ribonucleic acids (RNA) and ribosomes.

Enzymes act as signal transduction or messengers that regulate biological processes
In biology, signal transduction is any process by which a cell converts one kind of signal or stimulus into another. Processes referred to as signal transduction often involve a sequence of biochemical reactions inside the cell, which are carried out by enzymes and linked through second messengers. Such processes take place in as little time as a millisecond or as long as a few seconds.

In many transduction processes, an increasing number of enzymes and other molecules become engaged in the events that proceed from the initial stimulus. In such cases the chain of steps is referred to as a "signaling cascade" or a "second messenger pathway" and often results in a small stimulus eliciting a large response.

Unlike fibrous proteins (collagen, elastin) which only play a structural function, globular proteins can act as:

All enzymes are proteins. An enzyme is a substance that acts as a catalyst in living organisms, regulating the rate at which life's chemical reactions procced without being altered in the process. Enzymes reduce the activation energy needed to start these reactions; without them, most such reactions would not take place at a useful rate.

Like all catalysts, enzymes accelerate the rates of reactions while experiencing no permanent chemical modification as a result of their participation. Because enzymes are not consumed, only tiny amounts of them are needed. Enzymes can accelerate, often by several orders of magnitude, reactions that under the mild conditions of cellular concentrations, temperature, pH, and pressure would proceed imperceptibly (or not at all) in the absence of the enzyme.

The efficiency of an enzyme's activity is often measured by the turnover rate, which measures the number of molecules of compound upon which the enzyme works per molecule of enzyme per second. Carbonic anhydrase, which removes carbon dioxide from the blood by binding it to water, has a turnover rate of 106. That means that one molecule of the enzyme can cause a million molecules of carbon dioxide to react in one second.

Most enzymatic reactions occur within a relatively narrow temperature range (usually from about 30°C to 40°C), a feature that reflects their complexity as biological molecules. Each enzyme has an optimal range of pH for activity; for example, pepsin in the stomach has maximal reactivity under the extremely acid conditions of pH 1–3. Effective catalysis also depends crucially upon maintenance of the molecule's elaborate three-dimensional structure. Loss of structural integrity, which may result from such factors as changes in pH or high temperatures, almost always leads to a loss of enzymatic activity. An enzyme that has been so altered is said to be denatured.

Like other proteins, enzymes consist of chains of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds. An enzyme molecule may contain one or more peptide bond or polypeptide chains. The sequence of amino acids within the polypeptide chains is characteristic for each enzyme and is believed to determine the unique three-dimensional conformation in which the chains are folded. This conformation, which is necessary for the activity of the enzyme, is stabilized by interactions of amino acids in different parts of the peptide chains with each other and with the surrounding medium. These interactions are relatively weak and may be disrupted readily by high temperatures, acid or alkaline conditions, or changes in the polarity of the medium. Such changes lead to an unfolding of the peptide chains (denaturation) and a concomitant loss of enzymatic activity, solubility, and other properties characteristic of the native enzyme.

Many enzymes contain an additional, nonprotein component, termed a coenzyme. This may be an organic molecule, often a vitamin derivative, a metal ion (copper and zinc for some of the enzymes in the snail secretion) or an organic (often metal-containing) group.

The coenzyme, in most instances, participates directly in the catalytic reaction. For example, it may serve as an intermediate carrier of a group being transferred from one substrate to another. Some enzymes have coenzymes that are tightly bound to the protein and difficult to remove, while others have coenzymes that dissociate readily. When the protein moiety and the coenzyme are separated from each other, neither possesses the catalytic properties of the original conjugated protein (the holoenzyme). By simply mixing the protein moiety and the coenzyme together, the fully active holoenzyme can often be reconstituted. The same coenzyme may be associated with many enzymes which catalyze different reactions. It is thus primarily the nature of the protein moiety rather than that of the coenzyme which determines the specificity of the reaction.

The enzyme-cofactor combination provides an active configuration, usually including an active site into which the substance (substrate) involved in the reaction can fit. Many enzymes are specific to one substrate. If a competing molecule blocks the active site or changes its shape, the enzyme's activity is inhibited. If the enzyme's configuration is destroyed its activity is lost.

Enzymes are classified by the type of reaction they catalyze: (1) oxidation-reduction, (2) transfer of a chemical group, (3) hydrolysis, (4) removal or addition of a chemical group, (5) isomerization, and (6) binding together of substrate units (polymerization).

Enzymes catalyze all aspects of cell metabolism, including the digestion of food, in which large nutrient molecules (including proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) are broken down into smaller molecules; the conservation and transformation of chemical energy; and the construction of cellular materials and components. The fermentation of wine, leavening of bread, curdling of milk into cheese, and brewing of beer are all enzymatic reactions. The uses of enzymes in medicine include killing disease-causing microorganisms, promoting wound healing, and diagnosing certain diseases.

Enzymes in our skin care products
Through the metabolic processes enzymes in our skin care products are capable of quickly reducing the swelling or edema of traumatized or injured tissues by actually "digesting" or breaking down damaged tissues and ruptured cells at the site of injury, allowing these waste materials to be removed quickly from skin lesions so as to reduce inflammation and subsequent pain, speeding the healing process and encouraging regeneration of tissue to then take place more quickly.

BIOCUTIS products are natural skin care products that restores skin health and are made with secretions from snails of the species Helix Aspersa Müller which have as a mayor component Glyocosamonoglycans, Proteoglycans, Enzymes, Co-enzymes and Oligoelements. The secretion is the same these little creatures use to protect and repair the collagen and elastin in their skin when damaged. A substance packed with glycoconjugates that enhance the skin's ability to produce collagen, elastin plus glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans. These molecules are always present in the dermis and have a large water holding capacity -true moisturizing- and thus provide support and skin strength, helping skin that is about to be stretched to withstand tension and compression forces without tearing. It also helps to firm the skin and avoid sagging and wrinkles.

Ultra Exfoliate Your Skin with BIOSKINEXFOL

Home microdermabrasion cream. Contains the same natural ingredients in BIOSKINCARE but infused with micro-crystals so that you may rub it with your finger tips to remove old, hard, and tough scars or stretch marks by a physical breakdown of the scar tissues. Best also for oily skin and aged skin, actinic keratosis scales, pitted acne scars. Not for keloids and not if your skin is still fragile (use BIOSKINCARE for a few months first to strengthen your skin). Enzymes in the cream liquefy damaged proteins more thoroughly helping to release amino-acids to aid in rebuilding damaged tissues quickly. Results are not only immediate, but compound over time and do not trigger inflamm-aging of delicate skin tissues.

Microdermabrasion Benefits

Made in the USA. Two to Three Month's supply 120 grams = 4.23 oz

120 Gram Bottle: $79

Natural Acne Gel, Rosacea Remedy & Scar Healing BIOSKINCLEAR

This gel is oil free and a natural remedy for acne, rosacea, and scar healing with moisturizing seaweed extracts. Best for people with very oily skin conditions.

BIOSKINCLEAR Benefits

Made in the USA. One Month's supply 50 grams = 1.76 oz

50 Grams in One Airless Pump Bottle: $49

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when you order more than one month's supply

Discount Price Two Bottles: $39.20 each, at checkout within our secure shopping cart.

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