How Effective is Microdermabrasion on Acne Scars?

Microdermabrasion is an extremely popular procedure available in salons, spas and doctors offices and even as home kits. It is a non-invasive, fairly painless procedure that works by simply exfoliating or scrubbing the top, outer most layer of your skin to fluff out dead skin cells and encourage new skin growth.

 Microdermabrasion on darker skin tones

It is a relatively safe procedure and can be used on all skin types and tones. Which brings me to the key question- how effective is microdermabrasion on acne scars?

Oftentimes, because most other procedures for acne scars and wrinkles are too invasive especially for darker skin tones such as lasers, I have been referred by doctors to do several treatments of microdermabrasion or chemical peels or a combination as an alternative.

But I always questioned the effectiveness of microdermabrasion on acne scars? Also microdermabrasion is not to be confused with dermabrasion which is a more invasive procedure. To learn the difference between the two, check out this article HERE.

The one thing to remember is that procedure is very superficial as it only targets the outermost layer of the skin. It can make the skin feel softer, look smoother, reduce breakouts, and create a beautiful glow. In the past whenever I had undergone the procedure, I usually get compliments of my skin looking fresh and glowing, which is always nice but it did very little for my acne scars.

For problems such as deep acne scars, wrinkles or severe hyper-pigmentation, it just does not go deep enough. That is because these skin blemishes tend to be in the deeper layers of the skin. Microdermabrasion can be effective at diminishing more shallow scars such as some box scars or rolling scars.

Microdermabrasion results for acne scars

I have a friend who has been doing microdermabrasion in combination with peels consistently for years and she swears by it, it has noticeably reduced her breakouts, evened out some of her scarring, cleared a lot of her dark spots and given her a beautiful glow. The most important thing to note is that it took her years to get such outcome. To see any noticeable effect with microdermabrasion, it will take a number of treatments, time and will have to be combined with other procedures such as peels and a good skin care regimen. It is not a quick fix and will require a lot of patience.

The good thing is that the cost of the procedure has reduced over the years and is now more affordable. You can usually find great local microdermabrasion deals on group buying sites like Groupon, Living Social or Urban Dealight. For darker skin types it is important to go to someone who is experienced with the procedure and treating darker skin tones because if done incorrectly, it can cause some trauma to the skin, stimulate melanin production and create more dark spots. Usually, if done by a skilled technician, there are no problems.

So all in all, microdermabrasion is great for achieving softer, glowing skin. It can produce some results for very shallow scars, dark spots and wrinkles but will require a number of treatments and patience. For more dramatic results, it should be combined with other treatments such as chemical peels. It also makes a great skin maintenance treat. I found this great video on how a microdermabrasion treatment is performed, enjoy!