Among serious skin problems, acne scars present many treatment challenges. Treatment through conventional approaches like cosmetic surgery can be very expensive, whereas many minimally-invasive procedures cannot eradicate mature acne scars. However, an effective treatment option lies in the form of subcutaneous incision.
Subcutaneous Incision Treatment
Subcutaneous incision treatment is also known as the subcision procedure. It is particularly useful for treating mature acne scars and deep scars like rolling scars. Such scars present a treatment hurdle that cannot be overcome by conventional topical ointments. Such scars have an underlying layer of fibrous bands or scar tissue bands that cannot be breached by creams and serums.
Due to the presence of fibrous bands, the scar site tends to remain excessively dry, which further pronounces its appearance and renders it a dark, lesion-like appearance. The absence of moisture combined with inability of the underlying layer of fresh skin cells to emerge to the top means that the skin’s natural rejuvenation process around the scar site is negated. The only way to treat such scars is using a treatment method that can penetrate through the fibrous bands. This is the approach used in subcutaneous incision treatment.
How Subcutaneous Incision Treats Acne Scars
The treatment starts with the attending specialist applying a minimal dosage of local anesthesia upon the facial skin. Once the anesthesia takes effect, a special type of needle (bevel needle) is inserted, parallel to the scar site. The cutting edge of the needle is directed towards the acne scar and slowly maneuvered close to the fibrous bands. This needle has a piston-like mechanism wherein its cutting edge can be slowly moved towards the scar site without inducing unnecessary incisions into the surrounding skin.
Eventually, the cutting edge of the needle is able to cut through the fibrous bands. Since the cutting is done at the subcutaneous level, i.e. just below the epidermal layer that is devoid of substantial vascular networking of capillaries, there is no fear of cutting the blood supply to the skin or causing excessive bleeding.
If the acne scar was protruding excessively, the cutting of fibrous bands levels its appearance. If the acne scar was causing the formation of scar tissue, the cutting of fibrous bands ensures that newer, connective tissue takes over the treated area that gradually neutralizes the developing scar tissue.
Further, the internal incisions mean that the bruising is limited mostly under the skin’s surface with negligible amount of swelling developing on the outside. The internal cutting of fibrous band stimulates the skin’s healing process. This can be understood as the kind of skin rejuvenation stimulated by cosmetic treatments that induce minimal bruising upon the skin to kickstart its natural healing process. This ensures that the scar site is fully healed and any trace of the scar, including pigmentation spots, is gradually erased without needing additional cosmetic treatments.
Choosing Subcutaneous Incision Treatment
There are no notable side-effects or precautions needed after the treatment. Usually, the skin over the treated acne scar site heals within a week. Among people wherein excessive scar tissue formation had surfaced around the acne scar, some degree of skin resurfacing might be needed after the treatment. Thus, it is advised to seek a detailed counseling session with the cosmetic surgeon regarding the applicability of this procedure and any follow-up treatments that might be needed.
