Home Remedies for Acne Scars
Two Treatments You Need to Know
Long after pimples have healed and blemishes have cleared, acne scars remain as painful and disfiguring reminders of one of life’s most unpleasant experiences.
Fortunately, there are two inexpensive, pain-free home remedies for acne scars you can use at home as an alternative to dermabrasion.
For most of the twentieth century, dermabrasion was the only way to get rid of acne scars. Wire brushes were rolled over the skin to strip off its outermost layer, just until the skin started to bleed. The theory was that when the new skin grew back, it would be free of age spots, blemishes, wrinkles, and scars. Sometimes the technique worked, and sometimes it didn’t.
Home Remedies for Acne Scars #1 : Microdermabrasion
In the 1980′s dermatologists started using a kinder, gentler technique called microdermabrasion. In this technique, the technician uses a miniature “sandblaster” to blow a stream of abrasive crystals into the skin. The outer layers of skin cells are peeled off, and the skin grows back, usually, without scars. Laser dermabrasion and radio dermabrasion operate on the same principle. The two home remedies for acne scars, however, do not.
Home Remedies for Acne Scars #2 : Dimethylaminoethanol
Dimethylaminoethanol, better known as DMAE, is an excellent alternative to dermabrasion. DMAE is a naturally occurring nutritional substance found in fish. It is not an antioxidant, but it is anti-inflammatory. This chemical prevents a breakdown of the connective tissues of the skin, helping the skin to stand up to the effects of inflammatory chemicals, so that acne scars never form.
Even in adults who already have acne scars, DMAE cream can help the skin fill in scars, even scars that cannot be covered up with makeup. At the same time it fills in skin around large pores. DMAE should be applied daily around active blemishes. Filling in existing scars usually becomes noticeable after four to six weeks and nearly complete after four to six months.
DMAE is not the only natural healing agent you can use at home to treat acne scars. Alpha-lipoic acid is an excellent remedy for scars left by acne cysts, and it also helps firm up sagging skin. Unlike DMAE, alpha-lipoic acid is a potent antioxidant. It is a unique antioxidant in that it is soluble in both fat and water.
This means it can firm up the fatty layers that give the skin its natural contour and it can drain out the excess fluids that cause sags and bags in the skin. Alpha-lipoic acid is an excellent way to treat scars that are more noticeable due to their proximity to new pimples and blemishes.
No home remedies for acne scars are better than a combination of DMAE, applied to the skin, and alpha-lipoic acid, taken as a nutritional supplement. Just be sure that your brand of alpha-lipoic acid includes the B vitamin biotin, or taken 1 mg of biotin for every 100 mg of alpha-lipoic acid, to prevent B-vitamin deficiency.
