Home Remedies for Acne Scars
Acne scarring is caused when acne heals, but can’t quite heal completely. Acne scars are not the red marks on your face left behind after an acne legion heals– those feel like scars and can stick around for a long time, but will heal within six to twelve months if you continue to care properly for your skin. That sounds like a long time, but continued treatment should keep the redness from being obvious and will help them heal even faster.
Actual acne scars appear as depressions or bumps in the skin and the surface is no longer smooth.
If you resist the urge to pick your face and do your best to treat your acne routinely, you can help prevent a lot of scarring caused by acne. Otherwise, you’ve probably heard that the only real way to treat acne scars is through laser surgery or other expensive procedures. For those of us hesitant about such treatments, there are a few home remedies for acne scars that can help make scars less obvious by improving the texture of the skin.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E has been a long reputed aid to the skin, and acne isn’t an exception. Applying vitamin E oil to your face may help lessen acne scars over time as it improves the condition and texture of your skin. No acne scar treatment is instant, but used routinely, you will notice that your scars fade.
Cucumber Face Masks
Cucumber paste, used as a natural remedy for acne, is also helpful in dealing with acne scars because it helps lighten scars. I do not suggest using lemon juice for acne scars (which has the same results), because lemons are acidic and can sting. Cucumbers, on the other hand, will not dry out and harm your face, but can still lighten scarring. When using it for scars specifically, you can avoid the paste mask and skip right to rubbing juice into your skin gently to leave in overnight.
The following remedies are not made from household items, but are treatments you can perform at home without the help of a dermatologist. They are also some of the most natural remedies for acne scars I could hunt down.
Vitamin C
Acne scar treatments focused on applying vitamin C to the skin can help lessen scarring if the scars are only mild depressions, as vitamin C with help plump your skin. (Just you skin– you won’t get chubby cheeks from this kind of treatment, fear not.) Treatments that use vitamin C as their active ingredient for acne scars include Dermajuv.
Elicinia
Elicina is a skin cream made primarily from snail secretion (which is collected without harming the snails), making it natural and organic. While used more commonly for other kinds of scars and burns, it can help with acne scarring as it will help to fade scars over time. It has a high price tag, however only a little bit of Elicina needs to be applied, so one jar should last quite a while if used properly. Elicinia also doubles as a topical acne treatment, not just for marks and scars on the skin.
Of the two, Elicinia is more natural than Dermajuv (though Dermajuv still uses plenty of natural ingredients), however I felt Dermajuv was worth mentioning for those who struggle with this and absolutely do not want to consider surgery for their acne scars.
Don’t Forget Exfoliating
Dead skin needs to be removed from your face so healthier skin can take its place. Acne scars will become less obvious and heal a little if you make sure to exfoliate your skin properly, but it’s a procedure to do carefully whether you use acne scrubs or exfoliate manually with a loofah.