The sun is a beautiful thing, but it may not seem like such a blessing if you have acne scars. The sun has been known to worsen acne scars and cause them to appear redder and more obvious than they would otherwise be.
Thankfully, there are tons of solutions to get rid of acne scars that have worsened due to sun damage. One of the most sought-after solutions is seeking help from professionals like a dermatologist from Sozo Aesthetic Clinic. You can learn more about Sozo Clinic’s acne scar removal treatments through this link: sozoclinic.sg.
This blog post will discuss ways for acne scar sufferers to lessen the appearance of acne scars in the sunlight and provide some insight into what causes this effect in the first place.
How the sun worsens acne scars
The sun can have a negative effect on acne scars. The sun not only worsens acne but also makes acne scars worse and more visible. This is because the sunlight speeds up collagen breakdown in the skin, which causes deepening of acne scarring while promoting inflammation that will worsen existing acne scarring and speed up the development of new ones.
The best thing to do while you are trying to get rid of your acne scars is to avoid direct exposure to sunlight, especially if you already have an active breakout or severe acne scarring, since this will make them even more noticeable than they were before. Also, try wearing sunscreen when outdoors and hats with wide brims to protect yourself from UVA rays that cause photoaging (wrinkles), melanin breakdown burns, and acne scars.
What is causing the effect?
Sunlight contains ultraviolet radiation that can damage skin cells’ DNA, which sets off inflammatory signals that lead directly into your body’s natural repair response. This process creates new collagen fibers whose clumping forms an uneven surface on your skin called solar elastosis (on top of existing acne scars). Furthermore, UV exposure causes a release of enzymes that can break down collagen in acne scars, so they become even more severe over time.
In addition to the direct effects of sun exposure mentioned above, acne is an inflammatory disease, and UV rays cause inflammation, making acne worse. In turn, acne causes red marks on the skin after it heals called post-inflammatory erythema or PIH (on top of existing acne scarring).
The combination of both forms a dark spot where there used to be a breakout before, although only one process was going on at a time. However, having darker skin tones will make these spots less visible than people with lighter complexions since their contrast against their naturally pale color will stand out more than someone with darker-toned skin with acne marks.
Tips to lessen the appearance of acne scars
To lessen the appearance of acne, other than getting acne removal treatments, there are certain things you can perform to make your skin look better while also protecting it from sun damage at the same time.
First, use sunscreen with a minimum SPF 30 each day while outdoors since this protects against UV rays that cause photoaging (wrinkles), melanin breaks down, burns, and acne scars. Second, wear hats with wide brims when outside and sunglasses whenever possible, particularly if you have light-colored eyes because these increase contrast, which makes acne scarring stand out more on your face than someone who doesn’t have them around their eyes or wears dark glasses instead.
Another helpful acne scar removal tip is to use a skincare system that will work for your specific type of acne and skin tone. This means looking for products with ingredients like retinol, salicylic acid, glycolic acid, benzoyl peroxide (BP), sulfur, azelaic acid, which all help exfoliate the top layers of dead cells on the surface of acne-prone skin so they can shed faster than usual while preventing build-up from taking place in pores that leads to future breakouts.
In addition, these types of chemicals also unclog pores by removing oil build-up within them since these are what cause inflammation leading into an acne breakout when activated by excess sebum production or hormonal changes such as menstrual periods.
Acne Scar Removal Treatments
If you have been seeking a quick acne scar removal treatment, then you can try acne laser treatments with an intense pulsed light (IPL) machine. This method works because it emits a brighter frequency of light energy that penetrates deep into the skin to heat up acne scars to destroy them while also leaving behind new collagen fibers, which make your skin look tighter and smoother.
However, if your acne is very severe or has been around for quite some time already, causing deep acne scarring. In that case, there are certain types of acne laser treatments more effective than others, such as CO₂ lasers combined with fractional photothermolysis known as Fraxel lasers. These target larger areas faster more efficiently without requiring additional sessions afterward, unlike other methods that require multiple rounds of laser acne scar removal treatment.
The main downside is that these treatments can be costly, although even acne scars with PIH (post-inflammatory erythema) might respond to the Fraxel Laser procedure because it’s meant for all skin types and tones. Instead, other methods are generally preferred depending on your complexion, especially darker complexions whose acne marks will become less visible over time after using this acne scar removal methods.