Acne Scar and Stretchmark Resurfacing

Call us at 603-931-4345 to set up your free “Limited Consultation”, if you simply want to discuss your scar concerns, or a full “Head to Toe Consultation” if you have other issues you would like to discuss at the same time.

One of our experienced nurses or medical assistants will review your history and take photographs of your specific areas of concern.

They can answer any further questions you may have, provide treatment pricing, estimate the number of sessions likely to be needed, and help you select the most appropriate plan of care and timing of treatment sessions. 

All of our acne scar and stretch mark procedures are performed by a Registered Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, or Medical Doctor. 

We will help you select the best start based on our many years of experience with all of these treatment modalities.

In some instances a combination of treatment types may be suggested. 

Common things to consider include type and location of the scars, scar severity, tolerance for downtime, activity restrictions post procedure, skin care requirements post procedure, and recent or upcoming sun exposure. 

If your acne is still frequently active we will more likely recommend the Morpheus8 procedure along with careful attention to skin care. 

• In general, procedures are not performed on pregnant women or on patients with a history of keloid scars.  
• If you have used Accutane or similar oral agents, a 6 month waiting period may be required for some procedures.  

• Some treatments cannot be performed if you will be getting significant sun exposure in the near future. 
• Some scars are too large or too advanced and require a consult regarding surgical scar revision. We do not offer surgical services, but we can assist by recommending a surgeon to you. 

There is not an “absolute” waiting period needed. Some surgeons actually start treating scars with laser and/or platelet rich plasma right in the operating room on the day of the surgical procedure. You may wish to check with your surgeon for their recommendations. 

Surgical scars are known to remodel gradually over the course of at least a year, so some will wait that long just to “see how good it gets on its own” before intervening.

We generally do not. Keloid scars are best managed by a plastic surgeon as they will frequently need to be excised.

Some patients for some procedures will require a 4 to 6 week period of skin conditioning with topical agents such as tretinoin and/or hydroquinone prior to the actual procedure. This is most often for patients with a tendency towards hyperpigmentation due to their ethnic background- African American, Eastern European, Asian, Hispanic and Native American skin types generally need to consider preconditioning their skin prior to some procedures to avoid hyperpigmentation during their recovery process.

• This will vary depending on scar type and extent and which procedures have been chosen. We will do our best to estimate this for you at the time of the consultation. In general, the treatment of scars or stretch marks requires a series of procedures over time. 
• When it comes to collagen remodeling, improvement is usually evident within several weeks and continues for several months. Although each treatment has benefit, it is possible that an initial treatment will not produce enough change for you to appreciate a difference “with the naked eye”. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 sessions to notice visible changes.  

• We will let you know if your post procedure care requires the use of any topical agents.  

There are 3 main types of acne scars- ice pick, rolling (round edges) and box car (square shaped) scars. Bellafill has some benefit primarily for the rolling type of scar- which is also a type which flattens out when you spread the skin with your fingers. The other two types do not respond to Bellafill and will more likely require energy based treatments such as Sofwave, Morpheus8 or SmartSkin CO2. 

Chemical Peels are another treatment which can be effective in reducing acne breakouts and the appearance of some acne scars. To be effective for acne scars, the peel should be a medical grade one, such as the VI Peel by Vitality Institute. Not all estheticians have access to medical grade peels- they would need to be under the supervision of a medical director.

Many of the clients who seek treatment with us for acne scars have changes that are too advanced to be addressed adequately by chemical peels alone. If you would like to discuss chemical peels further as a potential treatment option, we can arrange a free consultation with one of our highly experienced estheticians to discuss this further.