SKIN NEEDLING THERAPY IS AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR ATROPHIC FACIAL ACNE SCARS

Abstract

Background
 Acne is a common condition seen in up to 80% of people between 11 and 30 years of age. In some patients, the severe inflammatory response results in permanent scars. Atrophic facial scars are always a challenge to treat. Skin needling therapy is a new, simple and an effective treatment for such scars.
 Objective
 To assess the ef cacy of skin needling in the management of grade 2 and 3 atrophic facial acne scars.
 Patients and Methods
 Twenty five patients with facial acne scars were enrolled in the study (17 female and 8 male patients; age range 14–42 years). The severity of the lesions in each patient was scored on a 10-point scale (0 = no lesions; 10 = maximum severity) by the researcher involved in the study. Three groups of patients were identified and patients with Grade 2 and 3 atrophic facial acne scars were included. Patients were treated with skin needling procedure. Four photographs were taken for each patient by the researcher; one before, one immediately after the procedure done and another one after one month from the first session then one month after the second session of the treatment. At every follow-up, the same researcher evaluated the scars, scoring them using the same scale as previously, to assess any clinical improvement in the severity of the lesions. The last follow-up was conducted one month after the second treatment then the photographs were compared with the photographs taken before the first treatment and each patient was given a new severity score.
 Results
 One month after the rst session of skin needling; all patients had smoother facial skin and a slight reduction in lesion severity. One month after the second session of skin needling, the improvement in the acne rolling scars was evident as photographic comparison in each group of patients showed that the skin became thicker; and independent of the lesion grading the relative rolling scar depth was significantly reduced
 Conclusion
 Skin needling therapy is a simple, cheap, office method and an effective treatment for atrophic facial acne scars.