As all those who have gone through the jumps and hoops that come with puberty can tell you, acne is an especially irksome skin condition. During this sensitive time frame in one's life, acne can cause an unfortunate decrease in one's self esteem if not produce an all out complex with one's self. Most cases of teenage acne will usually taper off as the symptoms of puberty wear down starting at about 18 onwards. The issue will have become just another episode in all the quirky dramas we undergo as self conscience teenagers.

However this is not the experience for everyone. Unfortunately, sometimes those burdensome zits and the pimples will leave a mark that is lasting. These marks are the dreaded acne scars, and they can come in various forms. The most common are termed as rolling, ice pick, and boxcar scars.

Rolling scars come with a wave like roll that spreads across the base of one's cheeks. They have a wide and shallow depth which causes a rolling undulation to appear across other wise normal appearing skin. The underlying cause of a rolling scar is that fibrous bands of tissue will develop between the skin and the subcutaneous tissue that is below it. These unhealthy bands will pull on the epidermis, or the top layer of the skin, and eventually bind it to the deeper structures within the skin. The result is the wave-like pockmark.

Depressed fibrotic scars, or "boxcars scars," are those that have sharp edges with steep vertical sides. These angular and well-defined edges resemble chickenpox scars to a certain degree, and are caused by pronounced acne inflammation. When the skin becomes inflamed to such a degree that collagen is destroyed, skin tissue is lost. When the skin loses the tissue that is supporting it as in this case, a depressed area is created. The severity of the boxcars scar will depend upon the amount of tissue that was lost.

Ice pick scars are the third main category regarding acne related scars. As their name hints to, they are deep and narrow indentions on the skin's surface that resemble the look of what an ice pick would leave if poked right onto the skin's surface. They stem from both acne cysts and inflamed blemishes that work their way to the surface. What then happens is that a column like scar is formed due to the skin tissue being destroyed. Their sizes range from being a small and deep "hole" in the skin to resembling large and open pores.

The good news is that these acne scars can be fixed with the right kind of treatment. For the deepest acne scarring, dermabrasion is a cosmetic medical procedure that entails "sanding" down the epidermis beyond the length of the scar. After the surgery throughout the several weeks of surgery, the skin will naturally regrow itself back with new tissue that has a healthier and smoother texture to it. When the acne scar is raised, microdermabrasion has a greater effect on its diminishment. It is not always recommended for when it is a sunken scar.