MedWire News: Skin needling produces significant improvements in acne scarring, show results from a small, experimental study.
In some acne patients the severe inflammatory response associated with the condition can leave permanent scars that can be very difficult to treat, say researchers.
The technique of skin needling, which induces percutaneous collagen, has previously been used successfully to reduce various types of scar tissue.
Gabriella Fabbrocini (University of Naples Federico II, Italy) and colleagues recruited 32 patients aged 17–45 years with acne rolling scars between 2007 and 2008 to take part in this study.
The participants used a topical skin care product containing alpha and omega hydroxy acids, omega hydroxy acids, enoxolone and zinc for at least 3 weeks before beginning the treatment. This was carried out using a special needling tool consisting of a rolling barrel with 96 needles (length 1.5 mm; diameter 0.25 mm) in four rows.
Two treatment sessions were carried out, under topical anesthetic, for each patient with an 8-week interval.
Before treatment was initiated, the scarring severity for each patient was assessed by an experienced dermatologist and graded on a 10-point scale (0=no lesions; 10=severe lesions). Overall, nine patients had severe rolling scars (score of 7 or above), 19 patients had moderate rolling scars (score of 5–7), and four patients had mild rolling scars (score below 5).
Photos were also taken before and after treatment, and in five patients a cutaneous silicon rubber cast was made of the scars before and after treatment.
Writing in the journal Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, the researchers report that patients showed significant improvement in acne scarring at 8 weeks following the second needling treatment.
Skin became thicker after treatment with a corresponding significant reduction in depth of the rolling scars compared with baseline. The silicon casts showed an average reduction of 25% in degree of irregularity of skin texture across all five patients.
“We believe that skin needling is a simple and rapid method for safe treatment of acne scars and a suitable procedure for various dermatological conditions,” conclude Fabbrocini and team.
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