ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the mechanism of action of topical agents which have been found to be helpful for acne scarring. The best bet for prevention of acne scarring is to quickly and effectively treat early inflammatory lesions. The chapter reviews clinical studies showing positive results with topical treatments showing improvement in acne scarring. Atrophic acne scars represent the majority of acne scarring with hypertrophic and keloidal scars being much less. Evidence supports the topical use of retinoids, glycolic acid, and benzoyl peroxide when combined with adapalene for the treatment of acne scarring. Surprisingly, there are very few published reports on the use of topical agents for acne scarring. The scar starts with inflammation, followed by granulation tissue formation, and then matrix remodelling. Numerical scoring was defined by the appearance and number of scars. The numerical values were then tallied and divided into no improvement, mild, moderate, good, and very good improvement.
