Acne scars can be treated with different types of laser, atempting to promote new collagen production in the dermis to fill the atrophy of the scars and produce a tensor effect that noticeably improves the appearance of the skin.

The CO2 laser is an ablative laser that penetrates deep into the dermis eliminating the upper layers by heat. It can be used in a fractional mode, which means that a laser beam is fragmented to produce several michohaces over the affected skin, leaving injured tissue interspared with healthy tissue. This healthy tissue contains a large number of stem cells and fibroblasts that allow the remodeling and repopulation of the skin fragments treated with the laser, which markedly decreases the adverse effects and the recovery time of the patient.

The CO2 laser can also be used in a conventional non-fractional mode, whereby the light beam is directed without leaving fragments of healthy skin. This means that better results are achieved more quickly and with much smaller number of sessions, however with greater adverse effects and longer time of disability.

The ideal treatment for acne scars should be analyzed in the context of many factors depending on patient´s skin phototype, the degree of depth of affected skin, the possibility or not of medical disability, the time in which the improvement is desired and other treatments previously done.

The CO2 laser offers surprising and very satisfactory results for treatment of acne scars compared to other lasers when it is performed by expert hands.