Acne marks can linger for weeks or months at a time. However, there are at-home ways to fade them fast, and to help make acne scars diminish and less noticeable.

Healing hyperpigmentation marks

Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation marks are those red or brownish spots that breakouts leave behind. They are not scars but could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to heal and fade completely. If you follow your must-have skin care routine, the healing process will naturally accelerate.

Use a chemical exfoliator

Up to three times per week, you can use azelaic acid as a chemical exfoliator, which inhibits melanin production and increases cellular turnover. Using another chemical exfoliating product (but never at the same time) with a combination of AHA and BHA concentrations will also help shed off dead, darkened skin cells while stimulating collagen production.

The types of chemical exfoliators are listed below:

Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs)

• Glycolic acid
• Lactic acid
• Malic acid
• Citric acid
• Mandelic acid
• Tartaric acid

Beta Hydroxy Acid (BHA)

• Salicylic acid

Other exfoliating acids

• Azelaic acid
• Poly-hydroxy acids

AHAs help treat acne, improve skin tone, fade hyperpigmentation, and brighten the skin. Glycolic acid is the most common type of AHA, and it’s very effective because it penetrates deeply into the skin due to its low molecular mass. However, I would not recommend starting out using products with glycolic acid as its main ingredient if you have not used chemical exfoliators regularly before.

Poly-hydroxy acids are very gentle, and recommended for sensitive skin. If you have dry skin, I would recommend using lactic acid or mandelic acid, which are both very gentle and can increase skin hydration and sebum production.

Azelaic acid (neither an AHA nor BHA) kills the harmful acne bacteria and helps to keep pores clear. Azelaic acid also reduces post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (those brownish spots breakouts leave behind). It’s produced by yeast that lives naturally on healthy skin and as a result, it can improve the appearance of most skin types with minimal irritation.

Use a Vitamin C or niacinamide serum in combination with a retinoid

In addition to exfoliation, applying a niacinamide serum regularly will help heal these marks, if not completely. Niacinamide can be layered with a retinoid as part of your nightly routine. If you use a potent anti-oxidant serum with Vitamin C and a retinoid serum with hydroxypinacolone retinoate (I recommend applying the Vitamin C serum in the morning and the retinoid at night, but not applied together) as part of your routine, your skin will naturally brighten as cells regenerate and hyperpigmentation diminishes.

Wear sunscreen with SPF 30+ daily

Don’t forget to wear sunscreen daily with SPF 30 minimum, because harmful UV rays come at us every day from every angle, even through windows and glass! Sunscreen will prevent those post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation marks from becoming darker and will allow them to fade. You certainly don’t want the sun to counteract all your efforts in taking care of your skin!

Try red-light therapy to accelerate healing

Another option is to use red-light therapy in combination with your daily skin care routine to fade these hyperpigmentation marks as quickly as possible. Red light therapy was originally discovered by NASA, after specific wavelengths of red light stimulated natural plant growth.

The beauty industry has quickly picked up this discovery to be used as a less-evasive skin rejuvenation procedure. The medical community has conducted a number of studies since, and the results have been positive on the skin.

Specific wavelengths of red light reduce oxidative stress and increase cellular energy production, much like how micro-current therapy works to benefit the skin.

Trials have found that red-light therapy diminishes signs of aging and speeds up the healing of wounds. This means it can reduce inflammation on the skin and decrease discoloration from the marks left behind. By improving collagen levels, it could prevent scars from forming.

However, the caveat to red-light therapy is that results may not be immediate. It requires multiple treatment sessions (10-15 minutes each) to see improvement, especially if you choose to use an at-home light therapy device. Although I’ve never personally experienced this, I’ve read in rare cases, red-light therapy can give certain individuals pigmentation.

At-home light therapy devices can emit blue light as well, which has been proven to kill acne bacteria. This can work for mild or moderate acne. However, due to some studies that suggest blue light could be more harmful than helpful to the skin after frequent exposure, I cannot recommend blue light therapy at the moment as a skincare treatment for long-term use.

The lights used in these devices do not emit harmful UV-wavelengths. Also, be sure to wear black-out goggles during light therapy to protect your eyes.

Healing acne scars

If you are left with pitted (atrophic) acne scars, you can perform micro-needling treatments at home to diminish the appearance of these scars. Micro-needling treatments could even make them go away completely over time. This effective tool is covered with micro-needles that puncture tiny holes into the outer layer of your skin. After puncturing your skin with tiny needles, your body reacts by boosting collagen levels to help repair that area, making skin appear more even.

Right after micro-needling, your skin becomes more responsive to products that you apply. So it’s critical that you have a high-quality serum or moisturizer with clean ingredients to use afterward because your skin will completely absorb it.

Micro-needling also exfoliates the skin and creates more blood flow. It’s used to diminish acne scars, hyperpigmentation, wrinkles, and fine lines.

Do not micro-needle over active blemishes, because that will spread the harmful bacteria around and potentially cause more scarring.

I’m recommending a micro-needling stamp, as opposed to a roller, which is more often used. A micro-needling stamp prevents those tiny needles from pressing into the skin at uneven angels, which could leave “tram track” like marks or scars over the face.

Do not over-do this procedure because you will need to give your skin time to heal. Never do it more often than once a week. At most, perform this treatment every other week. Always sterilize your tool with alcohol before and after, allowing it to dry. 

Scar prevention

The best way to prevent scars and long-term hyperpigmentation marks from forming in the first place is to address what is happening from the inside of our bodies, where our primary acne triggers reside. This free course is especially designed to take you through this journey step-by-step.

Sticking to a daily skincare routine will also help minimize breakouts externally. It’s important to treat breakouts as soon as they appear, so I have suggested ways to the help inside this guide.