Easy and Effective Home Remedies for Acne Scars

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Last Updated on July 19, 2021 by Sagarika Kapoor

Most of struggle with acne and acne scars on a daily basis. In fact, every stage of life has it’s own health and skincare challenges and many of us have experienced acne problems in one or the other stage of life. While for some, acne is only an episodic problem and not a huge concern, for many acne is a severe issue that not ruins skin, but also ruins confidence and leads to inferiority complex. Treating acne is not the only solution. Acne scars are equally stubborn and need proper care and attention to pave way for clear, glowing skin. While there are many chemicals and treatments available for acne scars these days, they can be extremely expensive and unreliable at time. The best way to get rid of acne scars is to treat them with simple, reliable home remedies and lifestyle changes. Here are some must try home remedies for acne scars.

Must try Home Remedies for Acne Scars

Tea Tree Oil for Spot Treatment

Tea tree oil is one of the less expensive treatments for acne scars. It is an essential oil that can help rejuvenate your skin with its antibacterial and antimicrobial properties. Tea tree oil is a natural astringent and has anti-inflammatory properties that helps reduce redness and scarring due to acne. While tea tree has been used to treat various skin conditions for years, its use for acne scars is fairly new. However, any essential oil takes its own sweet time to work. Don’t expect your scars to vanish immediately. It can take several months for your acne scars to start fading, provided you apply the oil regularly. Do not try to increase the amount of product you use as too much to tea tree oil can harm your skin, too.

How to Use it:

Tea tree oil is an essential oil and therefore not supposed to be used on its own. Mix you essential oil with a carrier oil or water and use a cotton ball to gently dab the mixture all over your face. Do this once or twice a day till you get the desired results. You carrier oil can be any natural oil like coconut, jojoba, almost, olive etc. While mixing, make sure to only use 2-3 drops of tea tree oil at once.

Apple Cider Vinegar to Stimulate Blood Flow

Apple cider vinegar has antibacterial and keratolytic properties that helps in stimulating blood flow and aids in skin regeneration. It also has organic acids like citric acid, lactic acid and malic acids that helps kills acne causing bacteria. These acids help get rid of dead skin cells and develop new, healthy skin. Acne scars are highly pigmented marks. Apple cider vinegar works on the skin to lighten the pigmentation. Even though it’s not an overnight solution, apple cider vinegar helps get rid of acne scars over time.

How to Use it:

Clean your face with a gentle face wash. Mix on part apple cider vinegar with 2-3 parts water and gently apply this mixture on the acne scars using a cotton ball. Keep the solution on for a few minutes and then rinse with cold water. Apply this twice or thrice a week, or even once every day to get the desired results. Apple cider vinegar can cause irritation if you have sensitive skin. Make sure you do a patch test before using the solution on your face. In case it irritates your skin, dilute the vinegar with more water for a lighter solution. You can even mix your apple cider vinegar with honey or aloe vera gel, but only after you dilute it with water.

Honey to Reduce Inflammation

Bacteria and inflammation are two major factors that lead to acne. By fighting these, honey helps in reducing acne scars. Honey is known for its anti-bacterial and calming qualities. These qualities help reduce redness and scarring. Make sure you use natural or unprocessed honey as processed honey may lack the anti-bacterial properties essential in fighting acne scars.

How to Use it:

Wash your face and with clean hands, apply a generous amount of honey directly on your acne. Leave it on for at least an hour and even overnight for desired results. You can even mix honey with cinnamon powder and use it as a mild scrub. This will help exfoliate dead skin cells and pave way for new, rejuvenated skin. However, in case cinnamon irritates your skin, use only honey.

Aloe Vera Gel for Hydrated Skin

Aloe vera gel is a soothing topical lotion that is used as spot treatment for rashes, burns, and dryness and even to get rid of scars. Many lotions, creams and ointments also have aloe vera as an ingredient for its healing properties. When it comes to acne scars, aloe vera gel helps in gradual healing thanks to its natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Aloe vera is a great natural remedy to heal the injury caused to the skin due to acne. Owing to its constituent magnesium lactate, aloe vera helps in decreasing itching and irritation resulting in faster skin rejuvenation post acne.

How to Use it:

Oral intake of aloe vera has very little benefit for acne scars as aloe vera is best when used topically. Start using aloe vera twice every day as soon as you start noticing acne on your face. Wash your face thoroughly and pat dry with a towel. Then, with clean hands apply a thin layer of aloe vera gel and let it dry for 7-10 minutes. Follow it up with your regular skincare or makeup routine. You can even use aloe vera with other supporting ingredients or use products that have aloe vera as on its ingredients.

Vitamin C to Help Fade Scars

Acne often leads to skin pigmentation and permanent cellular damage to the skin. Vitamin C directly attacks skin pigmentation and leads to healthier, even skin because of its antioxidant properties. It is used topically as it leads to collagen formation that helps in reducing inflammation and speeding up your skin’s healing process. It also helps in slowing down melanin production which is the main cause for skin darkening and scarring. Additionally, Vitamin C also clears up excess stress hormones which helps in controlling acne in the first place.

How to Use it:

While there are many ways to include vitamin C in your diet, most experts vouch for its benefits only when used topically. You can find many skincare products with Vitamin C as an ingredient like serums, moisturizers and creams. These products can be carefully chosen and applied as per the manufacturer’s instructions. Most Vitamin C products are made with other active ingredients to increase stability and shelf life. Choose a product that fits your requirements the best. However, if you’re interested in using Vitamin C as a treatment for your acne scars, consult a dermatologist before you include it in your skincare.

Lifestyle Changes to Reduce Acne Scars

Maintain a Skincare Routine and Exfoliate Regularly

Exfoliating regularly is one of the most effective ways to get rid of acne scars. What exfoliation essentially does is that it helps speed up the process of skin regeneration. Using a mild exfoliator regularly will make sure you get rid of all the dead skin cells and pave way for new, healthier skin. Over time, this rejuvenation of skin helps in damaged tissue replacement, scar lightening and fading of acne marks.

You can either use a mild scrub to exfoliate regularly or you can go for a facial brush or exfoliating cloth. Other ways to include exfoliation in your skincare routine is to include products that have exfoliating acids and ingredients like AHAs, BHAs or DIY exfoliators. The catch however, is to never exfoliate your skin when you have active breakouts. Exfoliation tends to irritate the skin and can worsen your acne if you have active breakouts.

Cut Back on Dairy Products for a Long Term Solution

Lifestyle changes can often alone work miracles on skin problems. One lifestyle change that many believe helps reduce acne is cutting back on dairy products. Ice cream, milk, curd and cheese and other dairy products, specifically skim milk has problem causing hormones that trigger acne. Additionally, they also have whey protein which is a pro inflammatory that paves way for acne.

While cutting back on dairy is an effective way to deal with acne in the long run, it is not something that will result in changes overnight. To start showing results, your body will need time to detox from all the dairy intake. It will take approximately two to three weeks for results to show. In case your diet includes a lot of dairy, you can easily find a lot of vegan alternatives in the market.

Stress Less and Make Sure you Exercise Regularly

While stress doesn’t directly trigger acne, it definitely hampers your skin’s healing process. Many experts agree that wounds, including acne and acne scars take longer to heal if a person is under stress. Slow healing of acne means even longer for acne scars to start disappearing. In case you find yourself stressing excessively, try practicing some relaxation techniques. Regular meditation, yoga or practicing hobbies can effectively reduce stress in turn helping your acne heal faster. Make sure you exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet as these too, are important factors that can help prevent stress and acne.

Go ahead and try these home remedies for acne scars. And for more such skincare tips, stay tuned to Styl Inc Blogs.

Keep’in it Styl’ ish,

Signing off,

Kashika