How Long Does It Take Acne Marks To Fade? 

This is a question acne-sufferers– or actually, anyone with skin– have all obsessed over at some point. 

The answer is very subjective. It depends on how prone your skin is to hyperpigmentation, how pigmented your skin naturally is, your rate of skin renewal, what products you’re using, and the active acne on your face at any given point of time. 

Everyone’s skin is different, and so for some people, acne scars can fade within days while some others take years to go away. For some, especially for those with deep, cystic acne, they may never fade. So, in a way, when it comes to scarring, prevention is the best cure. 

But that’s not always possible, and everyone gets bad breakouts from time to time. So now you have acne scars. What can you do about it? Let’s take a look. 

• Salicylic Acid: Use It To Increase Your Rate Of Skin Renewal

Your rate of skin renewal refers to how fast your skin is capable of getting rid of old skin and revealing the fresh, undamaged skin within. 

The faster your rate of skin renewal, the faster and easier it is for you to get rid of acne marks. Salicylic acid helps you increase your rate of skin renewal as it’s a beta hydroxy acid that basically gently exfoliates your skin and removes the dirt and dissolves the outer, dead skin cells whenever you use it. 

It’s the same logic as trimming your hair to help it grow faster– once the dead ends are removed, it is easier for the fresher, younger, newer cells to come out faster. And because of the rate at which the dead skin is getting removed, your body naturally starts producing fresh skin at a faster rate. This makes sure that the active acne you have as well as old acne scars fade quicker. 

When using salicylic acid, it is important to keep in mind that it should only be used once a day. It is best to use it in your PM routine so as not to expose your skin to the sunlight and put it at the risk of increased sensitivity. 

When using salicylic acid (or any form of exfoliation), it’s crucial that you use sunscreen as without it the higher rate of skin sensitivity will do nothing but damage the skin, resulting in counterproductivity and a whole lot of pain. 

We recommend the DermDoc 2% Salicylic Acid Face Serum. It is lightweight, effective, and budget-friendly as well. The reviews cite it to be easily absorbed as well!

• Kojic Acid: Use It To Fade Existing Scars 

Kojic acid is a Japanese ingredient derived from certain fungi used to make sake, a type of Japanese rice wine. 

It is a perfectly natural ingredient that helps the skin a lot more than you would imagine– it helps lighten your marks from acne, scars, as well as sun damage. When used on acne-scarred skin, it will help your marks lighten in terms of pigmentation as well as to fill in pitted scars thanks to deep rooted cystic acne. 

We recommend the DermDoc Damage Recovery Night Cream with 2% Kojic Acid. In the form of a once-a-day PM application, Kojic acid is able to have its maximum effect on the skin and not get washed off or faded throughout the course of the day. Sealed in with a moisturiser, this cream will make sure that over a shorter period of time, your acne marks will fade. 

• Benzoyl Peroxide: Use It To Treat Active Acne

Benzoyl peroxide is one of the only known proven treatments for acne. It is a medication for active acne and oftentimes it is prescribed by dermatologists to those suffering from acne for a long time. 

This substance does its magic through exfoliation, in which it manages to remove the outer layer of dead skin and reveal the fresh skin cells within. This helps peel away the bacteria, dirt and oil on the skin surface to make sure that the skin beneath is exposed. 

Not only does this over the long term increase the rate of skin renewal, it also treats the active acne cells over the short term.

You may be wondering though … 

Does benzoyl peroxide remove acne marks?

Benzoyl peroxide is good for acne marks as, as everyone knows, prevention is the best cure. The best way to treat acne marks is to avoid accumulating them in the first place! While simultaneously working on active acne and old scars, all your efforts converge to ensure you don’t have any further scars to get rid of the future. 

Mainly, benzoyl peroxide works on active acne, and helps repair pitted scars. Hyperpigmentation and pigmented scars will get better over a prolonged period of time while using benzoyl peroxide.

Which brings us back to … How long does it take to cure acne scars? 

I hope now you understand why we began this piece by saying that it’s incredibly subjective! You should understand that the biggest asset when it comes to skincare is patience. If you have that, you have the potential to reach your skincare goals of that flawless glowing skin!