As if acne itself weren’t annoying enough, pimples can leave their mark long after you thought they were gone. Scars leave a long-lasting depression or textural change, while post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation creates a purple, gray, or brown mark. Acne is caused by inflammation, and depending on the degree of that inflammation and your skin type, that blemish could leave discoloration or an indentation when your skin tries to heal, says Ivy Lee, MD, a dermatologist based in Pasadena, California, and assistant clinical professor of dermatology at UCLA. The best way to prevent either one is to attack acne before it starts, she says. “It’s much harder to deal with [scars] than treating and preventing acne,” she says. (Try this easy way to get rid of pimples.) Still, avoiding certain habits will make your skin more likely to clear up without leaving a mark. Click here to learn how to treat 5 common types of acne scars.
Credit: Reader’s Digest