After about 6 years of dealing with moderately severe acne, my skin has finally begun to clear up. However, my cheeks have been left with areas of hyper pigmentation and hypertrophic acne scars.

I'm currently trying the Affirm Laser on my cheeks to see if it helps soften the hypertrophic scars. It apparently makes new "holes" in the scar tissue by shooting safe lasers into the scarred areas, promoting collagen production and making the scar fill in a bit. I'm optimistic about it at least improving them if not getting rid of them. I just had the first of four monthly sessions. I've been told that it could take months before any difference is seen, so I will post updates with each treatment and each month afterward for a bit. It's also supposed to help clear up existing acne too, although you shouldn't spend the money on it until hopefully your skin has started to respond to something else first too.

My acne began to clear up after I started the acne.org regimen. It really does work! It's so important that you be gentle with your skin, being careful not to over-dry it, like the website says, but still use lots of benzoyl peroxide. I use the Clean and Clear 10% solution. It took about 3 months for my skin to really clear up, but I noticed a difference after only following it for 4 weeks, which after having dealt with it for 6 years was huge for me. I still get a monthly flare-up, but it clears up within a few days and the zits that I do get aren't nearly as deep as I used to get. I was ready to go on birth-control pills to clear it up, but I thought I'd give the regimen a try first and I'm glad I did! I'm also trying a light glycolic acid peel every couple weeks and a Neutrogena skin brightening moisturizer to help get rid of the hyper pigmentation faster, although that's just gonna take time like everything else.

I've posted pictures of my scars before the treatments:

Right after the first treatment:

You can see the red circle-marks where the laser was shot into the skin. It stung a little bit as they were doing it, but it really isn't bad. The red marks lasted for the remainder of that day and night, but when I woke up the next morning, they were pretty much completely gone and you're allowed to wear make-up then anyway.