Acne scarring refers to a process where the collagen within the skin is damaged from inflammation. There are many different types of acne scarring including ice pick scars, atrophic scars and hypertrophic scars. Taking precautionary steps are the best way to enable prevention of acne scarring thus correct acne treatment is essential. Many believe the right way to treat acne is by squeezing or picking acne or applying medicine that dissolves blackheads, but these actually disturb normal skin metabolism. In additions, improper acne treatment by picking and squeezing may cause skin inflammation to spread and damage the deep dermis, leading to loss of skin collagen and overgrowth of fibrotic tissues and permanent scars. Acne related scars can be categorised into two types; one being hypertrophic scar from overgrowth scar tissues, another type being a ice-pick or atrophic scars that are concave shaped scars formed when inflammation pulled the skin inwards. This will make the skin surface uneven and appear rough.

Besides acne scarring, other types of scars are categorised according to their cause, such as chickenpox scars, surgical scars, traumatic scars and post-burn scars. Their formation and treatment is similar to that of acne scar.