Pock marks on face

[Guest Posts]

I am now 70 years old and all my life, since my teens, I have suffered from pock marks on my skin, mostly on my chin and jawline. My own fault, because I used to pick and squeeze, and so was left with these horrible little holes in my skin.

I know I am old, but is there anything I can do at home to improve these? I know a dermatologist would probably be able to help, but I would prefer something I could try at home. Or is it just a no go?
Thank you H

[Dr Stephanie Gallard]

Hmmm. In all honesty, at the age of 70, there might not be much that might be effective
And, with the physiological changes in older skin, you would have to proceed with caution as the skin has much less resilience to repair itself from any sort of injury or trauma, even if inflicted with therapeutic intent.
The NHS is unlikely to be of much help here - the best you might consider to be prescribed and used at home would be a topical retinoid such as Differin or Aklief (adapalene or trifarotene) - but these can also be quite drying and you need to take time to build up a tolerance to overnight use. However, in the long term they can be quite effective at minimising superficial scarring.
Over in the private sector microneedling and other modalities such as laser resurfacing might be helpful - but they are not really going to be used at home, and you would need to seek professional advice.