Acne scar specialist in Singapore: who treats acne scars, and what to check
Medically reviewed by Dr Sin Yong · Last reviewed · 9 min read
Published 13 October 2026 · Reviewed by Dr Sin Yong
An acne scar specialist Singapore search returns aesthetic physicians, dermatologists and plastic surgery specialists, and the word specialist means something different for each. In Singapore “specialist” is a protected title held only by doctors on the Specialists Register; an acne scar doctor or acne scar physician may be a fully registered doctor who is not on that register. This page explains who does what, what to check before you book, and how Dr Sin Yong, an aesthetic physician, works.
Short answerAcne scars in Singapore are treated by aesthetic physicians, dermatologists and plastic surgery specialists. Dermatologists diagnose and manage skin disease including acne; plastic surgery specialists perform surgical revision such as punch excision; aesthetic physicians such as Dr Sin Yong perform non-surgical scar work: subcision, TCA CROSS, fractional CO2 resurfacing, RF microneedling and collagen-stimulating injectables. The useful test is not the title but whether the doctor grades each scar by type and either offers or refers for what that type needs. The acne scar treatment Singapore guide shows the full method.
Only doctors on the Singapore Medical Council’s Specialists Register may call themselves specialists; dermatology and plastic surgery are registered specialties
Dr Sin Yong
Aesthetic physician, not a registered specialist: MBBS (NUS), MRCS (Edinburgh), MSc Aesthetic Medicine with Distinction (Queen Mary, London), MSc Practical Dermatology (Cardiff)
What he performs
Subcision, TCA CROSS, S3 Resurfacing Lift (fractional CO2), FSX Laser, RF microneedling on the Secret DUO, Radiesse support; every treatment himself
What he refers
Punch excision, elevation and grafting, formal scar revision and lesions of uncertain diagnosis go to a plastic surgery or dermatology specialist
Four checks
SMC registration, who performs the treatment, HSA-registered devices, a written plan with fee factors
Where
Orchard Road, by Orchard MRT; Mon–Fri 10am–8pm, Sat 11am–3pm
LookalikesScars are often confused with marks: a flat red or brown mark with normal texture is vessels or pigment rather than a scar, while a true scar changes the surface, so the first question is which scar type is present. post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.
Acne scar specialist Singapore: what the word means here
In Singapore the title “specialist” is regulated. Only doctors on the Specialists Register kept by the Singapore Medical Council may use it, and dermatology and plastic surgery are specialties on that register. Aesthetic medicine is not a registered specialty, so an aesthetic physician, however experienced in scars, is not a specialist in the regulatory sense and should not describe himself as one. Dr Sin Yong is an aesthetic physician. He holds an MSc in Aesthetic Medicine with Distinction from Queen Mary University of London and an MSc in Practical Dermatology from Cardiff University, and he is a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; none of those makes him a registered specialist, and this site does not call him one. When people search for an acne scar treatment specialist, an acne scar dermatologist or an acne scar physician, they are usually asking a simpler question: who will look at my scars properly and do the right thing for each one. That question has an answer that does not depend on the title.
Who treats acne scars in Singapore, and what each does
Three kinds of doctor treat acne scars, and the work overlaps without being identical. Dermatologists diagnose and manage skin disease, including acne itself and its medical treatment, and many also carry out scar procedures. Plastic surgery specialists perform surgical revision: punch excision, punch elevation, punch grafting and formal revision of wide or contracted scars. Aesthetic physicians perform the non-surgical scar work that most faces need: subcision for tethered scars, TCA CROSS for narrow ice-pick tracts, fractional CO2 and non-ablative acne scar laser treatment, RF microneedling and collagen-stimulating injectables. A plastic surgery specialist is the right referral for an isolated scar too deep or wide for TCA CROSS or resurfacing; a dermatology specialist for a lesion whose diagnosis is uncertain or for acne that is still active and needs medical control. The acne scar surgery page sets out which procedures are surgical and which are not.
Who does what for acne scars in Singapore
Doctor
Registered specialist?
Typical scar work
When they are the right person
Aesthetic physician (e.g. Dr Sin Yong)
No
Subcision, TCA CROSS, fractional CO2 and non-ablative laser, RF microneedling, collagen-stimulating injectables
Depressed acne scars of mixed type needing a sequenced non-surgical plan
Dermatology specialist
Yes
Medical acne treatment including isotretinoin; many also perform scar procedures and punch techniques
Active or scarring acne needing medical control; lesions of uncertain diagnosis
Plastic surgery specialist
Yes
Punch excision, elevation and grafting; excision and re-orientation of wide or contracted scars
Isolated scars too deep or wide for non-surgical methods; contractures; eyelid or lip distortion
Therapist or beautician
Not a doctor
Facials, light exfoliation, skincare
Surface maintenance only; cannot treat a dermal scar (see acne scar facials)
Four things to check before you book
Registration. Any doctor treating you should be registered with the Singapore Medical Council, and the register is public. If a clinic uses the word specialist, it should be able to say which register entry supports it. Who performs the treatment. Ask whether the doctor who assesses you is the person who will do the subcision, place the TCA droplet and hold the laser handpiece, or whether the treatment is handed to a therapist. At Dr Sin Yong’s clinic every consultation and every treatment is performed by Dr Sin Yong himself. Devices. Energy devices used in Singapore clinics should be registered with the Health Sciences Authority, and a clinic should be able to name what it uses and confirm that; this site names the DEKA Tetra Pro behind the S3 Resurfacing Lift and the ILOODA Secret DUO. A written plan. A proper scar visit ends with a written plan that names which scar gets which method and in what order, lists the fee factors, and includes the option of no treatment. The what a scar visit on Orchard Road involves page describes what that visit looks like here, and the what sets the fee page explains what moves the fee.
The useful part of a scar consultation happens before any device is named: the map, the stretch test and the plan.
How Dr Sin Yong works
Dr Sin Yong grades before he treats. Each zone of the face is charted under angled light for ice-pick, boxcar, rolling and raised scars; the skin beside each scar is stretched between two fingers to find the ones held down by a fibrous band; the Goodman and Baron grade, Fitzpatrick skin type, pigment history, acne activity, isotretinoin use and keloid tendency are recorded. The acne scar assessment page lists the seven things graded. The plan that follows is his 4D Scar Reconstruction sequence where the scarring is mixed: release by subcision (Orentreich 1995), Radiesse into the released space where volume is lost, TCA CROSS into ice-pick tracts (Lee 2002), then resurfacing with the S3 Resurfacing Lift or FSX Laser by depth. Where RF microneedling suits the surface, he uses the Secret DUO with insulated needles in darker skin, because keeping heat off the surface is most of the safety of the technique there (Syder 2023). He is a Key Opinion Leader invited to share his clinical expertise internationally for CLASSYS, DEKA, Fotona, HIRONIC and ILOODA; that describes his relationship with the manufacturers, not a claim that one device is better than another.
When he refers you to someone else
Referral is part of the method, not a failure of it. An isolated scar too deep or wide for TCA CROSS or resurfacing is referred to a plastic surgery specialist for a punch technique, and any resurfacing is planned around that. Acne that is still active goes back to medical control first, because resurfacing a face that is still breaking out treats scars that are still being made; a dermatology specialist is involved where that control needs it. A lesion whose diagnosis is uncertain is referred before anything is done to it. Raised keloid scars take an injection-based path and are never resurfaced. Saying “not me, and not yet” at the first visit is what the written plan is for.
What this page does not claim
Nothing here ranks Dr Sin Yong above any other doctor for acne scars in Singapore, or an aesthetic physician above a dermatologist or a plastic surgery specialist. The three overlap, and a scarred face sometimes needs two of them. What this page describes is a method: sort each scar by type, assign a tool to each, do the tools in the right order, refer what should be referred, and write it all down. Any doctor who works that way, whatever the title, is a reasonable person to see. The acne scar treatment Singapore guide is where that method is set out in full, and every acne and scar guide on this site is indexed on one page.
“The title on the door matters less than whether the doctor stretches your skin before naming a machine.”
Dr Sin YongOn choosing a doctor for acne scars
Dr Sin Yong explains
People ask me whether they should see a dermatologist, a plastic surgery specialist or someone like me. The honest answer is that it depends on the scar. I am an aesthetic physician, not a registered specialist, and I say so. What I do is the non-surgical part of scar work, and I do all of it myself: the mapping, the subcision, the TCA droplet, every laser pass. When I find a scar that needs a punch technique I refer it, because that is surgery and surgery is not mine. What I would ask of any doctor you see for scars is that they grade before they treat and refer what they should. That is what I try to do, and it is what the written plan you leave with is for.
Your next step
1. MessageWhatsApp +65 8023 7170 with what is bothering you. A reply comes from the clinic, not a bot.
2. AssessmentDr Sin Yong examines you himself on Orchard Road, with ultrasound where earlier filler is involved.
3. A plan in writingWhat he would do, what he would not, the fee factors, and the option of no treatment.
Every treatment is performed by Dr Sin Yong personally. Singapore Medical Council registered · invited to share his clinical expertise internationally as a Key Opinion Leader for CLASSYS, DEKA, Fotona, HIRONIC and ILOODA · HSA-registered devices · ultrasound-guided correction
No, in the regulatory sense. In Singapore only doctors on the Specialists Register may use the title, and aesthetic medicine is not a registered specialty. Dr Sin Yong is an aesthetic physician with an MSc in Aesthetic Medicine with Distinction (Queen Mary, London) and an MSc in Practical Dermatology (Cardiff) who performs non-surgical acne scar work himself and refers surgical revision to a plastic surgery specialist.
It depends on what the scars need. A dermatology specialist is the right person for active acne that needs medical control and for lesions of uncertain diagnosis. Non-surgical scar work such as subcision, TCA CROSS, fractional CO2 resurfacing and RF microneedling is performed by aesthetic physicians and by many dermatologists. Whoever you see should grade each scar by type before naming a treatment.
When an isolated scar is too deep or too wide for TCA CROSS or resurfacing and needs punch excision, elevation or grafting, or when a scar has stretched, contracted or distorts an eyelid or lip. Dr Sin Yong refers these to a plastic surgery specialist and plans any resurfacing around that treatment. Most acne scars do not need surgery.
Ask which scar types the doctor sees on your skin, which method is matched to each and why, what each method cannot do, how post-inflammatory pigmentation risk is managed in your skin type, who performs the treatment, and when a scar would be referred for a surgical technique. Ask for the plan and its fee factors in writing.
Yes. At his clinic on Orchard Road, the assessment, subcision, TCA CROSS, injectable support and every laser or RF microneedling pass are performed by Dr Sin Yong personally. There is no hand-off to a therapist for the treatment itself.
No. A private clinic can be booked directly. Subsidised appointments at public dermatology services generally need a referral from a polyclinic or GP. Whichever route you take, the first visit should be an examination that sorts the scars by type before any treatment is chosen.
References
Jacob CI, Dover JS, Kaminer MS. Acne scarring: a classification system and review of treatment options. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2001;45(1):109-117. doi:10.1067/mjd.2001.113451. source
Orentreich DS, Orentreich N. Subcutaneous incisionless (subcision) surgery for the correction of depressed scars and wrinkles. Dermatol Surg. 1995;21(6):543-549. doi:10.1111/j.1524-4725.1995.tb00259.x. source
Lee JB, Chung WG, Kwahck H, Lee KH. Focal treatment of acne scars with trichloroacetic acid: chemical reconstruction of skin scars method. Dermatol Surg. 2002;28(11):1017-1021. doi:10.1046/j.1524-4725.2002.02095.x. source
Syder NC, Chen A, Elbuluk N. Radiofrequency and radiofrequency microneedling in skin of color: a review of usage, safety, and efficacy. Dermatol Surg. 2023;49:489. doi:10.1097/DSS.0000000000003733 (PMID 36826381). source
