Today we’re going to talk about the ways that lasers and other treatments can help patients with active acne. Acne is a skin condition in which oil and dead skin cells clog up pores in the skin.  It is most commonly seen in teenagers, but it sometimes occurs in adults. Symptoms can range from a few mild pimples to severe cases where patients have hundreds of deep cysts and superficial pimples on the face, neck, chest and back.

Patients with cystic acne often have dilated red cysts on their faces. Though oral medications such as Doxycycline, Accutane and topical creams are often effective, sometimes patients need additional resources. This is where lasers and light sources can be of help. Broad Based Light with a 420 nm filter painlessly destroys P. acnes bacteria on the skin, which is what causes breakouts. Following that treatment, Broad Based Light with a 560 nm filter can target the red vessels in active acne, closing and improving the cysts. Other options for treatment include new advances using PRP and micro-needling.

Finally, we now have a new hydrafacial machine that can deeply clean acne-prone skin and help prevent future outbreaks. Acne is a frustrating condition that often requires multiple modalities to achieve improvement. Using lasers and light sources, microneedling with PRP, and our hydrafacial, it is possible to improve acne in many patients.