How Does Laser Acne Treatment Work?

If you or someone you know is suffering with acne. We want you to know that we understand how devastating and damaging acne can be to both your skin and your confidence. It’s hard to wake up every day and face a new round of breakouts, and often, over-the-counter and prescription treatments can be irritating. Drying or even make your acne worse. There is another option for treating acne. Lasers are being used now to help people just like you. Who are dealing with this all too common and frustrating condition.

Lasers work in two different ways to help acne. First, they kill the bacteria that lives in the skin and plays a role in acne. Second, they help control the excess oiliness of acne-prone skin. Let’s talk about the bacteria first.

P. acnes is a bacterium that’s found on everyone’s skin. Unfortunately, if you have acne, your P. acnes is a problem. While we don’t understand all the reasons why it causes acne problems for some of us and not others. We do understand that without P. acnes on the skin, acne gets better. So, we can use laser energy (heat) to destroy P. acnes, and your acne will get better as a result. It is important to note that although we can get rid of what’s there today with lasers, we can’t get rid of P. acnes permanently. Laser treatments, if they work for you, will have to be performed repeatedly to keep your acne in check.

However, there is a long-term benefit of treating acne. With lasers and that is the effect that they have on your oil glands. The heat energy of the lasers (or photodynamic therapy) shrinks the gland and impairs its ability to make oil on a long-term basis. Remember, excess oil on the skin leads to clogged pores, which leads to more breakouts. So, by controlling oil, we can make your breakouts better. Although it’s not the same for everyone. Lasers can reduce oil enough to make a significant improvement in about 70% to 80% of our patients. This means that while it’s not perfect, it’s still a really good option for helping you if you have acne.

Because lasers work in two different ways to help beat acne, they work just as well, if not better, than some of the other acne treatments out there. If you’re looking for a different way to treat your acne or struggling with over-the-counter or prescription treatments that don’t seem to be helping, please give us a call today. We can talk to you more about our laser acne treatment program at a free consultation and help you decide if it’s right for you.