Acne affects almost everyone, but for some can be severe and long lasting, often leaving scars after the outbreaks have stopped. There are many treatment options available today, with laser treatments being the most popular for severe acne and acne scars.
Acne laser treatments have come a long way the past few years. Today people have more options with less intrusive treatments that have less side effects, less recovery time, and better results.
Acne develops when the sebaceous glands in a person’s skin produces excess oil and clogs the skin’s pores. Trapped oil builds up within the gland, causing inflammation and acne lesions. The swelling within the oil gland can become so intense that the oil gland can rupture, leading to further inflammation and scarring.
Acne scars are the outcome of a wound in our skin healing, resulting in too much collagen ending up in one spot. Since the wound occurs within the dermis from the inflammation brought on by acne, the scar is within the skin, rather than on it and this makes acne scarring difficult to remove.
Scarring from severe acne can be permanent and disfiguring. If you have moderate to bad acne, you should be seen by a physician to discuss treatment options to avoid risk of permanent scarring.
Acne laser treatment has become the treatment of choice today for acne and acne scars. The most common types of acne laser treatments are: fractional, erbium, pulsed dye, diode and IPL photofacials.
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During acne laser treatment, a laser is placed over the skin affected by acne which shrinks the sebaceous glands beneath your skin.
For acne scars, the lasers work by stimulating collagen production in the skin, thereby smoothing out scars by filling them in from the inside out. There have been a number of exciting advances recently in acne laser treatment which have resulted in vast improvements in the ability to treat acne scars.
Acne laser treatments fall into 2 categories. Ablative and non-ablative. Ablative laser treatments briefly direct an intense burst of laser energy into the surface of the skin. This energy heats water within the surface layers, causing both the water and the tissue of the skin to turn to vapor. With every pass over the skin, some of the outermost layers of the skin are removed. The skin then heals over a period of time, allowing new layers of collagen to be produced. The skin resurface itself, causing an improvement in the appearance of acne scars.
Non ablative acne laser treatments are newer to the scene. They have lower energy levels and utilize light energy to stimulate collagen within the dermal layer by removing irregular pigmentation and acne scars without creating any damage to the skin surface. This technique doesn’t injure the outer layers of skin and the healing process is very rapid. The risk associated with these procedures are minimal.
Most side effects from non-ablative laser treatments are minor. Temporary pain, redness, and swelling are the most common reported effects. Most people find the pain associated with acne laser treatment quite tolerable.
