If you have ever experienced acne or still suffer from it, you will know how much of a misery it can turn
your life into. Even if you do successfully manage to treat it, there is still the danger that it can leave you with ugly looking scars. Not only that, but it leaves the texture of your skin somewhat
changed so that your skin has an "older" look to it.
It's not all bad news, however, as treatments are available to remove your acne scars. Whilst a good
cleansing lotion and medicated creams may help in controlling acne, they won't unfortunately do anything to smooth your skin and remove the offending acne scars. For acne scar removal you need something a bit more stronger - and this is where acne laser treatment comes in.
The FDA has approved treatments that originally came about from using hair removal techniques but were found to be very effective in the treatment of acne. In fact, some studies have shown that the new pulsed light treatments appear to treat quite a few skin problems, not just acne, immediately and are much more effective than the more traditional treatments. Further, these new light based treatments can treat all forms of acne from mild to the most severe.
They work by using a two pronged attach: they reduce the oil gland function and also affect the growth
of bacteria. This two fold attack has been shown to be extremely effective when it comes to curbing
acne.
Acne laser and IPL (intense pulsed light) treatment is an effective way of dealing with those stubborn
and ugly looking acne scars. There is usually no pain during your laser treatment. People with brown or black skin however, may not be suitable candidates for having acne laser treatment because lasers have been known to cause an uneven colour in these skins.
The laser and IPL treatments target intense light onto the affected areas of the skin. The laser or IPL
is able to penetrate through the upper skin layer and in doing so damages or effectively 'burns' it off.
The effects of this treatment are that new skin is stimulated to grow and when it does, the acne scar
will be significantly less noticeable.
The actual treatment process produces a high energy pulse of light that is generated by a laser type
machine. This light pulse is then directed at the afflicted area in a quick burst and the result is
that the filtered light is absorbed by the subcutaneous oil glands. This has the effect of damaging and
permanently disabling the subcutaneous glands as well as destroying the bacteria that breeds inside the glands.
The light treatment lasts about ten minutes and patients hardly feel any pain although they might
experience a mild snapping sensation. The skin may be slightly red for a few hours after treatment but
other than that the effects are almost immediate.
It is likely that patients will need a few more treatments, maybe the odd one or two but then you are a
getting an almost 100% reduction in many cases - which is very reassuring. Especially if acne has been a big burden to carry.
As far as acne scarring goes it is possible to combine microdermabrasion and collagen replenishment
treatments with laser therapy to find an effective treatment for the pitting and scarring that can be
caused by acne.
