ACNE (Laser Treatment)

Tired of acne that doesn’t seem to go away? Both doctors have a special expertise in treating difficult acne. Where others have failed, they succeed. The reasons: more options, more experience, and better care.

• Quickly move up the treatment ladder to more aggressive therapies if results are not apparent
• Laser Treatment for Acne (Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) and Blue Light)
• Other (non-laser) Office Procedures for Acne:

ACNE OPTIONS

Acne Vulgaris – pimples and “zits” – almost everyone has experienced this skin disease in one form or another. The exact cause of acne is complex and only partially understood. But one could oversimplify and say that acne is caused by sticky skin cells in the opening of the hair follicles. The material produced by sebaceous glands is part of the reason that the cells are sticky. The cells form “plugs” in the opening of the hair follicle, and this is called a comedone (a “white-head” or “black-head”). Some of the comedones “explode” and turn into big red “papules” and “pustules”.

The treatments for acne can be divided into “home therapy” and “office treatments”.

HOME THERAPY

This is the regimen that Dr. Minars has prescribed for you. It may consist of creams, washes, pills or all three. There is no shortage of effective acne treatments. The most common cause of treatment failure is patient non-compliance. People give up or forget to take their medications. It’s a lot of work (often a cream and pill in the morning and again at night). And it requires patience (acne will often not budge until the third month of treatment).

OFFICE TREATMENTS

Peels (soften the “plugs”)
There are two types of peels. 1) Chemical peels – such as salicylic acid peels; and 2) Physical peels – such as microdermabrasion.  Both have the same goal – exfoliating skin:  especially those sticky skin cells that block the hair follicles and cause your acne. The choice between salicylic acid and microdermabrasion depends on your skin type and in some people they can even be used together, for a greater effect...
The “Acne Tune-Up” Facial (remove the “plugs”)
Your medicines will prevent new comedones, but eventually, some of these plugs will need to be mechanically removed one by one.  This can only be achieved by our estheticians. The “tune-up” includes steaming the skin, using acid peels and/or microdermabrasion to soften the plugs blocking your hair follicles, careful extractions to remove the plugs, and soothing masks to decrease redness. Most acne patients see Dr. Minars once a month;  one week after each visit, try an “acne tune-up”.

Cortisone injections (shrink the deep “pimples”, prevent scarring)
A cortisone injectionis the only treatment that is going to make that big red “underground” zit go away in 24 hours instead of three weeks. If you have an “emergency zit”,  and need to come in for an injection, please call the office and tell the receptionist and she will usually get you in that day for a quick visit.

Lasers
The newest treatment for acne is laser. We use three lasers to treat acne:

• SmoothBeam: (shrink sebaceous glands, improve scars) This laser has recently been FDA approved for the treatment of acne. The Smoothbeam targets and selectively shrinks the sebaceous glands, which play a prominent role in the cause of acne. Treatment is once a month for one to four months. The results are long-lasting.
• Other Lasers: (decrease redness, kill bacteria) There are two other lasers that we use for acne: the V-beam and the IPL. These lasers help treat the redness and the red scars of acne. They also kill the bacteria that cause acne. Treatments are once every one or two weeks with these lasers.