What Are the Most Effective Acne Treatments?

Acne is a cumbersome but benign health condition that affects facial skin, causing red, raised bumps called pimples, whiteheads, or blackheads. These may become infected, resulting in deep scarring. While typical for teenagers going through hormonal changes, acne is less common but still possible among adults. The changes acne can make to your skin often impacts self-esteem, mood, and potentially your career and relationships.

If you’re an adult fighting active acne outbreaks or living with facial scarring, there are a range of treatments available. At my office, I start with a consultation to assess your unique skin type and develop a treatment plan tailored to your specific needs.

Your treatment may include services such as:

Detoxifying HydraFacials

Sebum and bacteria trapped inside pores are the cause of most adult acne. Enlarged pores, follicle congestion, and an oily t-zone may exacerbate the condition. The right facial can help to improve the condition of your skin, making it less hospitable for acne.

A HydraFacial uses patented technology to detoxify and deep clean pores while preserving your skin’s natural moisture.

Gentle Chemical Peels

Chemical peels work as an effective treatment for adult acne by gently exfoliating the skin and stimulating cell turnover. My Elimine’ peel is a medical-grade peel and the intensity is specifically for your skin type, such as salicylic acid for acne, will be applied to your skin after completing a thorough evaluation to determine the type and thickness of your peel.

The peel causes damage to your skin’s outer layers, which may result in redness, tightness, and flaking. Proper skin care is critical after a chemical peel, and I’ll provide you with specially formulated cleansers and lotions that are safe for your skin during the healing period. The results are well worth it — the new skin revealed by a chemical peel is soft, supple, and acne-free.

Exfoliating Microdermabrasion

Microdermabrasion also works to gently remove the outer layer of your skin to reveal smoother, more toned skin underneath. Using non-invasive, non-chemical crystal technology, microdermabrasion treatment exfoliates dry, damaged, acne-prone skin while encouraging the body to make new skin cells with higher levels of collagen and elastin.

Microdermabrasion is best suited for adults with mild to moderate acne scarring. The gentle exfoliation is unable to reach deep into the skin to treat nodular or cystic acne, or “ice pick” scars. A complete evaluation of your skin completed in my office will determine if microdermabrasion is the right treatment for you.

Restorative Microneedling

For patients interested in more dramatic results, I often recommend microneedling, a procedure that reaches deeper into the layers of the skin to stimulate healing. I use the SkinPen, an advanced pen-like device that contains twelve ultrafine needles and is the only FDA-cleared microneedling device for the treatment of acne scarring.

Not only do the micro-perforations created by the pen stimulate the body to produce more collagen and elastin during healing, it also creates a gateway for the deeper absorption of products like hyaluronic acid and growth factors. Or, you can opt to add a platelet rich plasma (PRP) treatment to further stimulate the generation of collagen after your microneedling procedure.

Powerful Laser Acne Treatments

If traditional acne treatments have failed to work for you, it may be time to consider a laser acne treatment. I use Sciton’s Forever Clear Broadband Light (BBL) to treat existing blemishes and help prevent future breakouts. BBL uses Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) in its most powerful and effective form to penetrate deeply into the skin where the source of acne lives.

This treatment begins with a blue BBL light designed to eradicate bacteria deep within your pores, followed by a yellow BBL light to reduce redness and inflammation caused by acne breakouts. Acne laser therapy can help you achieve clearer, brighter skin with little to no downtime and impressive results.

At the Elizabeth Roche, MD, MedSpa, I’ll work closely with you to develop a multi-tiered treatment plan to address your adult acne concerns. I’ll make customized recommendations and together we’ll decide on the best course of action. To learn more about effective ways to treat acne or to schedule an appointment, contact us.