Laser Treatments for Acne
If you have tried several different acne treatments and “cures” and nothing seems to work, you may be getting frustrated and discouraged. There is hope! One of the newest, and rapidly becoming very popularity, treatments is laser acne treatment. Here is an overview of the pros and cons of this procedure.
Acne laser treatment is not something that should be undertaken lightly. For one thing, the procedure is one of the most expensive acne treatments that you can try. On average, laser treatment for acne can cost you as much as $200 a session. And since most patients will need multiple sessions, the cost can quickly add up.
The discovery of acne laser surgery came about almost by accident. Lasers had been used in acne scar treatment when it was discovered that lasers could not only help relieve the uncomfortable scars left behind by acne, but could also limit bacterial growth and lessen the amount of sebaceous oil that is produced by the oil glands, which leads to fewer acne breakouts.
Another term for acne laser surgery treatment is light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation. Basically, the laser beam is used to cut, vaporize and seal the tissue and blood vessels of the scar. This procedure cuts away dead and damage skin tissue and allows new skin to grow, reducing the severity and visibility of the acne lesions, including older marks.
Despite this, you should not expect acne laser surgery treatment to be an instant, or even a fast, cure for your acne problems. It does not always cure all of your acne breakouts, though it can help to improve the appearance of your skin and make breakouts less frequent and less severe. The laser treatment can also require many sessions stretched over a year or more before you actually start to see any positive effect of the treatment.
If you decide to have acne laser treatment to treat your acne, you may have the choice of two different methods. One of the most commonly used forms of treatment is the ablative lasers, or skin resurfacing lasers, which briefly direct an intense burst of laser energy onto the surface of the skin. This energy heats water within the top layers of the skin, causing both the water and the tissue of the skin to vaporize and burn away. This can be quite effective in reducing the appearances of scar tissue. Ablative laser treatments are aggressive in terms of severity as they can cause burning of the skin.
The other commonly used method of laser surgery treatment for acne uses a non-ablative or non-wounding laser. These are not as uncomfortable as the ablative laser surgery, and will often have fewer side effects, such as burns. This laser procedure often takes less time than ablative laser treatments, so some people will choose to have it done during their lunch break or on their way home from work so that they do not have to schedule their life around the treatment sessions. Non-ablative laser is less invasive and the heat is directed deeper under the skin. Non-ablative laser is used for more delicate procedures such as under eyes lines and wrinkles and other facial wrinkles as well as superficial acne scars and other types of scarring. Recovery time for non-ablative laser is much shorter than ablative laser treatment which could take up to six to eight weeks.
Your dermatologist will be able to help you to decide whether or not laser surgery treatment is the best course of action for treating your acne condition. In some cases, if your acne is mild, it may be more effective and less expensive for you to try traditional acne treatments first. However, if your acne symptoms and conditions do not improve with the use of traditional acne treatments, your dermatologist may recommend acne laser surgery as the next step in your acne treatment plan.
