Acne treatment
Traditional treatments
Typical treatments for acne include a variety of over-the-counter and prescription lotions and solutions that include antibiotics, retinoids and vitamin A derivatives. Some patients benefit from the use of peels that use glycolic or salicylic acids but these can cause dryness of the skin and irritation. Additionally oral treatments include drugs that inhibit the production of acne-causing hormones while in women the use of the oral contraception pill has been shown to help lessen acne.
Acne scars have proven notoriously difficult to treat and traditionally dermatologists have used surgical procedures that remove the scar (excision), chemical peels, or abrasion techniques that literally scrape the scar off the skin using a wire brush or rotating diamond-edged wheel (dermabrasion).
Laser treatment
1. Active acne
Developments in laser technology now offer a breakthrough in the treatment of active acne. Fotona’s aesthetic laser systems use a high power laser to penetrate the skin and target the bacteria that produces the inflammation associated with acne. This bacteria releases molecules called porphyrins which when exposed to a certain wavelength of light (the laser beam) increase in number until they destroy the bacteria.
2. Acne scars
Lasers have been used to treat acne scars for several years. In such treatments the laser is used to remove skin so that new skin can form in its place. Unlike chemical peels and dermabrasion with laser resurfacing the penetration depth into the skin is more easily controlled. The laser gently vaporises the acne-scarred surface of the skin so that undamaged skin below is revealed. Unlike many other techniques laser resurfacing is bloodless, gentle and complete recovery is achieved within days.
Unlike many other laser systems the Fotona's aesthetic laser systems include both an erbium laser that allows the minimal penetration required for the gentle resurfacing of acne-scarred skin, and a neodymium laser to penetrate deeper in order to destroy the active bacteria in acne (propionobacterium). As a result the Fotona range of laser systems is a comprehensive solution to the misery of acne.