Fighting Acne With Laser Therapy
December 11, 2008People don’t always want to resort to medication to treat their severe cases of acne. As an alternative many turn to laser and light treatments to fight the signs of acne. Lasers and light therapies have many uses when it comes to treating acne. They can be used to treat inflammation, acne scarring, and can even eliminate and prevent acne.
Skin treatment lasers are able to make their way below the skin, effecting the parts of your skin that are need to clear up your acne, without doing any damage to your skin. Your dermatologist can pinpoint the cause of your acne, and then adjust the laser to attack particular causes.
Those taking advantage of laser acne treatment are typically instructed to continue their topical acne treatments, such as benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid treatments. Laser treatments aren’t overnight cures for acne, as many believe. You must return for routine laser treatments at least once a month, or however long is instructed by your dermatologist. The procedures must be continued from months to years, in worst cases.
Scars and Inflammation
Acne laser treatments are commonly used to reduce the appearance and causes of scarring. One popular method is to use lasers to tighten the skin by warming collagens. They can also be used to effect the upper layers of skin, and remove the physical appearance of acne scars all together. This acne treatment has been used effectively for quite some time, but it is still a very new field, and finding somebody to perform these treatments may still be difficult.
Preventing and Treating Acne with Lasers
If you manage to make your way to a skin laser specialist before scarring begins, they can utilize lasers to shrink oil glands, and kill off acne causing bacteria. Those with the money can get these treatments to prevent acne from ever occurring. However, many don’t turn to lasers to treat acne, till they’ve tried almost everything else.
Unfortunately, laser skin treatments aren’t by any means cheap. To make things worse, most insurance policies don’t cover laser treatment since, it is what they call a “emerging technology.” This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though.
Many of these treatments are, in fact, “emerging technologies” and aren’t as perfected as many other acne treatments. Many treatments are still very much so in the experimental testing stages. These treatments have been proven to be effective procedures for many people, but you should take advantage of all other acne treatments before you begin trying experimental treatments.
Laser Treatment for Dark Skin
It’s been a long standing rumor that people with dark skin should avoid laser treatments at all costs. This is not always the case. There are many dermatologists that specialize in the treatment of dark skin types. If you have an experienced laser treatment specialist at your disposable, they should be able to help you. But again, laser acne treatment is still very new, and shouldn’t be used to all other options have been exhausted.
The eventual goal of laser acne therapies is to minimize the necessity of using drugs to control acne. It will probably be another few years before these treatments are perfected, but when they are, lasers are likely to be the leading treatment for acne.
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Tags: acne scars, acne treatment, dermatologist, laser specialist, laser therapy, laser treatments, light therapy, severe acne
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