Regardless of your age, acne can be problematic. It impacts how you feel about how you look, which in turn, affects how you interact with the world. And while most people think of teen angst when they think about acne, you can have breakouts as an adult, too.
In addition to a breakout causing distress while it’s going on, acne can leave scars, which can change how you feel about your face in what seems like a permanent way. There’s good news though: Dr. Bruce Sanderson here at Lasercare Skin Clinic offers effective treatments for acne and acne scars.
In order to appropriately treat your acne, you need to understand why you have it to begin with. Your body is covered with hair follicles, even in places you don’t see hair, like your forehead. All of these hair follicles are connected to oil glands called sebaceous glands.
When your sebaceous glands produce too much oil, it’s easy for the hair follicle to get clogged, causing a buildup of dead skin cells and oil. Bacteria builds up and the follicle becomes inflamed or infected, and the result is a pimple. When the blockage and inflammation happens deep under your skin, you may get a lump that looks like a cyst.
Acne can be a stray pimple, or a more serious ongoing problem that requires treatment. Acne that’s especially inflamed can cause your skin to break open and may leave a scar.
You’ve probably seen or heard of all sorts of crazy acne treatments. You may have even tried a few yourself. Take it from us: smearing on toothpaste, honey, and any other food item you may have heard of won’t make your acne go away.
When bacteria is the source of the problem, the only way to treat your acne effectively is to treat the bacteria. Creams and ointments may work for inflammation near the surface of your skin, but likely won’t help with those deep, cyst-like bumps.
Dr. Sanderson offers laser treatments for acne. The energy from the laser reaches to the deepest layers of your skin and destroys the bacteria causing the problems, allowing your skin to heal.
Additionally, the energy from the laser can slow the oil production that’s causing your follicles to become clogged. The laser slightly damages the sebaceous gland, which slows the production of oil, so your follicle remains debris-free.
Laser treatments not only help with clogged follicles and bacteria, but they also help prevent future breakouts by slowing oil production. As an added bonus, they help smooth away any acne scars you may already have. The energy from the laser stimulates your body’s healing response and that includes the production of new skin cells and collagen.
Acne scarring often looks worse than it actually is because the scar changes the pigment of your skin. The new skin cells that grow because of the laser treatments help even out the pigmentation in your skin, giving you a more consistent tone.
If you’d like to learn more about how laser treatments can get rid of your acne and leave you with smoother, more evenly-toned skin, book an appointment with Dr. Sanderson today by calling our office at 501-232-6419. He’s happy to answer your questions and suggest an effective approach to ending your acne woes.
