Laser Acne Treatment in Orange County
What is Acne?
Acne is the term for plugged pores (blackheads and whiteheads), pimples, and even deeper lumps (cysts or nodules) that occur on the face, neck, chest, back, shoulders and even the upper arms.
Who gets Acne?
Most if not all teenagers will have a bout of acne ranging from extremely mild to severely disfiguring acne. However, all age groups can get acne even those in middle age. While it is not a life threatening condition, acne can cause both psychological and physical scarring . When severe, acne can lead to serious and permanent scarring. Even mild cases can lead to scarring. If you suffer from acne scarring, visit our page on Acne Scar Treatment to review treatment options.
What Causes Acne?
Acne is caused by blockages and infections in the sebaceous glands.They are the glands in the skin that produce an oily substance called sebum—these glands are the sites of acne lesions. Sebaceous glands are attached to hair follicles and are found mostly on the face, neck,back and chest.
How is Acne treated?
There are many remedies for acne treatment which are conservative in nature. Among them are proper hygiene with appropriate cleansers, benzoyl peroxide solutions, retinoids, and salicylic acid preparations. Your physician will guide you in your decisions. Your physician may elect to add a topical or oral antibiotic to your over-the-counter regimen if they do not work. By all means, use your regimen for an extended period of time. In many cases, it may take weeks to months of treatment to overcome your acne. Ignore the television commercials and products that promise an overnight cure. It just isn’t the case.
What Acne treatments are available?
We strongly urge patients to exhaust all conservative methods of acne treatment before resorting to photodynamic therapy, laser or photoactivated Levulan™ (Levulinic acid). Most cases of acne do not require our intervention. If you need more aggressive therapy and do not want to use Accutane, we offer the Blu-U™ photodynamic treatment. Blu-U is a totally non-invasive treatment that requires no downtime. 17 minute sessions twice a week for up to 10 weeks are required to help resistant acne come under control.
Acne Procedures We Offer
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- How many treatments will I need? Usually five treatments two to four weeks apart are necessary to bring acne under control. Follow up treatments will be performed as necessary.
- Does it hurt and what is the down time? These are no downtime procedures and cause minimal discomfort. Theface is pink when the patient leaves but that usually resolves in afew hours.
- If Blu-U and Laser do not control my symptoms, do you have a stronger course of treatment? Doctors of California Laser and Cosmetic Center offers far more than hope and a prescription. We offer a combination of Levulan and Photodynamic Therapy (PDT). Photodynamic acne therapy involves the application of Levulan, a photosynthesizing agent which when activated with the blue light laser acne treatment can significantly improve cases of moderate to severe cystic acne. Levulan PDT can provide immediate, long-lasting results faster and more completely with the least side effects of any other acne treatment available.
