Acne has always been acknowledged as a highly disturbing problem. In addition to the pain and discomfort, acne also leaves unsightly scars on the face; adding insult to injury. While there are numerous medications that are being used as acne treatment; most of them are associated with disadvantage like unwanted side-effects or ineffective acne treatment. Laser acne removal has been employed as an effective and non-invasive method of treatment for acne.
Is Laser Acne Removal A Good Option For Treating Acne?
The latest in Acne treatment is laser therapy and light treatment. While mild to moderate acne does not need any of these advanced therapies, severe cases have found quite a lot of benefit from them. Light therapy that is used to treat acne is known as Photodynamic therapy or PDT. In addition to treating acne, it has also been found to be beneficial for treating pre-cancerous skin affections which may have been caused by chronic and excessive exposure to sun’s rays.
How does laser acne treatment work?
Acne is caused by bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes); which are normal inhabitants on the skin of the face. These bacteria tend to produce acne only when the natural pores of the facial skin get blocked; either due to sweat, dust or over production of sebum. Laser therapy can help in acne removal in 2 different ways.
The first kind of Laser therapy helps in the removal of acne by killing these acne producing bacteria. The second type of laser therapy simply shrinks the sebum producing glands. This arrests the overproduction of sebum and subsequent blockade of the pores and aggravation of acne.
What is the cost of these laser treatments?
Before you attempt to get a laser treatment for acne; you need to know about the cost factor. The price for the entire treatment can set you back by $500 – $800 per session; which is not a small amount.
Now consider that the beneficial effects of the laser therapy used to kill the bacteria may not last for more than 2 months; calling for repeated sessions (5-7) before you can be satisfied with the positive results.
The laser therapy that shrinks the sebum producing glands has a slightly longer lasting effect on the skin; but needs a renewal once in six months.
So finally that means that unless your acne is not responsive to local medications or unless the affected area is quite large (for instance the back); you need not consider laser acne removal as an option.
What other effects do these treatments have on the skin?
In addition to removal of acne, laser acne scar removal is also being done to remove all marks, blemishes and scars left behind by the acne. The laser treatment methods produce a side effect; that is in fact extremely welcome to the folks who get it done. It can produce an ant-aging effect and also helps to restore the production of collagen; thereby making the facial skin look quite youthful and radiant.
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