Acne Skin Care Treatments

For those of us with acne scars, the idea of smooth skin is something we dream about, whether in sleep or day dreaming. We put aside money for that future product or dermatological series of work on acne scars like some people save for holidays. We react to people the way we think they are reacting to our acne. Acne scars may be prevalent but it doesn’t make them any easier to accept, especially facial acne. Our face is the first thing people see and the first thing we look at every morning in the mirror.

Finding that procedure we can afford or product and acne surgery combined is one or our lifelong pursuits. Figuring out the options is necessary. For some patients, the ability to have financing and payment options make the future idea of smooth skin a closer reality.

Expensive treatments: laser surgery is just that. Skin surgeons remove scar tissue resulting in smoother clearer skin. There is very low probability of future skin scars from acne. The pain involved is quite tolerable from low to medium for most patients. Males tends to have a lower pain threshold then females – which is why females are probably able to imagine going through childbirth more than once even after the experience. Pain for fraxel lasering on a scale of 1 to 10 is about a 4.

Fractional resurfacing uses Fraxel laser treatment that results in up to 70 percent improvement of acne scars. There are minimal side effects with this type and is safe to use on other areas of your skin including neck, chest, hands. It is recommended that the treatments be repeated over intervals of three to five weeks, and to also repeat the procedure from 3 to 5 times. Every four weeks for four treatments total seems to be the norm.

The results: acne scars are wonderfully improved. A bonus if you are going for the works, is that you can have wrinkles smoothed out as well, and have brown spots removed if you are dealing with those also. They also take before and after photos so you can see results as they progress.

The cost: Fraxel lasering can cost from 1500.00 per treatment to 2500.00 per treatment. They can also discuss with you non-ablative laser which costs from about 300.00 to 1300.00 per treatment.

Time involved: The actual Fraxel lasering time is anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes normally. Your skin will feel hot for about 90 minutes after the procedure. Effects are noticeable after about two treatments. The recovery time after one session can be from 2 to 7 days.

Is it worth it? Well, make an appointment, look at before and after photos, discuss the pros and cons and decide for yourself. I believe you will do whatever you can to be rid of acne scars after you have had your first discussion with a dermatologist. Compare the different laser types and recovery time. It may be that the non-ablative laser surgery will be very effective without the huge costs.

By the way, if you have been using Accutane, a dermatologist will likely not use acne laser treatment surgery for at least six months until you have stopped using that skin treatment.