Have you tried everything? Creams, antibiotics, Accutane? Well a new treatment came out last year that could help you.
Acne. Eighty percent of people deal with it at some point in their lives, a new procedure could get you clearer faster.
Dr. Stella S. Matsuda has been practicing dermatology for decades she says, "Acne is really a disease that tends to be chronic. For some people its intermittent, for others it seems to occur for many years so it's not that short lived process that a lot of people think will just go away with time."
Acleara is a new FDA approved treatment for mild to moderate acne. It doesn't work on everyone, but Dr. Matsuda has seen about a 70 to 80 percent success rate in her own patients. "If someone has extremely inflammatory acne, a lot of redness, lot of pustules, this treatment in conjunction with more traditional treatments will get you clearer faster. It doesn't help everyone in the severe category," she said.
Having said that, for some, it seems to be a great fit. "I've been through two other dermatologists already I've been fighting acne for the past four years at least, and this is definitely by far the most effective. A great improvement in redness a lot less redness in my face I don't use the creams as often because I'm very physically active and creams do not go well with that, a lot less outbreaks in general," said patient Zack Stewart.
So how does it work? "It utilizes a vacuum assisted light therapy using a broadband light that is actually antibacterial and anti inflammatory," said Dr. Matsuda. The procedure starts with steaming. "The steaming is pretty nice, it's like relaxing for the first ten minutes then once they start the procedure the first pass isn't painful at all. It's really soft feeling, the flash is more like a little heat sensation," said Zack.
The technology uses suction to lift the skin closer to the light and remove the clogging in the pores. Then shines the light into the pore, killing bacteria and heating the sebaceous glands. "Then the second pass it gets a little bit more painful, not painful just like irritable and yeah you can smell the hair on your face burning a little bit if you don't shave. I make sure I shave before I come in because then you smell it a little bit more," said Zack.
Treatment length varies but most people get 3 to 6 treatments initially every two weeks. Each treatment lasts only 15 minutes. Depending on what state you live in, it may be partly covered by insurance.
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