Eliminating Acne And Scarring With Light And Laser Acne Treatments

These infections cause wear and tear on the skin's natural components and structures, especially if acne is severe. Areas affected by frequent acne infections develop deficiencies in essential skin components, making it difficult for the body to properly defend itself as well as heal.

Acne, due to the resulting inflammatory and immune response of the body, damages collagen and elastin proteins, severs the microvascular system and further destroys other important skin cells. If this reaction is not managed and injuries are allowed to occur deep within the dermis, it can cause scarring.

There are two main types of scarring that are resultant of acne. Atrophic scars are those that appear as divots or depressions in the skin as they are caused by a loss of tissue. Because acne damages and destroys important skin proteins and structures, atrophic scarring is a more common result. Although not as common, hypertrophic and keloid scars can also occur due to acne. In both hypertrophic scars and keloids, one sees an excess of tissue. This rapidly constructed scar tissue is made up of collagen fibers. In both types of scarring, the normal functional tissue (skin) is replaced by connective tissue (scar) to close the wound.

How to Get Rid of Spots and Acne By Way of the Following New Acne Treatments

Light Therapy

Light therapy for acne (also known as phototherapy) works to reduce acne by removing the bacteria that causes acne - Propionibacterium acnes. Phototherapy methods currently include high intensity blue light and pulsed light and head energy (LHE). In addition, LHE therapy has also been found to shrink sebaceous glands, reducing the amount of pore-clogging sebum produced.

Laser Acne Treatments

Even though lasers have been used in the medical field for more than 50 years now, they are just now being used for acne skin care. Today, there are two kinds of laser acne treatments. One type is targeted at treating acne that kills the bacteria P. acnes and is proving successful in reducing sebum gland size, similar to light therapy. The second category concerns itself with the removal of scar tissue caused by acne.

Laser skin resurfacing uses a laser to burn off layers of skin to remove the uppermost part of scars. This controlled elimination of skin promotes healing and assists in more rapidly replacing damaged skin with healthy tissue. Scars are also smoothed out by the heat of the laser forcing the skin to tighten. The Erbium:Yag and the carbon dioxide laser are those which are most typically used for this type of treatment.