Laser Acne Treatment

Laser treatment for acne is a relatively new way of treating acne vulgaris. Recent improvements into the understanding of what actually cause acne have brought about some exciting new treatments, such as laser treatment.

Acne is most commonly caused by bacteria called P.Acne which naturally resides in the skin and thrives off oils and dead skin cells. The sebaceous follicles found on the face, neck, back and upper chest and buttocks produce oil, sebum and dead skin cells that can accumulate in the follicles leading to an increase in bacteria that ultimately leads to a black head, white head or spot.

Normal acne treatments work by targetting the P.Acne bacteria with antibiotics but recent study has shown resistance reates up to 65% meaning antibiotics are far less effective than they used to be.

Sunlight, however, has always been known to help lessen the affects of Acne and this is because the bacteria is actually killed off when exposed to a certain wavelength of light.

Queue laser treatment, which basically blasts affected areas with a specific type of light that kills off P.Acne. A "yellow light" is commonly used that, according to the BBC, showed a 50% improvement among test cases from a 5 minute treatment.

The bad news is this treatment isn't available on the NHS yet but is available in some private clinics. An appointment with a medical professional is advised before undertaking any treatment as there have been some doubts as to the effectiveness of laser treatment.