Laser and Light Treatments for Adult Acne
The adult years are supposed to be a time of clear, beautiful skin, right? Well think again. More and more adults are spending their 30s and 40s battling acne and are dealing with the frustration and embarrassment. While teenagers with acne typically have blocked oil glands and an overproduction of sebum to blame for their breakouts, adults can thank their hormones or hypersensitivity for their bumps. Adult acne can really get in the way of a job search or for single adults, dating. Who wants to show up on a first date with a huge pimple on their cheek?
The good news is that there are effective treatments for the older population of people dealing with acne breakouts. While benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid are two very common–and effective–ingredients for teenage acne, they tend to be a bit harsh for adult skin. Some great topical treatments are green tea, retinol and sulfur to treat adult acne.When using retinol, the skin tends to become very sensitive and sometimes irritated. For this reason, we suggest “sandwiching” your retinol treatment in between applications of a moisturizer. This will help the skin tolerate the retinol.
As far as in-office adult acne treatments, they tend to differ from the treatments teenagers receive to treat their pimples. The best adult acne procedures include photodynamic therapy, blue light therapy and the Isolaz laser. Many adults do not want to go on antibiotics to treat their acne, as they do not want to add any systemic treatments to their regimen, which may already include other types of medications or hormones. The key to treating acne in adulthood is preventing future acne scars, which can commonly occur if active acne is not treated properly. The good news for adults fighting acne is that it is very rare to breakout in your 50s. Something to look forward to!
