Depressed with Acne
Dear Dr Q,
I am a 35-year-old woman. Recently I have experienced a severe acne breakout on my face. I always had oily skin with visible pores, but it has unfortunately worsened. I get nodules and soon they become angry looking pustules. When they dry up, they leave behind ugly scars. I am so upset with the state of my skin, my makeup doesn’t sit smoothly and I have developed a huge complex. I avoid looking at myself in the mirror as all I see is acne.
Dr Q: Hello Depressed-with-Acne, let me first explain to you what acne is. Acne is an inflammatory disorder of the skin. When someone has acne, the hair, sebum and keratinocytes stick together inside the pore. The mixture of oil and cells allows bacteria, that normally lives on the skin, to grow in the plugged follicle and cause inflammation, swelling, redness, heat and pain. When the walls of the plugged follicle break down, the bacteria spills into the surrounding tissue, creating nodules and pimples.
Side effects of Acne are:
– Hyperpigmentation (darkening of skin)
– Erythema (Reddening of skin in patches)
– Scarring
Treatment:
– Topical application of topical antibiotics, topicals retinoids, Benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, glycolic acids, and Tea tree oil can be used to decrease the development of Acne.
– Oral intake of, antibiotics like tetracycline or oral isotretinoin, can help with the reduction of Acne.
– Procedural treatments using light-based treatments, like LED (blue and red light) kill the acne bacteria.
IPL (intense pulse light) help inhibit the acne bacteria and damages the sebaceous glands.
Depending on the severity of symptoms of your acne, you could be prescribed one of the above treatments or a combination of them.
At Skinlogics, our approach to treating acne is scientific and is juxtaposed with state-of-the-art technology. We offer our patients medical grade chemical peels, LED lights and IPL to control and terminate bacteria in active acne nodules, and follow it with a customizable skin regimen to control future breakouts. We also offer CO2 laser, ResurFX Laser, IPL and Microneedling for all post acne side effects like hyperpigmentation, scarring and post inflammatory erythema.
