Acne
Are you tired of hiding underneath tons of makeup or skipping events because of embarrassing acne? Don’t let acne run your life. SMAC’s team of experts can develop a personalized treatment program that will attack existing acne and prevent new acne from forming.
What is acne?
Acne is a condition of the sebaceous glands. Each gland produces oil (sebum), and is connected to a canal called a follicle that contains a fine hair. This oil normally empties onto the skin surface through the opening of the follicle called a pore. When the oil, hair and skin cells fill the pore, it produces a plug, which is an early sign of acne. This plug prevents the sebum from reaching the surface. This plug ignites the growth of bacteria or Propionibacterium acnes (P Acne) in the plugged follicles. Inflammation soon follows from the chemicals and enzymes produced by the bacteria.
Acne occurs on face as well as the neck, back, chest, shoulders and upper arms. Acne is caused by testosterone, a hormone present in both males and females that increases during puberty. Testosterone stimulates the sebaceous glands of the skin to produce oil and plug the pores. Adults often develop acne during their 20’s, 30’s and 40s due to changes in hormones, childbirth, menopause or discontinuing birth control.
Acne Myths
- Acne is not caused by washing your face. Washing often or too strongly can irritate acne and make it worse.
- Certain foods cause acne. Scientists have been unable to find any connection between diet and acne. Watch your eating habits. If there are some foods that cause your acne to get worse try to avoid them
- Acne is caused by dirt. Blemishes appear oil forms a plug in a tiny hair follicle called a pore.
- Acne only occurs in teenagers. Adults who did not have acne in their youth often experience acne in their 20’s or 30’s.
- Make-Up Causes Acne. When shopping for make-up, look for products that are non-comedogenic, which means they won’t clog your pores.
While each case is different, each acne program has three goals:
- Heal existing lesions
- Stop new lesions from forming
- Prevent and treat acne scarring
Depending on the type of acne, patient’s history and treatment courses that have failed, SMAC will tailor a treatment regimen that uses the following technologies:
Photodynamic Acne Therapy
Photodynamic Acne Therapy (PDT) is a treatment that uses a topical photosensitizing agent called Levulan, a clear painless solution that is applied to the skin for 15-60 minutes. The solution is then activated with the OmniLux light which drives the solution deeper into the skin. When the sebaceous glands absorb the solution, the acne cells become more sensitive to the light.
Acne Rescue Facial
An intense medical cleansing, this anti-bacterial treatment is carefully designed for oily, acneic skin to treat blackheads, whiteheads and breakouts. The combination of medical grade salicylic acids, thorough extraction, followed by a benzoyl peroxide mask will leave your skin purified and glowing.
Isolaz™ Deep Vacuum Pore Therapy
Isolaz therapy is the most advanced and clinically proven treatment for acne and clogged pores. It offers a breakthrough vacuum technology that purifies your pores from the inside out. It is a quick, easy and painless procedure. The Isolaz™ vacuum applies gentle pressure on your pores to loosen and extract blackheads, whiteheads and acne causing impurities from deep in your pores resulting in radiant, clear skin that is purified. Isolaz™ therapy is ideally combined with our physician provided laser acne treatments-the ultimate acne treatments without the side effects of antibiotics or Accutane.
Non-ablative lasers
Non-ablative lasers are used to treat acne along with other therapy discussed. These lasers shrink the sebaceous glands and also kill some of the harmful bacteria. These devices sometimes achieve very dramatic results.
Cosmeceuticals
Obagi Clenziderm
Clenziderm M.D. is a prescription strength acne therapeutic system. The only acne treatment systems with a liquid form of benzoyl peroxide, CLENZIderm M.D.™ is clinically proven to provide visibly clearer skin as early as 2 weeks.
Obagi CLENZIderm M.D.™ includes a new, liquified form of benzoyl peroxide that is 1/10,000 the size of any other benzoyl peroxide available.
CLENZIderm M.D.™ systems are clinically proven to penetrate more effectively than leading prescription benzoyl peroxide products.* As a result, this Rx-strength treatment instantly penetrates the pores and begins reducing acne below the skin’s surface, providing a clearer complexion in as early as 2 weeks.
* Postered at the 2006 Annual American Academy of Dermatology meeting.
2 Weeks on Clenziderm
4 Weeks
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