Acne Surgery
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Acne Surgery Options
Acne Surgery
You may want to consider acne surgery if you have gone through every acne treatment options (acne prescription and non-prescription treatment) and none of them work for you. This is for you acne sufferers with medium to severe acne conditions. Please seek the help of a dermatologist who will discuss the various acne surgery options that are currently available. When you are thinking of going the acne surgery route, take into consideration the cost, the number of treatments required (sometimes you may require several followups), and potential side effects.
Acne Surgery Treatment Options
- A small cut is made to the acne affected area and the acne matter/pus is drained from the area.
- Severe cysts are removed by a process called excisional surgery. Due to the infectious nature of the cycts bacteria, the acne surgery procedure must be done in a sterile environment. Serious infection and scarring can result if the procedure is not done properly, so trained professionals are required.
Physical Treatment Options
Exfoliation
Exfoliation is the process of removing the top layer of the skin. This can be done with chemicals (salicylic acid or glycolic acid) or with an abrasive cloth. When we say the top layer of the skin, it is only the microscopic layer that is removed to clear up the skin pores.
Comedone Extraction
This procedure is to remove blackheads and whiteheads. As this procedure can be somewhat painful, local anesthetic is done first by applying an anesthetic cream to the area where the surgery will be performed. Next, a pen like sharp instrument or a comedone extractor is used to open up each comedone (blackhead/whitehead) to remove the dead skin cells and sebum (oil). The last step is to apply antibiotic cream over the area. This procedure is done by a dermatologist, esthetician or nurse. To prevent further formation of comedons, the medication, Retin-A, is used.
Drainage
In the case of severe acne, the cysts are usually formed underneath the skin. These are sometimes painful. For smaller cysts, cortisone injections are used. There is no scarring with cortisone injections. There should be improvements within one or two days.
For larger cysts, cortisone may not work, so the only way to treat them is to drain them first by cutting into the skin and then removed surgically. Do not do this yourself as theis may cause infection and potential scarring.
Acne Laser Therapy Treatment
Another acne surgery option is the use of laser. In this procedure, a technician aims the laser which pulsates in various wavelengths against the acne area of the skin. This removes the top layer of the acne damaged skin. This allows new skin cells to grow. During the procedure, the technician will vary the intensity of the laser over the acne area.
The potential side effects are burnt skin (which will last for weeks), skin discoloration especially for those with dark colored skin, and uneven skin sppearance (if the technician does not apply the laser evenly over the skin).
Acne surgery should be your last consideration. Take a look at our recommended top acne products first before considering acne surgery.
