Rotational Therapy is an innovative advanced technique developed for treating and healing acne.

The Right Way to Use Topical Treatment

The Rotational Therapy acne treatment system is an innovative and advanced acne regimen that was developed at the Advanced Acne Institute as part of the Advanced Acne Treatment Initiative to address the shortcomings of existing treatments.

It incorporates a rotating regimen of medicated wash-off therapies centered around a potent skin conditioning treatment. The medicated washes target acne breakouts on multiple levels while the skin conditioner maintains the skin barrier to prevent dryness or irritation.

Here’s a little background to better understand how Rotational Therapy works. The skin is composed of different layers. The surface of the skin contains cells, structures and molecules that help the skin serve its role as a protective covering for the body.

When the skin surface becomes irritated and inflamed, which often occurs from harsh acne treatments, the normal structure of the skin surface becomes altered and no longer is able to optimally protect the body. Also, when the normal structure of the skin surface barrier breaks down, the skin reacts by becoming red and inflamed. This usually leads to noncompliance with treatment because the topical acne medications are stopped when the skin becomes too uncomfortable.

Also, the non-stop inflammation of acne breakouts can disrupt the skin surface barrier which causes further loss of moisture from the skin surface. The resulting dryness and irritation fundamentally alters the skin’s ability to heal and repair itself. At the AAI, we understand that one of the most important ways to improve healing of acne lesions is to soothe, support and maintain a very effective skin barrier.

This is one of the principle considerations that went into the development of Rotational Therapy. Rotational Therapy consists of ingredients that are effective against acne yet gentle on the skin surface. Also, the rotational-based regimen helps to prevent significant interruption of the skin barrier.

Dr. Colsky’s View

Here’s the bottom line: At the AAI we discovered that one of the most important things to do when treating acne is to protect and heal the skin barrier.

You see, acne-prone skin is so hyper-sensitive and the skin barrier is so fragile that despite our attempts to heal the breakouts, the improvement is short lived because acne-prone skin tends to keep slipping backwards and breakout all over again.

It’s important to understand this–if you don’t stabilize the skin’s sensitivity, attempts to control it will not be successful.

Here’s an analogy: If you walk up a down escalator, you’re never going to reach the top. Think of your skin as the down escalator. That’s why we use Rotational Therapy at the AAI; because it stops the acne escalator from moving down so that we can finally reach the top and finally heal acne.

Principles of Rotational Therapy

At the AAI, we developed a proprietary treatment system called Rotational Therapy which is designed to deliver optimal anti-bacterial and exfoliating effects without leading to the typical dryness and irritation of most conventional topical treatments.Rotational Therapy is designed to give optimal results to support healing of acne inflammation and for the prevention of acne formation. Rotational Therapy focuses on the main clinical aspects of acne development, including factors that contribute to the development of abnormal pores and the resultant inflammation. By targeting these clinical aspects of acne, Rotational Therapy provides optimal support for controlling acne breakouts.

One of the most important components of Rotational Therapy is Hydrating Base™. Hydrating Base is formulated to provide optimal soothing and calming of the skin surface.

Its combined emollient and humectant properties help to hydrate and condition the skin border and resist inflammation. It also helps the skin to repair and heal itself after harsh insults, such as happen from a variety of acne medications.

In addition to Hydrating Base, Rotational Therapy also utilizes a benzoyl peroxide formula called B Clenz™ which is supplemented with skin conditioners designed to provide optimal effect without causing irritation. Rotational Therapy combines benzoyl peroxide in B Clenz with another treatment called Saliclenz® which contains salicylic acid, also as a wash-off regimen.

Salicylic acid exfoliates the dead, stuck-on skin cells within the pores and helps to heal breakouts. Rotational Therapy is designed to deliver its effects within a short period of skin contact. The short application period also helps to prevent the usual dryness and irritation so common in other prescription and nonprescription acne treatments.

B-Clenz is an antibacterial wash-off treatment with healing effects on blackheads, whiteheads and pimples. It is a formulation that contains an optimal concentration of benzoyl peroxide in a calming base. It is applied twice each day to the affected areas only on Monday through Friday. After massaging into the skin for 10 to 20 seconds, the treatment is washed off either in the sink or in the shower.

Another very important effect of benzoyl peroxide is to prevent the bacteria (called P. acnes) in acne prone pores, from becoming resistant to antibiotics that are used to treat various forms and degrees of acne.

In fact, the recognized standard of care by the American Academy of Dermatology when treating acne is to incorporate topically applied benzoyl peroxide when prescribing an antibiotic.

Saliclenz is formulated with salicylic acid, also in a soothing base and is applied twice daily on Saturday and Sunday. Saliclenz is effective in exfoliating the dead and sticky skin cells that line and block the acne-prone pores.

It can also help to improve blackheads, whiteheads and pimples. It’s also washed off after massaging into the affected areas for 10-20 seconds. Rotational Therapy can be used on all areas where there are breakouts, including the common areas of acne breakouts such as the face, chest or back.

Remember, it’s the significant dryness and irritation that often leads to poor compliance with many of the over-the-counter or prescription treatments. In contrast, patients who use Rotational Therapy observe effective results without becoming dry or irritated.