Medical Acne Facials

In today’s blog post we’re going to discuss an acne treatment for teenagers that we perform at the Advanced Acne Institute called a Medical Acne Facial. In this therapy regimen, our acne doctors focus on the patient’s acne breakouts and target them with various directed therapies. The goal of the Medical Acne Facial is to achieve rapid results. It is designed to work in conjunction with other forms of treatment. For example, if a patient is being treated with an oral prescription acne medication, he or she can still benefit from Medical Facial therapy.

The components of a Medical Acne Facial include:

• acne assessment
• acne pore extractions
• medicated injections
• chemical exfoliation
• skin barrier repair

The combination of therapies in this treatment regimen can help to open and purge blackheads and whiteheads and to reduce inflamed pimples. A Medical Facial can also remove the build-up of dead skin cells on the skin surface and within the pores. Working together, this can offer rapid relief of many acne symptoms. Let’s discuss each component of the Medical Facial therapy.

Acne Assessment

When performing a Medical Acne Facial, the first step is to carefully assess the type and degree of acne that the patient is experiencing. For example, it is important to know if a patient has mostly blackheads and whiteheads or if the patient also has large, inflamed pimples. This will affect how aggressive this treatment should be and what type of acne to focus on the most. For patients with mostly whiteheads and blackheads, then the focus should be on pore extractions and exfoliation. In contrast, those who have large pimples would benefit most from medicated injections and calming anti-inflammatory treatment.

Acne Pore Extraction

Acne pore extractions help empty the compacted dead skin cells and debris from the clogged acne-prone pores. Utilizing special instruments, this treatment works by the application of balanced pressure to the acne-prone pores, resulting in the forced removal of the pore’s contents. The special instruments that are used work very differently than simply squeezing the pores with one’s fingers. Using fingers to push out the pore contents can lead to rupture of the acne-prone pores, resulting in inflammation and possible scarring. Some pores are very deep and difficult to extract. For these pores the acne doctor may use a needle to open them at the top, which enables easier extraction.

Medicated Injections

For patients with many inflamed pores and large pimples, medicated injections are used to achieve rapid improvement. In this treatment, tiny injections delivered directly into the pimples can lead to very rapid healing, usually within one or two days. This can be important as a way to treat large or painful pimples. As part of a Medical Facial, this treatment is just part of the overall control achieved by the Medical Facial therapy.

Exfoliation

So far, we’ve discussed assessment of the degree of acne, extracting the acne-prone pores and injecting the inflamed pimples. The final step in the Medical Acne Facial involves exfoliation of the dead skin cell build-up on the skin surface and within the acne-prone pores. This is achieved using a type of chemical peel and is an important method of controlling breakouts in an acne treatment regimen. The exfoliating chemical peel works by loosening the bonds that hold the skin cells together and keeps them stuck along the lining of the acne-prone pores. It also has anti-inflammatory actions that help to reduce the overall redness and irritation that is commonly seen in teenage acne.

Skin Barrier Repair – Hydrating Base™ And Sun Protection

Once the therapeutic part of the Medical Acne Facial is completed, the treatment concludes with the application of Hydrating Base to soothe and condition the skin barrier. Then sunblock is applied before the patient leaves the office