Acne Laser Treatments
There is an old phrase in Latin that says caveat emptor. Loosely translated into the English language, it is an exhortation that the buyer should beware. In a free market society, this is especially important as people are individually responsible for the products that they purchase. Acne treatments, if purchased incorrectly however, could result in physical damage in addition to monetary loss and for that reason the buyer needs to be especially beware.
This is more important with new treatments like laser treatments, which are touted by their creators as being miracle acne cures. No laser treatments are actually miracles and every one has their good points and bad points. Understanding this and picking a treatment with good and bad points that suit you best can result in some gains through acne laser treatments, but you need to educate yourself on them first. There are four major acne laser treatments.
Affirm Laser Treatment
The first is known as the Affirm Laser treatment. This process, approved by the FDA and featured in many major media productions, is a laser beam that is utilized with the intent of firming up the different parts of the skin. For this reason, it is not specifically an acne treatment, but rather a general treatment for removing all kinds of bumps, scrapes, scars and lesions from the skin. After 3-5 treatments with each treatment session lasting 20 minutes, you should start to see some changes within the skin. The Affirm Laser, being the newest laser treatment, is currently the most popular amongst people that are interested in getting an acne laser treatment.
Fraxel Laser Treatments
Fraxel Laser treatments are also available, with the treatments actually coming from the larger term “fractional” that is applied to the particular laser that is used here. The goal of the Fraxel Laser, quite differently than the Affirm Laser, is to blast away all of the bad parts of the skin. For this reason, it will crash through the outer layers of the skin and remove skin that is unhealthy with acne or any other condition, in the process accessing the healthier layers of skin underneath. For this reason, people that take the treatment end up with blisters, scars and scabs, but all of them will heal and fall off over time, leaving the person with healthier skin underneath. Fraxel Laser treatments are therefore best combined with lifestyle changes and acne prevention regimens.
Smoothbeam Laser Treatment
The third laser type insofar as acne is concerned is the Smoothbeam Laser. This sounds rather like something out of a video game, but it is actually a facial laser treatment that stars with a spraying of cryogen material onto the face which is then followed by the actual laser treatment. The cryogen material has the ability to coat the skin and in conjunction with the laser remove the bad parts of the skin while leaving in the good. For this reason, it does not have the same side effects that are associated with Fraxel treatments.
Vbeam Laser Treatment
Finally, the last laser type worth mentioning is the Vbeam Laser. This treatment is similar in procedure to Fraxel treatments, but is much more focused on the actual acne lesions. Rather than just removing everything and letting lower layers shine through, the Vbeam Laser targets and destroys many of the red scars associated with the different acne forms. It still hurts after the treatment, but in the end it removes a lot less material and therefore has a much higher acne removal efficiency.
