Acne - Acne Scarring - Acne Treatment
“At London Bridge Plastic Surgery our experienced surgeons and aesthetic medical nurses provide a caring professional service using state-of-the-art treatments to control active acne, reduce breakouts and improve acne scarring”
What is Acne?
Acne describes blocked pores (blackheads and white heads), pimples and deeper lumps, often called nodules or cysts that can occur commonly on the face, neck, and back, and can also affect the chest, arms and shoulders. These inflammatory responses are a result of sebum, bacteria and dead cells getting plugged in the pores of your skin.
Acne is not a response of bad diet or poor hygiene, and it most certainly is not ‘just’ a cosmetic problem. Many people become extremely self conscious, making Acne a condition that can and does affect peoples’ lives.
What causes Acne?
There are a few causes of Acne:
- Acne can result from excessive sebum or oil production, caused by an imbalance of hormones, or sensitivity to the male hormone - testosterone.
- Over active or abnormal natural skin exfoliation – leading to blockage of the follicle or pore causing typical Acne spots, black heads or white heads.
- The bacteria - Propionibacterium acne is naturally found on the skin, however when a follicle becomes clogged, this bacteria can multiply ,feeding off the trapped sebum and dead skin cells, releasing chemicals into the skin which cause inflammation - inflammatory Acne.
Who gets Acne?
Everyone could experience some form of Acne with up to 80% of young adults having Acne. As well as teenagers, more and more men and women in their 40's and 50's are experiencing adult Acne. Patients with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome have abnormal levels of testerone and can suffer from severe, resistant Acne.
Shouldn’t I let it resolve itself?
Acne should always be treated to prevent scarring and abnormal pigmentation. Mild Acne can often be managed by effective home care regimes but resistant Acne or moderate to severe Acne should be treated by a professional. Inflammatory Acne and Nodular Acne can cause damage to skin collagen resulting in typical Acne scars which can be difficult to treat.
Why can scarring occur?
Early treatment of Acne is important. We do know that scarring occurs most frequently in patients with moderate to severe forms of inflammatory Acne, involving deep nodular lesions. Pigmentation from pimple lesions, although not deep, can cause discolouration of the skin. Effective Acne treatment is beneficial to reduce the psycological impact of Acne and scarring and pigmentation.
How can you treat active Acne? 
Using combination therapy, Acne lesions can be treated, frequency and number of new lesions ( breakouts) can be reduced and skin health can be restored to control Acne.
Topical treatments with Retin-A are used to balance oil and sebum production. Salicylic Acid and Benzoyl Peroxide face wash can be effective for mild Acne to unclog pores, and restore natural skin exfoliation.
Light therapy with Omnilux Blue Light or PPx Acne Photocleansing, are non invasive treatments to dramatically reduce P. Acne bacteria in the skin and heal inflammatory lesions. The PPx Photocleansing treatment for Acne effectively removes sebum and dead cells from blocked pores and can improve Acne spots in 24 - 48 hours. It is effective for resistant Acne that has not responded to topical and / or oral treatments.
Oral Antibiotics may be prescribed for severe inflammatory Acne and Roaccutane ( Oral Retinoid) may be beneficial to control severe resistant Acne. Roaccutane works by reducing sebum production at the same time as restoring normal skin cell trunover ( natural exfoliation) thus reducing blocked pores.
How can you treat Acne scarring?
When Acne lesions have resolved there may be residual damage to the dermal collagen of the skin causing superficial or deep scarring. There may also be some abnormal pigmentation as a result of the inflammation..
Treatment of Acne scarring can be difficult and a combination of treatments is commonly required to achieve optimum results. Deep skin peels with TCA - Obagi Blue Peel, Fractionated LASER Resurfacing, injectable products - Evolence Breeze, Laresse or Restylane together with Surgiwire release of deep scarring, may be effective in improving the texture and contour of the skin. New treatments with Radiofrequency and mesotherapy to boost collagen production in the skin can also be beneficial.