Acne & Comedones

WHAT IS ACNE?

Acne is an upsetting skin condition, brought about by overactive sebaceous glands in the skin. These glands produce oil to lubricate the skin; but when they produce too much, the glands can become blocked. This can result in acne in the form of scaly red skin, pimples, blackheads and whiteheads.  Acne is not just a teenage problem; it can often continue into adulthood. There’s no way to predict how long it will take to disappear entirely.

Acne typically appears on your face, forehead, chest, upper back and shoulders because these areas of skin have the most oil (sebaceous) glands.  Hair follicles are connected to oil glands.

The follicle wall may bulge and produce a whitehead, or the plug may be open to the surface and darken, causing a blackhead. A blackhead may look like dirt stuck in pores. But the pore is congested with bacteria and oil, which turns brown when it’s exposed to the air.

Pimples are raised red spots with a white center that develop when blocked hair follicles become inflamed or infected with bacteria. Blockages and inflammation that develop deep inside hair follicles produce cyst like lumps beneath the surface of your skin. Other pores on your skin, which are the openings of the sweat glands, aren’t usually involved in acne.

Acne can be characterized by inflammation and the formation of comedones, milia, pimples, pustules, nodules or cysts. Shallow lesions are usually minor and heal quickly. In moderate or severe cases infected material may spread out into the surrounding tissue, causing inflammation. To prevent significant scarring acne should be treated in the early stages.  If left untreated, acne can lead to acne scars. Acne scars may remain on your face, neck, shoulder or chest forever. Getting your acne scars removed is more difficult than treating acne.

SYMPTOMS

WHAT CAUSES ACNE?

Acne is usually the result of excessively blocked pores.  There are 4 main factors that can block your pores and cause an acne breakout.

HORMONAL CHANGES

Teenagers going through puberty is one of the biggest acne causes. When hormones become out of balance, sebum production can increase – which leads to oilier and acne-prone skin.   Another hormonal imbalance that can lead to acne include polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in women and thyroid imbalances.

EXCESS DEAD SKIN CELLS

When too many dead skin cells travel to your pores on the surface of your skin, they can clump together to clog your pores and appear as a pimple.

BACTERIA CONTAMINATION

Severe acne occurs when bacteria are trapped with sebum in your pores.  Bacteria can cause inflammation and redness and can lead to the formation of painful cysts under the skin.  Cysts are lump which, like pimples, contain pus, however, they don’t form a head on the outside of the skin.

YOUR SKIN TYPE

If you have oily skin, the excess oil on the surface of your skin can block pores and cause acne.  If you have combination skin, you may have acne prone skin in the oilier areas of your face. Sensitive skin can be more susceptible to irritants and have more adverse reactions.  There are some skin types that are naturally more prone to pimples than others.

HOW DO YOU GET RID OF ACNE?

Acne can be an extremely problematic condition to treat, severe acne commonly requires a combination of products and treatments over a long period of time, and the specific treatment program must be tailored to individual.  Celevenus provide acne treatments tailored to all ages. 

We’ve helped people to keep acne under control. We can help you too.  We aim to reverse, prevent and repair the changes in your skin that trigger acne and acne infections.  Your skin will be bright and fresh, but most importantly, it will be healthy.

ACNE MANAGEMENT TREATMENT AT CELEVENUS

Celevenus have a variety of treatments at treating varying degrees of acne and improving skin health.

ACNE TREATMENT WITH SCITON BROADBAND LIGHT (BBL™)

Our acne treatment is specifically designed to clear acne and congested skin. This treatment works to cleanse pores, extract, and hydrate.  Cleansing will remove the impurities from your skin, as well as soothe any irritations. Extractions will help remove any sebum that is clogging your pores.  Your skin will feel fresh and clean. Hydrations will reduce any redness and inflammation.  Approximately 6 to 10 treatments are needed to clear up the whole face.

It is combined with Sciton Broad Band Light which delivers a powerful and targeted blue light beam to kill the bacteria in the acne after acne treatment. It also causes the oil glands to shrink in size and sebum production will be reduced resulting in less acne.  With this treatment, patients often notice reduction of new acne formation and reduction of redness and inflammation after 1 to 2 treatment.

SCITON BROADBAND LIGHT (BBL™) ACNE THERAPY

Sciton BBL™ is an FDA approved machine and has proven to be helpful in the treatment of acne. It utilizes a blue filter to selectively target the p-acnes bacteria that are partially responsible for acne in the skin.  It also helps to reduce redness and deeper acne lesions.

INTRACEL™ COMBINATION WITH ACNE TREATMENT

INTRAcel™ is a fantastic treatment for tackling acne and acne scars. INTRAcel™ helps treat active acne by destroying acne bacteria on the skin and prevents against future breakout by regulating the production of sebum (oil).

INTRAcel™ also helps remedy the scarring and pigmentation that acne leaves behind as it boosts the production of collagen and elastin in the skin. This makes it a good treatment for those who no longer have acne but have pick-axe or rolling scars from previous breakouts.

ACNE TREATMENT WITH REVLITE LASER

Laser treatments can be an effective part of an acne treatment plan. Lasers produce intense monochromatic light varied by a narrow band of wavelengths, and they can target the P. acnes bacteria that often resides on the skin and contributes to acne breakouts. In additional, different lasers of different wavelengths can also target the excessive blood vessels around the inflamed areas, as well as the pigmentation and scars left behind when the acne heals.

For acne treatment, the Q-switched Revlite Laser is one of the more preferred method because it is fast and effective with no-downtime option.  Each treatment takes between 10-15 minutes to complete, and sunblock and cosmetics can be applied immediately after the treatment.

AGNES RADIO FREQUENCY

One of the latest advancements and addition to Celevenus’s acne treatment is AGNES, which offers a permanent and long-term solution to acne breakouts, as it targets the root of the problem.  The main indication of AGNES started from Acne treatment by selective sebaceous gland destruction using micro-insulated needles without damages to adjacent tissues.

If your acne is persisting into adulthood and tends to recur in the same few areas, then AGNES is the solution to your acne. AGNES works by a tiny burst of RF energy that is enough to shrink the oil gland under that damaged pore. Once the oil gland has been reduced, that pore is treated and chances of acne recurring over that pore again are significantly decreased.

The treatment involves minimal downtime and results are noticeable within weeks of the first treatment*. Repeat treatments are performed when needed and most people achieve their result in around 3 sessions.

SKIN PEELS (COSMELAN/OBAGI/ENERPEEL)

As one of the most extenuating factors of acne is blocked pores, skin peels can be a solution to ensuring that your skin does not remain clogged. These peels can help to exfoliate the top layers of your skin by use of chemicals, which are more effective than home exfoliation.

Skin peel means to remove the top layers of the skin through a peeling solution, which prompts the skin to peel naturally and remove dead skin cells. The type of peel used will vary from one patient to another based on one’s skin condition. Improvement is noticeable after each session.

Skin peel can be an excellent treatment for some patients. 

This peel is a minimally invasive treatment. It increases cell turnover, removes dead skin cells and gives the skin a healthy glow.  Ideal treatment for fine lines, wrinkles, laxity of skin, loss of firmness, severe pigmentation, adult acne and acne scarring to achieve visible, significant results.

You will have tighter, smoother, brighter-looking skin immediately after your first peel. However, when the healing process has finished, you will notice dramatic results to the tone, texture, and feel of your skin. Your complexion will become firmer, clearer, smoother, healthier, and more youthful looking. These results will only continue to improve over the next 4 to 6 weeks.

ANTIBIOTICS

Aside from clinical acne treatments, certain antibiotics can be used to keep your acne under control. Depending on your situation, you may benefit from oral or topical antibiotics. This will help to clear up ongoing bacterial infections that are contributing to your acne, in addition to having an anti-inflammatory action on your skin. 

SKIN CARE

Daily skincare regimen is well balanced for individual skin type to maintain the results of your acne treatment.  Using clinic prescribed skincare can help to optimally achieve oil control without drying up your skin.

RETINOID TREATMENT FOR ACNE

Retinol is a type of retinoid which is vitamin A.   It is well known for being the ultimate does-it-all skin solution. This vitamin-A derived product treats acne, fights signs of aging like fine lines and wrinkles, unclogs pores, and even out skin.  Retinoids work by prompting surface skin cells to turn over and die rapidly, making way for new cell growth underneath.

If you have moderate to severe acne that hasn’t gotten better with other treatments, a retinoid may help. When spread on the skin, retinoids not only can decrease oil production, it can unclog pores, allowing other medicated creams and gels to work better. They also reduce acne outbreaks by preventing dead cells from clogging pores. By clearing acne and reducing outbreaks, they may also reduce the formation of acne scars.

When you first use retinoids, you may notice redness, peeling of your skin, or worsening of your acne. You can minimize this by using the product every other day until your body gets used to it or mixing it with a moisturizer.  Retinoids get the job done by exfoliating your skin, and this is one case where more isn’t better.  Retinoids are best applied in the evening.  That’s mostly to avoid the sun sensitivity side effect.

WHAT IS ROACCUTANE?

If you’re struggling with acne, chances are, you’ve probably heard of Roaccutane.  It’s one of the very few clinically proven oral treatments for acne, and the results can be incredible.

Roaccutane contains the active ingredient isotretinoin and is used to treat acne. It belongs to a group of medicines called retinoids, which are similar to vitamin A.

Retinoids work by reducing the amount of the oily substance (i.e. sebum) made by glands in your skin, reducing bacteria and inflammation and opening clogged pores.  There are many different types of medicines used to treat acne. Roaccutane is used for more severe cases.

Acne treatment with Roaccutane will usually last 4 to 8 months. In the first few weeks of treatment your acne may get a little worse before it gets better. Do not worry about this, it is a sign that Roaccutane is working.

At the end of this time your acne should have cleared up significantly. Most patients notice their skin condition continues to improve even after Roaccutane treatment is finished.