Even though acne is common — about 85% of women, men, and teens or tweens have at least one outbreak during their youth — when yours is the face that’s broken out in cysts, pimples, or zits, you may feel very much alone. Acne is a highly visible skin condition, which can make you feel embarrassed and even ashamed.
Just as you aren’t the only one with acne (though it may seem so, sometimes), you aren’t the only one who feels embarrassed by it. In fact, many kids, teens, and even adults with acne feel depressed, anxious, or alienated by their skin condition.
At Specialists in Dermatology, our expert dermatologists, understand that it’s hard to feel happy when you’re unhappy with your skin. To improve your skin and your mood, we offer individualized acne treatment at our offices in The Woodlands, Texas, and Houston, Texas.
Trying to treat acne yourself can be frustrating and may cause other issues, such as flaky skin or irritation. Our dermatologists analyze the type and severity of your acne so that we give you the right treatment at the right time. Below are a few of our therapies, which we customize to your current needs.
If your acne is mild-to-moderate, you may benefit from topical medications that dry up excess oil and help your skin cells turn over more quickly, so they don’t form plugs that can become zits or pimples. Some preparations we recommend may also kill off the proliferation of skin bacteria that accompanies acne. Topical ingredients may include:
Because some of these formulas may cause dryness or redness, we also recommend medical-grade skin care that gently cleanses and moisturizes your skin to keep it supple and healthy as you rid yourself of acne.
Regular chemical peels are one of the most effective ways to improve your skin health and reduce the number of breakouts. During a chemical peel, we brush your skin with an acid of varying strengths, depending on your needs. The acid peels away the top layer of your skin, revealing fresher skin underneath.
Chemical peels help unplug your follicles (i.e., pores), which are filled with excess sebum (i.e., oil) and dead skin cells in acne. By encouraging cell turnover on the surface of your skin as well as inside the follicles, a chemical peel improves the health of your skin overall.
When your skin is healthy and free of excess oil and dead skin, your risk for an acne outbreak is reduced. Chemical peels also make your skin look glowing and dewy.
When you have a large acne cyst or nodule, the lesion isn’t just highly visible and therefore potentially highly embarrassing, it’s also a risk to your skin. Extremely inflamed acne lesions can leave scars that last a lifetime and can also discolor your skin.
If you try to “pop” or remove the lesion yourself, you damage your skin and could make the scar even worse or create hyperpigmentation (i.e., darker color on your skin). Instead, trust us to gently and expertly drain the cyst or nodule of pus and fluid and extract the contents so that your skin can heal.
Sometimes, a large acne lesion appears at just the wrong time, such as before an important meeting, date, or social engagement. Again, avoid the urge to pop it or push it out yourself. You could make the lesion look worse, create an infection, and increase the risk for scarring.
Instead, come to us for an injection that helps resolve the lesion within a day or two. We inject a steroid directly into the pimple, cyst, or nodule. The steroid reduces inflammation so that the lesion can heal. You notice the lesion shrinking within 24 hours.
Put your best face forward again, with confidence and pride, by coming to us for acne treatment today. Set up an appointment by calling our office or using our convenient online contact form.
