Acne is a reality many of us have to go through at least once in our lives. Sometimes, acne thankfully ends at the end of puberty; for a few unfortunate others, acne can extend into adulthood, and can be even more difficult to treat as the years pass. With a lot of research into the causes of acne, new treatment regimens are discovered every year, and new acne treatments are more readily available and are becoming less expensive to undertake.

Depending on what you want to have treated, and depending on the severity of your acne case, these new acne treatments can help you overcome your acne problems. And, no matter what these treatments are, you must always consult with a dermatologist before undertaking them. Moreover, you must go to a licensed dermatologist regularly to have your acne checked and assessed, before, during, and after the specified treatment. If you have a particularly stubborn or difficult-to-treat case of acne, new treatment regimens may not be enough to help you out, and you might need to supplement your treatments with time-tested methods.

Dermatologists acknowledge that new acne treatments do not completely make old treatments unnecessary or outdated. For instance, some new treatment methods involve stripping away the upper portion of the skin, or the epidermis, and revealing the young, often incompletely developed, and painfully raw skin underneath. This can be a dangerous procedure without antibiotics, as the exposed skin can serve as an avenue for microbes to enter and cause infection. Dermatologists have been recommending oral antibiotics for decades in order to keep infections at bay.

Using birth control pills

Dermatologists also acknowledge that the underlying cause of most acne is hormonal, so that no amount of invasive and expensive new acne treatments can be effective without some molecular assistance. Some dermatologists therefore recommend birth control pills to stabilize the levels of estrogen and progesterone in women with acne. Fluctuations in the levels of these hormones can cause acne, so birth control pills can help add to the good effects of above-the-skin treatments.

A new treatment regimen involves the use of acids that can both prevent acne scarring and remove the acne cysts themselves. For instance, a solution with mandelic and malic acids can treat skins that are prone to acne, and with effects similar to glycolic or citric acid. Mandelic acid is a natural anti-bacterial that can kill the underlying cause of most acne: bacteria. Mandelic acid can also absorb oils that can clog pores, and it can control the release of oil from oil glands beneath the skin. Malic acid, on the other hand, can keep the skin naturally hydrated without making it release oils.

Light therapy for acne

To combat more severe forms of cysts and scars due to acne, new treatment regimens have been formulated that involve the use of different frequencies of light. For instance, blue and red light therapy involves the use of light set at a particular frequency, through bulbs or lasers, to reduce the number and severity of acne lesions. Light therapy is designed to destroy the bacteria that cause acne, and light therapy treatment has so far been shown to be highly effective. However, as this technology is relatively new, it can be very expensive.

Working along the lines of light therapy is photodynamic therapy, which makes use of high energy blue or violet light to destroy the bacteria that cause acne. This therapy, however, has still not been studied in great detail, so great care should likewise be taken when it is used.

Laser treatments

Another treatment regimen involves the use of lasers to remove acne and reduce the scars that acne leave behind. In general, laser treatment burns out the follicle sac in which hairs grow, and in which acne begins to form. A laser will also burn out the oil glands that produce pore-clogging oils. Lastly, the laser will induce the acne-causing bacteria to form oxygen molecules. Because acne-causing bacteria thrives in an environment without oxygen, and is killed in the presence of it, laser therapy should remove acne-causing bacteria completely.

These are only a few new acne treatments that are now available on the market. For more information, do as much research as you can on acne treatments, and be updated on the latest news about treatments that have already been approved for general use. Moreover, talk to your dermatologist regularly and consult on these new treatments. As you have more options available to you, it will be more probable that your acne case will be resolved much faster.