Many teenagers struggle with acne as part of their adolescence. While acne is not a life-threatening skin condition, it can nonetheless overwhelmingly affect someone’s appearance and self-esteem. Even a mild breakout can make sufferers feel embarrassed about their looks, and less willing to participate in normal social interactions.

Contrary to popular myth, acne breakouts aren’t a result of poor hygiene, eating greasy foods or excessively touching your face. Dermatologists have identified four key factors that cause acne:

Oil production
Dead skin cells
Clogged pores
Bacteria

Acne typically appears on the areas of your skin with the highest concentration of oil-producing glands: your face, neck, chest, back and shoulders. Hair follicles are connected to these oil glands, which secrete an oily substance known as sebum that keeps hair and skin lubricated. Sebum normally travels along the hair shafts and through the openings of the hair follicles onto the surface of your skin. When hair follicles become blocked with oil and dead skin cells, acne is the result.

Sebum and dead skin cells form a soft plug, creating an environment where bacteria can thrive. The bacteria responsible for inflamed acne breakouts are Propionibacteria acnes (P. acnes).
P. acnes are normal inhabitants of hair follicles. However, when the P. acnes population in your skin grows out of control, it can cause redness, inflammation and infection, leading to the formation of pus.

How Bad Can Acne Become?

There are three levels of severity associated with acne.

Mild acne consists of a few lesions that are close to the surface, and not deep or inflamed.
Moderate acne is marked by deeper lesions, accompanied by redness.
Severe acne involves many lesions, multiple cysts and widespread redness and inflammation.

What Triggers Acne Flare-ups?

Several factors can make acne breakouts worse, though these triggers are different for everyone.

Cosmetics: Makeup and hair care products can clog pores. Be sure to look for the following acne-friendly terms on product labels: “oil-free,” “non-comedogenic” or “non-acnegenic.”
Sweating: Because sweat can clog pores, sweating can worsen acne in some people.
Overwashing: It may be tempting to think washing your face more will help get rid of acne, but that’s not the case. For acne-prone skin, dermatologists recommend washing twice a day with a mild cleanser. Washing more often and using strong, astringent cleansers or toners can strip skin’s natural barriers and create irritation, leading to more acne.
Medications: Some medications can trigger and worsen acne, such as oral corticosteroids, progestin-based birth control and anti-convulsives.
Menstrual cycle: Many women may experience acne breakouts around their monthly period, due to hormone fluctuations.
Picking or squeezing: Touching acne lesions can make them worse and can even lead to permanent scarring. Squeezing or popping pimples can cause sebum and bacteria to leak into surrounding skin tissues, leading to more swelling, redness and possibly infection.

The Causes of Acne Scarring

While acne may only stick around for a few years, it can leave behind permanent scarring. Acne scars are most often the product of an inflamed lesion. The greater the inflammation on the skin, the more likely scarring is to occur. Deep breakouts that take a long time to heal also increase the chance of scarring.

Acne scars result from the body’s natural attempt to heal itself. To repair the redness and inflammation that come with acne, skin will form new collagen fibers. Raised acne scars occur when the skin overproduces collagen, while pitted acne scars are the result of not enough collagen production.

Acne Treatment Options

Modern society puts such a strong emphasis on appearance — especially during the challenging teenage years — that anyone who doesn’t conform to the “norm” can be shunned and stigmatized. If acne is considerably affecting the way you feel about yourself, interfering with your social life or making you feel depressed and anxious, it may be time to seek out therapeutic treatments.

At Synergy Spa & Aesthetics, we love working with acne patients and helping them regain their skin clarity and quality of life. Our founder, Anna Churchill, began her clinical skin career more than 20 years ago working in an acne clinic; she has also worked side-by-side with some of the world’s most recognized dermatologists. She personally trains each of our medical aestheticians on our various healing acne treatments.

Forever Clear Broad Band Light (BBL) has been successfully proven to treat acne safely and effectively. Sciton BBL is an FDA-approved treatment that uses a blue light filter to selectively target the P. acnes bacteria that are partially responsible for acne flare-ups.

During the 20- to 30-minute procedure, your skin care expert will apply a thin layer of gel to your skin, followed by the BBL treatment. Most patients experience minimal discomfort. After the procedure, some patients may experience temporary reddening and minimal swelling of the acne and surrounding skin for a day or two. These side effects are short-lived and usually associated with little or no downtime.

To see maximum results with BBL, a series of eight weekly treatments is most effective. Most patients will need periodic touch-up treatments ranging from monthly to every six months, depending on your acne type and severity.

In addition to Sciton BBL acne treatments, Synergy is proud to offer the following acne treatment options.

Acne cyst injections: Deep, swollen acne cysts often rupture over time and will create scarring if left untreated. Acne cyst injections will prevent the cyst from rupturing and causing further damage. Healing usually begins immediately.
Clean and Clear Facial: A 45-minute deep cleansing, followed by extractions.
Corrective peels
Extraction spot treatment
Microdermabrasion: An advanced skin resurfacing procedure that exfoliates skin layers and invigorates cell renewal with no downtime. This process rejuvenates skin by removing the sun-damaged top layers of skin and stimulating the production of new skin cells and collagen. This treatment is a safe and comfortable alternative to chemical peels and laser resurfacing.
MicroLaser peels for acne scarring
Skin Accumax: Skin Accumax is a skin care supplement by Jane Iredale that is suitable for all skin types, as well as problem skin.