The red marks from acne are called hyper pigmentation. I know it is hard, but the hyper pigmentation level increases drastically when you pick and pop your acne. Laser treatments are very rough, and have a long recovery time. Laser treatments are also very very expensive compared to chemical peels. You haven't clarified what level/type of acne you have, but it sounds like you just have normal acne, not cystic. I would suggest getting to a point where you are not getting anymore acne for a while, as this is counter-intuitive. If you are still getting acne, but also have acne hyper pigmentation, laser/chemical peels will get rid of the surface acne, but there is still some deep down. Then the cycle will repeat and you will keep on having to go back again and again to keep up with it. You are most definitely correct about laser being more invasive. So, if you are going to do either, I highly recommend chemical peels. Laser treatment and chemical peels can aggravate acne, though. So beware.
Chemical peels cannot do squat compared to laser. They simply don't penetrate. Even the most effective peels, such as TCA cross, are nothing compared to laser...
If you're talking fractional lasers, yes that is invasive and recovery takes forever.
However, if you're talking IPL, these are "lunch break" procedures with basically no downtime. 15 minutes and your whole face is done. I had an IPL done on modest settings and didn't even have any redness or swelling. You just have to live through the pain of getting zapped for 15 minutes. Feels like someone flicking your face with a rubberband....over and over. That's heaven compared to the downtime of a full TCA cross peel.
Honestly, though, neither really cures acne. Both are intended to repair the damage AFTER acne. If you still have active acne, many reputable derms won't do peels or laser on you.
I have had both done. Chemical Peels, IPLs and resurfacing with the E-Matrix. After laser resurfacing, you will look very red, some of the marks will even look more red but this fades. Lasers penetrate and their intention is to increase the fibroplast activity so collagen production gets boosted and your scars smooth and plump out. I had 7 days downtime, E-Matrix was ok BUT counterproductive in my case because my acne situation came back lol. So now i am combating the acne internally before doing any procedures.
IPL's dont have that downtime, they reduce redness, they are okay. I feel they also helped with my acne (when done on PR settings).
I have had a few chemical peels (30% or so) i would say they really help with the marks and generally the look of the skin and its texture.
Dr Gross does these really good pads called Alpha Beta, i would say they are amazing, they help with redness, acne and marks. I need to get them. Even using them twice a week i saw a huge difference in my skin. But i'm just trying to not do anything to my skin.
