Acne.org Products
Phototherapy
Acne.org’s Real World Take
Laser therapy works by harming skin oil glands. That can lead to some improvement in acne, and perhaps even long-term relief of some acne symptoms. However, evolution gave us skin oil glands for a reason and what happens long term when you permanently disable them is still unknown. Proceed with caution.
Phototherapy
How to Get It
Have a dermatologist? Make an appointment to get this procedure done. Don't have a dermatologist? See The American Academy of Dermatology Physician Database to find one.
Used Lasers? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
September 8, 2008
Cons:
expensive, takes at least 3 sessions to see a difference, the laser treatment itself isnt very nice, must do it fairly regularily otherwise skin will start to break out again
i started the nlite when my acne was mild. the 1st 2 treatments did nothing for my skin, and by the 3rd the acne was severe. however, after the 3rd treatment (which was done on a higher laser setting), i started seeing an improvement, and by the 5th session (a month later) i had barely had any breakouts. however, it all started to go pear shaped from there, as the lady who did my treatment quit, so they transferred me to another clinic, where the new woman was useless, and within 3 months, my skin was as bad as its ever been. now ive got my skin under control again, and am 95% clear using the beauty skin acne lamp, which i would recommend to anyone who found their acne improved by the nlite, but wants a more affordable option.
August 3, 2008
Pros:
None
Cons:
Expensive and did not work at all.
Supposed to help acne, scarring, fine lines, oiliness. I had 4 treatments spaced one month apart and noticed no difference.
A waste of money.
July 9, 2008
Pros:
Acne decreased slightly for about 2 weeks after 3 sessions
Cons:
expensive, saw no real improvement
Had 3 sesions and was told I'd have no problems, all would be great and after 3 session I would be acne free for at least 6 months. Told that it almost always works!! Went to the Private Clinic, no real assessment and absolutely no after care. So dissapointing. I wouldn't have minded the cost so much had it worked but there was no real improvement and 6 months down the line acne is worse than before.
June 27, 2008
Pros:
None, really.
Cons:
High prices quoted, time wasted, no results.
I'm highly suspicious of laser acne treatments. Does anyone know of any research that proves its effectiveness? Furthermore, I think spas and treatment centers sell it as an acne treatment, but it's really scar treatment if anything at all - and I don't even think it achieves that - it certainly doesn't physically stop acne.
May 26, 2008
Pros:
My skin felt sunburnt for a day or so, it felt like something had happened, which was nice.
Cons:
Skin got worse during the course of treatment, then went back to normal, acne as before.
Waste of money, time, energy. No results whatsoever, even got a couple of extra scars from the outbreak during treatment.
When I asked why it hadn't worked I was told that I needed to have more treatments ( £ £ £). Sales-pitch.
The Private Clinic, London. Oh, they also lost my consultation notes, and then relied on my memory of it, rather than reassessing. Don't know why I still went for it to be honest!
May 17, 2008
Pros:
COMPLETELY cleared my horrible embarrassing adult onset cystic acne, evened out my ice pick scars, made my skin much less oily, I no longer look greasy in pictures, and it significantly shrunk my pores. It's been 6 months!
Cons:
Expensive. $300 per treatment, and I needed 4 treatments.
but who cares, having to use proactiv, duac, benzaclin, tetracyclin, benzoyl peroxide etc... for the rest of my life (and none of those worked anyway) would have cost plenty more.
Use the prescription numbing cream they provide you, let it soak into your face for 30 minutes before you rinse and the treatments are painless. The laser just feels like sand blowing against you if you use the numbing cream right. After the treatment, slather on a lot of cortisone cream!After the 1st treatment, i didn't really notice any difference in breakouts, but my pores looked smaller.
After my second treatment, my face looked about 50% better. Still some pimples, but about half of what i usually got. My pores also became much smaller.
After my 3rd treatment, i think maybe i got 1 pimple in that month. my face was so smooth i couldn't stop touching my skin and even that didn't give me any zits. I haven't had any pimples at all since my 4th treatment. I LOVE my results I am so happy and would highly recommend it. It does not claim to do anything for red marks, you need another laser to do that, or let them go away on their own. The only thing i do now is wash my face once
March 31, 2008
Pros:
dries out skin effectively
Cons:
too expensive, somewhat painful, did not clear the acne
I had 7 lasers done over the course of 4 months. the treatment was only a little painful, something that can be tolerated. my dermatologist said my cysts decreased in size, but the majority of my acne is still there.
March 25, 2008
Pros:
Helped clear skin for me and has mostly stopped new spots forming.
Cons:
Quite expensive (but worth it) and takes a while to see any results.
Had the treatment as well as using 2.5% BP once a day. 2 weeks after 1st treatment and any new spots stopped forming. After about 2 months started getting a couple of new spots and had another visit. Now still get spots but they arent bad ones and go pretty quickly. I think that its a good treatment to use along with the BP regimen just as long as you be patient and believe that it is going to work for you and dont read all of the negative reviews.
February 29, 2008
Pros:
worked well on 1st treatment
good products received
Cons:
acne has now started to come back/is back only 2 weeks after last treatment
treatments seemed to wear off in effectiveness as time went on acne came back after treatment ended
painfull and expensive
ok 1st off dont believe the stuff they tell you because these miricale before and after pictures are silly just because it worked on 1 or mabye 2 people dosn't mean it works on everyone i mean you don't see all the stories of people it didnt work on!
saying this it helped my skin a little but now the acne is coming back maby i needed more treatments? basicly it worked a bit but its not worth the cash at all for 600 quid i would like to see my face totally clear at least once even for just one day but it wasn't the case. they say it helps scrring this is a lie it does nothing it puffs up your skin a little but does not get rid of scarrs at all maby makes them say 10-20% better at most and thats if it works it is painfull and makes your skin bad for days after but i don't care as long as it works but it didnt because at the end of the day my skin is about 20% better than before hardly clear skin for at least a year + the staff blatently dnt care its in and out hardly 600
December 11, 2007
Pros:
Um.....Um......nope
Cons:
The cost. The dashed hopes!
I can't speak for everyone but I think as with any acne treatment some things work for some people and not for others. I had to travel 2 hours each way to my nearest provider of NLite. It cost £150.00 a session. (A non refundable cost is also the £25.00 pre consultation - at your 1st session)
The 'nurses' at the place I went to in Exeter were not particularly friendly either.
Any way I had 1 treatment and was told to expect a breakout followed by improvement at 2 weeks. I had a breakout but no improvement. My 2nd session was at that 2 week mark. I was treated by a different girl who told me after the 2nd I could REALLY start to see improvement...my 3rd session was booked in for 4 weeks later. 3 days before, I cancelled as my skin had only become progressively worse! As I say I think for some it probably does work. I wasn't one of the luck ones though....NEXT? P.S. That 2nd treatment was about 2 months ago.
Pros:
clears acne eventually, maybe gets rid of old marks for some (didn't for me)