Acne Relief

Posts Tagged ‘doctor’

It could not have been more than five minutes after I posted best way to get rid of acne, that I received an email from my friend Clark who was writing to tell me about chocolate as an acne treatment. Since it wasn’t a good time for me and Clark is somewhat of a practical joker I didn’t pay much attention and put it off to the side to take a look at later. Clark lives in Hershey Pennsylvania so my first thought was this is his way to boost chocolate sales in a downturned market. Well today I finally around to following up (actually it totally slipped my mind) and clicked on some links in the email that takes me to information for a company in England called Frutel’s. I poked around some of the company literature and sure enough they are pitching chocolate as a way to get rid of acne.

Let me preface myself here. I am by nature a very critical person. It probably started when I was a little kid and took thinks apart for no other reason than to put them back together. As I got older and started to see things through more educated eyes, it didn’t take long for me to realize that I was living in a world where people were constantly selling and being sold to. When I developed acne issues I got a front row seat on the consumer roller coaster.

Initially I thought I’d go to the doctor and bada bing I would get rid of my acne. When the results were unsatisfactory to say the least the Doc tinkered around with some more pills and potions, told me to lay off the fried foods and candy and my mom and dad were now making the doctor’s car payments. It was starting to appear the doctor was not trying to cure my acne as much as setting me up on the acne product purchase plan. I just wanted to let you know a little something before I get back to the Willie Wonka acne chocolate bar.

From a promotional advertising point of view I love the idea of a chocolate as a way to get rid of acne. With the exception of all fried foods, I can think of no other food that is more associated with the cause of acne than chocolate. To take that perception and twist it as a way to get rid of acne is brilliant in my humble opinion. I also can appreciate what appears to be their company philosophy that acne has to be treated from the inside out. Pimples and zits are the symptoms of an out of whack hormonal and dietary system. Acne isn’t the problem it is the result. The question becomes whether adding vitamins and minerals to chocolate is the solution.

While chocolate will not cause acne I am at a loss to find its nutrition specific acne fighting benefit. Without getting all technical on its molecular structure and its nutritional value there really isn’t a specific reason to include this food per the discussion of this post. While I grant eating chocolate has a certain emotional and euphoric benefit it would appear that in the case of getting rid of acne, its main reason for being are promotional and commercial. The other aspect of these products is vitamin and mineral supplements. While vitamin and mineral deficiencies can and do causes hormonal change as well as a host other problems. Is it really necessary to put it in chocolate and charge a premium? Can’t I just run down to the corner and grab the latest Flintstone chewable’ and be done with it. Also I would be interested in how the heat in the processing of this chocolate delectable affects their potency.

All in all it seems to me to be a big waste of time and money. The best way to get rid of acne is to get your vitamins and minerals by eating a healthy diet. If you want chocolate there is always the Hershey bar.

I know that it is the hope of all acne scarred patients to find a good doctor who will perform their Fraxel laser treatment.  Obviously, I hope that the one who is going to perform mine knows what she is doing.  In all honesty, I haven’t really decided yet as I’m still going through research and plus I’m still trying to get my adult hormonal acne under control before I can even contemplate getting the laser treatment.

My cosmetic dermatologist was recommended by my family doctor who was always reluctant for me to go see a dermatologist.  She always thought it was unnecessary and gave me topical treatments that never really cleared my acne.  I’m in my 30s and I still have mild to moderate acne and I think this is totally unacceptable.  I was tired of being pushed around by doctors who said it was nothing while it has left my face scarred.  In any case, now I have a dermatologist who was reluctantly recommended.  Just great.

I looked up my dermatologist on the Internet to see if she had any patient ratings and it was mixed.  She got good reviews for port wine stains which is her specialty but no reviews on Fraxel laser treatments.  What reviews she did have left her with an average rating.  Some liked her and some didn’t and felt she was cold and only after the money.  That is something that I fear with cosmetic dermatologists – that they always want you to come back for the next treatment as they suck you dry of your money with promises of results that never materialize.

Looking at her very large office suite, you know she has done well for herself.  I don’t know if this is a good or bad sign.  Does this mean that she is doing well because she is gauging or she is doing well because of her reputation involved.  Some patients report that she is a cold doctor.  Personally I didn’t think so but then again, I’m not a chatty person to begin with.  I go in and I come out.  No chit chat.  And frankly, I don’t care if she’s mute.  As long as she does her job and can provide me with an acne scar treament.

In my previous posts about Fraxel laser side effects and Fraxel laser reviews, I pointed out some discrepancies on what I had read and what my doctor answered.  I hope she’s not pushing Fraxel on me to make a quick buck.  On my first consultation visit, I asked her what the side effects were and what is the worse case scenario.  She just shrugged it off and said your acne would come back and that’s it.  It was only during my second follow up appointment to review my acne medication progress that she said that acne might come back with Fraxel due to the aggravation.  Okay, finally what she said matched with what I read on the Internet.  Next, I asked her about the possibilities of hyper and hypopigmentation.  She said no but I wonder if she has any experience with olive skin or if her clientele are purely Caucasian people.  Does she have experience with people of Asian skin, African skin, Latino skin?  In the Fraxel laser literature, they say it is fine and the laser does not affect melanin in the skin.  However, when I read about the reality of Fraxel patient reviews online, I am getting that some darker skinned people have experienced complications.  Discoloration can be easily overcome if the issue is dealt with right away.  However, if my doctor is unaware or is denying the possibility of this then she can’t help me prepare if I am the unfortunate ones who experience this.

I am still torn whether or not if I want this doctor to perform the Fraxel treatment on me.  Hell, I don’t know if I’m going to get Fraxel treatment done at all.  I still have lots to research.  But if I do go through with it, my instincts tell me that I have to develop trust with the doctor.  If I let her go through with it and I have doubts, then it’s as much her fault as it is mine if something goes wrong.  I will say this though.  I would never go to a spa to get this done as I have seen some spas advertise for this and for a cheaper price too.  I don’t know if they have a doctor performing it or a technician/esthetician but I would feel much more comfortable if a doctor performed it.   Maybe it’s on the lightest setting but still, this is your face we’re talking about here.

So, for now, I’m content with my current cosmetic dermatologist treating my acne but later on, I might seek a second opinion about the Fraxel laser from a dermatologist solely so there is no bias to the cosmetic industry.  Just to play it safe.

This post is on Fraxel laser side effects as the post about Fraxel laser reviews mentioned people saying that their side effects were not what they expected.  I had already discussed my concern of what the marketing hype says and what real Fraxel patients say.

My dermatologist told me to expect some pimple breakouts after getting Fraxel treatments and this matches what I have read on the subject as well.  I know she’s being honest with me and she has had previous experience with this common side effect at least.  In fact, she’s a cosmetic dermatologist who has fifteen years of experience in lasers so hopefully she can do a good job using Fraxel to get rid of my acne scars.    However, there are other areas of concern for me with this doctor.

I have an olive skin complexion so I had read that non white people might have skin discoloration issues?  Hypopigmentation and hyper pigmentation after Fraxel done.  I had heard to stay out of the sun but what if you follow all the procedures of wearing sunblock/sunscreen and wide brim hats and still get discolored?  I really don’t know why one would get discolored with Fraxel but I don’t doubt what people say.  If they reported it after the laser treatment I want to know if it is a possibility.  I asked my dermatologist and she says as well that people don’t get discolored because the Fraxel laser does not target melanin (which I read on the web as well).   But like I said before, after reading the message boards of some acne sites, a doctor commented that some people do get discolored.  Now is it because they were in the sun, or because the laser did that to them?

I really hate this conflicting information.  I’d rather have the truth being told to me so then I can evaluate the risks.  If my dermatologist says this is not the case, then I have to question this.  If this is something she doesn’t know about, then am I comfortable with her doing my acne scar treatment or will she introduce even more problems?  Or, is this whole thing blown out of proportion with people not following up correctly on their Fraxel after care program?    Still, like I said, my doctor  has fifteen years in the cosmetic laser industry.

Other conflicting reports that I have read about Fraxel side effects are the down time regarding having this procedure done.  People say that Fraxel takes like a week or two weeks to heal while the brochures conveniently say you can go back to work within the afternoon and it’s practically something you can do at lunch time.  What I think is going on here is that it depends on the intensity that the Fraxel laser is set on.

There are three types of Fraxel laser treatments:

Fraxel re:fine, Fraxel re: store, and Fraxel re: pair.  The intensity of the laser is different on each and the FDA has approved different types of skin treatments for each laser.  For instance, Fraxel re: fine is for pigmented lesions, periorbital fine lines, melasma, skin resurfacing, soft tissue coagulation.  Fraxel re: store is for photodamage, mild to moderate periorbital wrinkles, acne scars, surgical scars, melasma, actinic Keratosis.  Fraxel re: pair is for rhytides, pigmented lesions, moderate to severe wrinkles and furrows in lax skin, fine lines, textural irregularities, vascular dyschromia.

Now, I have no idea what all these medical terminology means because I just copied the stuff but clearly for acne laser scar treatment Fraxel re: store is what you are probably going to undergo.  At least, that is the type of  laser treatment you should have.  If you have the Fraxel re: fine, that is not FDA approved for acne scar treatment because it’s too light an intensity (I think) and Fraxel re: pair might be too strong.  However, the last I read, clinical trials are underway for acne scar removal with Fraxel re: pair.  Some patients have reported good results for deep acne pitting.

So my concern with the Fraxel laser marketing brochures reporting short down times might be because they were giving the best case scenario for Fraxel re: fine and not Fraxel re: store.  And for those who are out of commission for several days to reheal after Fraxel might have gotten Fraxel re:pair.

The thing is, you must ask your dermatologist what type of Fraxel laser you are getting and truthfully what type of side effects you are going to undergo and how long it will take you to heal.  There might be discrepancies in what you read and what they tell you for better or for worse.  It is too late to find out later what to expect after you have the Fraxel laser done without knowing the consequences.

You may be surprised to learn that you can get severe acne well into your 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond. Fortunately, there are adult acne treatments that can be quite effective.

There are several causes of adult acne, with stress usually a contributing factor. Many adults lead more stressful lives than they are aware of. Eventually all this stress begins to take a toll on your body. Internal tormoil manifests in your skin, and sometimes presents as acne. While stress affects both genders, women run the risk of having acne that is caused by low-grade cosmetics. Cheap cosmetics can trap bacteria in your pores and increase your chances of breakouts. Other contributing factors to the onset of adult acne may include hormonal imbalances and reactions to certain medications, including birth control pills.

The best treatment for adult acne may simply be a lifestyle change. Reducing stress can certainly help alleviate the problem. Try to use higher grade cosmetics, and find out if any medications you are taking are causing adverse reactions.

There are a number of conventional and alternative adult acne treatments, so speak to your doctor or dermatologist to find out which one is right for you. They may suggest a simple cleaning regimen of benzoyl peroxide. Many adults have found that simply using benzoyl peroxide is an effective adult acne cure. This will not work for everyone though. Your doctor may determine that you need a stronger medication such as Accutane, an oral prescription medication for severe adult acne.

The side effects from some of the more powerful adult acne treatments can be quite painful, so many individuals look towards natural treatments first. One of the newest products for treating mild to moderate breakouts is called Acuzine, and many consider it the best treatment for adult acne, as it works from the inside out, naturally clearing up acne and preventing future breakouts from occurring.

Natural treatments such as Acuzine contain vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other powerful nutrients that minimize adult acne without the potential side effects of harsh over-the-counter-medications and prescription acne drugs. Although there is no definitive adult acne cure, natural treatments can be quite an effective alternative.

With so many adult acne treatments available, you are sure to find one that works for you. There are pimple creams for occasional breakouts you can find in any drug store, powerful drugs available through your dermatologist, and everything in between. The best treatment for adult acne is out there, you just have to find it!