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Acne Rx: What Acne really is and How to Eliminate it's Devastating Effects! James E. Fulton, MD, PhD
Acne is a difficult condition to treat. It can be chronic and recurrent. Men usually out-grow their acne after their teens (sometimes with lots of residual scarring), but women’s acne can persist well into their 40’s. If you want to effectively treat your acne while avoiding the risks and side effects of Accutane, you need a treatment plan which will control the active acne quickly and then keep it under control. Finally you can treat the exiting acne scarring using a variety of methods.
Acne Treatment Plan
Week 1-4: Benzoyl Peroxide Twice per Day, Retin A Twice per Day, Salicylic Acid
Twice per Day. Continue this skin care regimen throughout course of treatment.
Start Skin Care Products every other day and work up to twice per day.
Week 4: Photodynamic Therapy with Levulan and BLU-U
Week 5 & 6: MedLite Laser Toning Treatment
Week 7: Photodynamic Therapy with Levulan and BLU-U
Week 8 & 9: MedLite Laser Toning Treatment
Week 10: Photodynamic Therapy with Levulan and BLU-U
Week 11: MedLite Laser Toning Treatment
Week 12 and forward: Skin Care Regimen
Plan Summary: Skin Care Regimen, 3 Photodynamic Treatments, 5 Laser Toning Treatments
Maintenance Treatments: Photodynamic Therapy and/or Laser Toning
Treatment of Acne Scars: ActiveFx/DeepFx and/or Fraxel
Our Acne Plan is Based on
Acne Rx: What Acne really is and How to Eliminate it’s Devastating Effects! James E. Fulton, MD, PhD. You can purchase this book at our clinic or from Amazon.com for $22.00. We strongly recommend that you get and read this book. Once you get the tools (medications), you must know how to use them!
Basic Principles
Bring the Acne Under Control Quickly
Photodynamic Therapy, Laser Toning Treatments, Aggressive Skin Care Regimen
Keep the Acne Under Control and Treat any Exacerbations
Effective Skin Care Regimen with Periodic Maintenance Treatments with Laser and Light Devices
Treat the Acne Scaring
Fraxel Laser Treatments and ActiveFx Laser Treatments
The Basics
Facilitate cell turnover and movement of cells up and out of the pores.
Prevent pores from getting clogged with cells, bacteria and sebum.
Kill bacteria.
Tips
Very Oily Skin: you must dry the skin out. Oil floats the topical medications off the skin and keeps it from penetrating deep into the pores.
Dry Skin: you must be more careful because the medications will be more potent. The dryness opens up the pores so the medications get absorbed more easily and more deeply.
Black Skin and “Skin of Color”: Dark skin can darken if irritated by skin care products. Areas around the mouth and chin are most sensitive. Start with less potent regimen and work up slowly.
Adult Women: Combination of skin types. Forehead and nose might be oily while jawline and neck are dry. Different regimens must be used in different areas.
Back and Chest: Skin is thicker. Products have difficulty penetrating. Stronger preparations, longer and more frequent exposure.
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How to use the products
Start with every other day applications and slowly work up to every day, twice per day, then three times per day if needed. Increase the frequency, strength or wearing time every 4-6 days.
Wash face before applying products. This cleans oil and dirt for better penetration into the pores. For very dry skin, don’t apply medication for an hour or two after washing. This gives the skin time to replace some protective oils.
Apply as thin film, uniform, visible application. Not so thin so it vanishes and not so thick as to have it flake off when it dries.
Avoid the Eye area. The neck is especially sensitive. Around the nose and mouth can be sensitive as well.
Skin becomes accustomed to skin care regiments, so you have to increase the strength of the medications, the number of applications per day and the length of expose to the medication.
The purpose of the treatment is to irritate your skin, to cause peeling down inside the pore and to zap the bacteria at the same time. There will be some redness, stinging, irritation, peeling and flaking.
You need to produce extensive drying and peeling over a long period of time to get results! This opens up the lesions allowing the pores to unclog, the cells to clear and the skin care products to penetrate. Too much dryness is when your mouth skin cracks when you smile! Too much dryness is when your face becomes very red, hurts and feels so tight you think it will crack when you smile.
Comments
Acne never takes a vacation or rests on the weekends. Pores keep pumping oil and bacteria keep working on it blissfully unaware that it is Sunday or a vacation day.
Try not to moisturize your skin. You want it dry so the products are well absorbed. Moisturizer can also clog up your pores and make the acne worse.
How to tell if you are allergic to Benzoyl Peroxide. Click Here to See More.
Cosmetics: Your Skin’s Worse Pollutants. Click Here to See More.
Benzoyl Peroxide can bleach fabric. Use white pillow cases and towels
Tools
Benzoyl Peroxide 5% and 10%
Retin A 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.1%
Salicylic Acid 2%
Doxycycline 50 mg orally
Erythromycin 2% topical Solution
Chemical Peels
Microdermabrasion
Photodynamic Therapy with Levulanic Acid
BLU-U Light Treatments
Laser Toning with 1064 MedLite Laser
Fraxel Laser
ActiveFx Laser | 
