Resolve to Help Your Teen’s Acne

If you’re the parent of a high school student at Lucy Beckham or Wando, odds are you’re the parent of an acne-suffering student. Acne and the teenage years go together like proms and rented tuxedos. Despite its prevalence — it’s estimated that 85 percent of teens get acne — acne continues to be one of the more misunderstood conditions; people still believe it is caused by eating chocolate, potato chips, greasy foods, and the like.

Since we’re in a new year here in Mt. Pleasant, let’s get into acne a bit in this second blog of 2022 at AesthetiSpa, and then we’ll talk about one of our treatments for acne, chemical peels.

What’s with acne?

It’s true that many people still think potato chips, fries, and other typical teenage snack fare can cause acne. They think that not washing your face 20 times a day can cause acne. They think that you have to dry out your skin like the Gobi Desert to treat acne.

Uh, no.

Acne is caused by the P.acnes bacteria and the sebaceous glands. The sebaceous glands are located at the bottom of the hair follicles and are responsible for producing and releasing the oil (sebum) that keeps our skin and hair moist.

The problem is puberty. During puberty the raging hormones coursing through your teenager make the sebaceous glands overproduce oil. This overproduction leads to clogging of the glands. The P.acnes bacteria that live in the glands normally now are locked in and they get busy, reproducing like rabbits. This tells the body to send white blood cells to the area, leading to inflammation and, you guessed it, a breakout.

Chemical peels

At AesthetiSpa, we have an assortment of chemical peels that we can tailor to the client. That includes peels specifically to help with acne. The key to a chemical peel of any kind is exfoliation. All that’s happening in a peel is you’re breaking down some of the bonds in the outer skin to help the exfoliation process along.

Chemical peels rapidly exfoliate the skin, allowing dead skin cells to shed more effectively. By keeping dead skin cells and excess oil from clogging the hair follicles (and sebaceous glands at their base), pore blockages and pimples can be reduced.

Medium depth chemical peels also help with acne scarring, as they trigger the production of new skin cells and new collagen and elastin. All work to build the skin from within, lessening the appearance of acne scarring.

If your teen is struggling with acne, make an appointment for them to see the skin experts at AesthetiSpa. We can put chemical peels and other treatments to work, clearing their clogged pores and decreasing their breakouts. Call us at 843-849-9925 to schedule your appointment.