Acne Treatment: Understanding What Your Skin Actually Needs
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
Acne can be frustrating because it is rarely just about the breakouts themselves.
For many people, acne also comes with redness, inflammation, uneven texture, enlarged pores, lingering marks, pigmentation, and sometimes scarring. Even when the active breakouts begin to improve, you may still feel like your skin has not fully recovered.
That is why acne treatment is not always about finding one “best” treatment. It is about understanding what is happening in your skin right now and choosing the right treatment for that stage.
At Prestige Laser & Skin Clinic in Burnaby, we often use a combination of Acne Laser, Laser Genesis, and LaseMD Ultra because each technology addresses a different part of the acne journey.
The key is knowing when and why to use each one.
Why Acne Can Be More Complicated Than It Looks
Two people can both say they have acne, but their skin may look completely different.
One person may be dealing with active, inflamed breakouts. Another may have very few active pimples but significant redness and pigmentation left behind. Someone else may have mostly texture and acne scarring.
This is why we do not approach every acne patient the same way.
Before recommending treatment, we look at things such as:
Are the breakouts active or mostly under control?
Is there significant redness or inflammation?
Are there brown or red marks left behind?
Is the skin oily, congested, dry, or sensitized?
Are there enlarged pores?
Is there true acne scarring or mainly pigmentation?
What skincare products are currently being used?
How reactive is the skin?
Once we understand those factors, the treatment plan becomes much clearer.
Acne Laser: When Active Breakouts Are the Main Concern
If you are still experiencing frequent active breakouts, the first priority is usually to help calm the acne before focusing heavily on pigmentation or scarring.
Our Acne Laser treatment is designed to target acne-causing bacteria and help reduce inflammation in the skin.
This can be particularly helpful when the skin is experiencing red, inflamed, recurring acne.
What can Acne Laser help with?
Acne Laser may help:
Reduce active breakouts
Target acne-causing bacteria
Calm inflammation
Reduce acne-related redness
Support clearer-looking skin
Help reduce the frequency of new breakouts over time
One thing that is important for patients to understand is that acne develops in cycles.
You may have acne forming underneath the skin before you can actually see it. This is one of the reasons why we usually recommend a series of treatments rather than expecting one session to completely clear the skin.
For active acne, consistency tends to matter much more than doing one aggressive treatment.
Laser Genesis: A Gentle Treatment for Redness, Inflammation and Pores
Laser Genesis is one of our favourite treatments for acne-prone skin because it addresses several concerns at the same time without significant downtime.
It is especially useful when the skin is red, inflamed, sensitive-looking, or has enlarged pores and uneven texture.
Laser Genesis uses gentle laser energy to heat the deeper layers of the skin, which helps stimulate collagen while also improving the appearance of redness and overall skin tone.
Many patients describe the treatment as warm and relaxing.
Laser Genesis may help improve:
Redness after acne
General facial redness
Inflammation
Enlarged pores
Uneven skin texture
Early acne scarring
Fine lines
Overall skin quality
One of the biggest advantages of Laser Genesis is that there is typically little to no downtime.
You may have some mild warmth or temporary redness after treatment, but most patients are able to return to their normal day immediately.
Why We Sometimes Combine Acne Laser and Laser Genesis
This is where acne treatment becomes more interesting.
If someone has active breakouts and significant redness, we may use Acne Laser and Laser Genesis together or within the same treatment plan.
The Acne Laser focuses more directly on the active acne component, while Laser Genesis helps calm redness, improve inflammation, refine pores, and support collagen production.
Instead of treating only the pimple itself, we are also working on the overall environment of the skin.
This combination can be particularly helpful for patients who feel that their skin always looks inflamed, even when they are not experiencing a major breakout.
What Happens After the Acne Starts to Improve with acne treatments?
This is often the stage when patients begin to notice everything the acne has left behind.
The active breakouts may be much better, but now you may see:
Brown marks
Red marks
Uneven skin tone
Enlarged pores
Rough texture
Mild scarring
Dullness
This is where LaseMD Ultra can become a valuable part of the treatment plan.
LaseMD Ultra: Improving Pigmentation, Texture and Post-Acne Marks
LaseMD Ultra is a 1927 nm thulium fractional laser designed to improve skin tone, texture, pigmentation, and overall skin quality.
Unlike Acne Laser, which is mainly used when acne is active, Ultra is often introduced once the skin is more stable and we want to focus on what the acne has left behind.
The treatment creates controlled microscopic channels in the skin, encouraging renewal and collagen production.
Ultra may help improve:
Post-acne pigmentation
Brown acne marks
Uneven skin tone
Sun damage
Rough texture
Enlarged pores
Superficial acne scarring
Fine lines
Dull skin
After treatment, the skin may feel warm and look red for a short period. Over the following days, you may notice dryness or a slightly rough, sandpaper-like texture as the skin renews.
This is part of the normal healing process.
Red Acne Marks vs. Brown Acne Marks
This is a very common source of confusion.
Not every mark left behind after acne is the same.
Red or pink marks
These are often related to lingering vascular redness after inflammation.
Laser Genesis may be particularly helpful for this type of concern because it targets redness and supports healthier-looking skin.
Brown or darker marks
These are usually caused by excess pigment produced after inflammation.
LaseMD Ultra may be more appropriate when pigmentation is the main concern.
This is one of the reasons we assess the colour and type of acne marks before recommending treatment.
Treating every mark the same way does not always produce the best outcome.
Acne Marks Are Not the Same as Acne Scars
Another important distinction is the difference between acne marks and true acne scars.
Acne marks are usually changes in colour.
They may appear:
Red
Pink
Brown
Purple
Darker than the surrounding skin
These can often improve with laser treatments, skincare, and time.
True acne scars involve a structural change in the skin.
Examples include:
Rolling scars
Boxcar scars
Ice-pick scars
Depressed or indented scars
These usually require treatments that stimulate collagen at a deeper level.
Depending on the type of scarring, we may recommend treatments such as SkinPen Microneedling, Morpheus8 RF Microneedling, Scarlet RF, LaseMD Ultra, or a combination approach.
Why We Often Treat Acne in Stages
Trying to address active acne, redness, pigmentation, and deep scarring all at once is not always the best approach.
A staged treatment plan is often more effective.
For example:
Stage 1: Control the active acne
We may begin with Acne Laser and an appropriate home skincare routine.
Stage 2: Reduce redness and inflammation
Laser Genesis may be introduced to improve redness, pores, and overall skin quality.
Stage 3: Improve pigmentation and texture
Once breakouts are more controlled, Ultra may be added to target pigmentation, tone, texture, and post-acne marks.
Stage 4: Address deeper scarring
If deeper acne scars remain, we may then consider microneedling or RF microneedling.
This approach allows us to treat the skin progressively instead of overwhelming it.
Skincare Matters More Than Most People Realize
Professional treatments can make a significant difference, but your daily skincare routine has a major impact on how your skin responds.
Many acne patients make one of two mistakes.
They either use too many strong products at the same time, or they use products that are not addressing the underlying concerns.
Over-exfoliating can damage the skin barrier and sometimes make redness and irritation worse.
A good acne routine should be structured and purposeful.
Depending on your skin, this may include:
A gentle or acne-focused cleanser
Products to help control oil and congestion
Hydrating and barrier-supporting ingredients
Retinol when appropriate
Pigment-targeting ingredients
Daily sunscreen
The exact routine should depend on your skin type, sensitivity, and treatment plan.
How Many Treatments Will I Need?
There is no universal number because every person's acne is different.
Someone with mild occasional breakouts may need a very different plan from someone who has been dealing with inflammatory acne for years.
In most cases, acne treatment works best as a series.
We may recommend several treatments close together initially and then reassess the skin.
The important part is that we adjust the plan as your skin changes.
As active acne decreases, the focus may gradually shift toward redness, pigmentation, texture, or scarring.
Which Treatment Is Best for Me?
A simple way to think about it is:
If you have active acne and breakouts:Acne Laser may be the best place to start.
If redness, inflammation, enlarged pores, and overall skin quality are your main concerns:Laser Genesis may be recommended.
If the acne is more controlled and you are mainly concerned about pigmentation, uneven tone, texture, or post-acne marks:LaseMD Ultra may be more appropriate.
And for many patients, the answer is not just one treatment.
It may be a carefully planned combination of all three at different stages.
The Goal Is Healthier Skin, Not Just Fewer Pimples
Good acne treatment is not only about making breakouts disappear.
We also want to improve how the skin functions, reduce inflammation, support the skin barrier, improve texture and tone, and minimize the marks acne can leave behind.
That is why our approach at Prestige Laser & Skin Clinic is personalized.
We assess your skin first, determine what stage of acne you are dealing with, and then create a treatment plan that makes sense for your individual concerns.
If you are struggling with active acne, redness, post-acne marks, enlarged pores, pigmentation, or acne scarring, we invite you to book a complimentary skin consultation at Prestige Laser & Skin Clinic in Burnaby.
Together, we can determine which treatments are most appropriate for your skin and build a plan that focuses on both your current concerns and your long-term skin health.
604-553-3433
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