Acne & Acne Scar Treatments
Personalised treatment for active acne, breakouts and acne scarring in Cheltenham, using skin peels, LED light therapy and Tixel resurfacing.
Cheltenham Skin & Facials can treat and relieve problems with acne, acne scars and spotty skin. Our clinic is near the centre of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire.
What is Acne?
Acne or spotty skin is distressing for anyone, but it is especially distressing for teenage skin. We get breakouts, spots, and acne for various reasons, sometimes because of product use. Sonia sees greasy, spotty skin, but also dry and flaky in places.
This can be typical of using the wrong products. The moisturisers used can be thick and oil-based, so they cannot permeate through the cell membrane, causing blockages. When combined with a shop-bought facial wash for oily skin, this can often strip the skin too much, leaving it in a state of flux, both dried out and over-oily.
Different types of acne include pustular acne, where the spot is a pimple with a pus tip or a large, solid lump that is painful to the touch (cystic lesions); blackheads, which are open, blocked pores; and whiteheads.
Often, a hormone imbalance causes acne.
Treatments available for acne and spotty breakout skins
- We have a range of specific chemical skin peels to help significantly reduce and clear skin.
- We combine many peels with LED blue light or BLUE and RED LED light therapies.
- A specialised range of medical-grade products that are clinically proven to help with acne and congested skin, whilst allowing the skin to breathe and stay hydrated.
- IPL can help clear acne and may be another suitable treatment option. Book a consultation and patch test first.
- Tixel is the new gold-standard treatment for skin resurfacing and helps reduce acne scarring.
Acne scar treatments
Acne scarring can cause huge distress to the sufferer, affecting self-esteem and confidence. A survey by the British Skin Foundation reported 40% of people with acne had reported bullying because of their skin condition.
Acne can be difficult to treat, but some excellent treatments work; some more serious, complex cases may need the advice of a dermatologist. At our Cheltenham skin clinic, we always conduct a thorough consultation to determine what is best.
Why do we get acne scarring?
Acne scars are more likely to occur if you pick and squeeze spots; they are often difficult to treat. However, there are some good options. Acne scarring manifests as spots from deep nodules and inflamed cysts.
Collagen can be deposited in the skin in a way that causes an uneven or lumpy skin surface, and it can damage skin cells, causing melanin to form and darken the skin. Blood vessels can also become permanently dilated as the skin tries to heal, leading to inflammation and redness.
Types of acne scars
Elevated scars – hypertrophic or keloid scars with excess fibrous tissue, often seen in darker skin types. These are 3 major categories:
- Ice pick scars are narrow and pitted, hence the name.
- Boxcar scars. These are wide depressions with sharp edges and can look a bit like small craters.
- Rolling scars: these look undulated, sloping and softer.
Many sufferers can have mixtures of all three types.
Treating acne scars
There are many options for treating acne scars, from medical interventions such as steroid injections to surgical treatments such as subcision. This is where a needle is inserted to break up the tethering of the skin.
Microdermabrasion and chemical peels can, over time or with a course of treatment, really help with superficial scars. Laser therapies can also help. The most effective method is Tixel, an ablative form of resurfacing. It is not a laser but is similar. It offers significantly better healing and is the most advanced treatment available for acne scars.
The most successful outcome is to treat the acne with peels and light therapy, plus a regimen of excellent home care with specialised products. Once the active acne has improved and calmed down, we address the scarring.
Tixel for acne scars
For scarring, a course of treatments is usually required.
Tixel offers the most advanced skin resurfacing on the market to treat acne scars. It works by using tiny heat pyramids at 400 degrees that touch the skin for literally microseconds, creating tiny injuries or microchannels. Tixel creates a fast wound-healing response. It helps to break up the fibrous tissue, creating new collagen formation, and then forms new, smoother skin.
Treatment options at our Cheltenham clinic
However, even the best products, used alone, are often not enough to treat acne and breakouts and achieve clear skin. The right products will help hugely, but it is best to treat the causes by unblocking pores, treating bacteria and reducing excess sebum production.
That is done most effectively with skin peels, home use of glycolic acid, and blue LED light therapy, which kills bacteria. Combination therapy!
One of my go-to fixes for spotty, greasy skin is the Cerepharma Salicylic peel, which really clarifies spots by deep-cleansing and unblocking pores.
As far as treatments go, sebaceous glands become blocked with excess sebum, bacteria form in the pores, get trapped, and more spots appear, creating a vicious circle. So, a great treatment that is always amazing at clearing breakouts is the salicylic acid skin peel, as it is very effective at deep cleaning by dissolving clogged pores and exfoliating away dead skin cells. The acid is anti-inflammatory and helps regulate further breakouts. I see even better results with combination treatments.
Reviews
Clients travel from across Cheltenham and the Cotswolds for honest advice, personalised care and results that last. Here are just a few of their words:
You can read many more 5‑star Google reviews from clients.
Visit our Cheltenham skin clinic.
Visits to Cheltenham Skin & Facials by Sonia Norman are by appointment only, so please book your skincare consultation or treatment before attending the clinic. To help us keep your treatment experience calm and relaxing, please aim to arrive around 5 minutes before your appointment time. Our waiting area is quite small, and arriving much earlier may disrupt treatments already in progress. Thank you for your understanding.
Our clinic is just 2 minutes from Cheltenham town centre, with free 4-hour on-street parking or on the gravel driveway.