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Jennifer Walling got through her teenage years spot free. But then in her mid 20's, adult acne struck.
"It's not been fun," Jennifer admits. "I've done treatments from Acutane to topicals, to facials, to trying to eat the right foods, to everything. I've exhausted all options, I think."
So now Jennifer is trying the latest high tech, non-drug approach.
The Clearlight photoclearing system uses high intensity blue light. Dermatologist Dr. Vic Narukar is doing a study on the effectiveness of The light treatment.
He says it destroys the bacteria that causes inflammatory acne.
It's been used in Europe and Canada for the past two years.
"What they found is that if you do a series of treatments over a one month interval, you can reduce both the inflammatory component of the acne, and the bacterial component of the acne, and the acne will stay clear for about six months or longer," he explains.
The patient gets two 15 minute treatments a week, for four weeks.
According to Jennifer, "You don't feel anything. You take a little nap."
Dr. Narukar says it is by no means a cure. But for inflammatory acne it seems to be promising.
"We are seeing clearance in about two to three weeks, where patients are coming back to us saying, 'Hey, my skin looks better.'"
Jennifer says she has noticed a big difference in her skin.
"It's completely allowed me to manage the situation. It's really been night and day," she says.
The only downside is the cost-- about $500. And it's not covered by insurance.
