Michael Coverman, MD

I'm 28, started breaking out when I was about 22, and I first tried Smoothbeam several years ago and did 4 treatments. The laser works by shrinking the oil producing glands in your skin, which do recover eventually, but it kept my skin clear for a couple of years. After suffering through some bad heat and humidity when the Texas summer came back around this year, my skin got really oil and started to break out like crazy again. I was using Proactiv to try to deal with acne because I couldn't drop several hundred dollars on Smoothbeam treatments, but Proactiv is expensive too, not to mention a big hassle to go through a couple of times a day and smells funny and bleaches clothing and towels on top of that. My skin also got so oily during the day anyway and I found myself constantly blotting it because it was so shiny, so when I could finally afford to go the Smoothbeam route again, I jumped on it. I had my first treatment of this new round yesterday and my skin already looks and feels better. I'm probably going to have 3 or 4 treatments, one every 3 weeks, and then if my skin has quit its annoying overproduction of oil I will wait and do the other 1 or 2 treatments (I bought a package of 5 because it came at a discount) for maintenance later. Smoothbeam is not a permanent fix for acne, but for the amount of time that it kept my skin clear the first time, it's permanent enough. It's so nice being able to just use gentle cleansers on my face and be able to see clear skin in the mirror. Some people say it hurts, but I didn't use numbing cream and I would describe the sensation as moderately annoying zaps, like getting shocked by static.