For most of my life, I was blessed with good skin. While my friends were battling their first breakouts in middle school and high school, I would find only the rare blemish, and when some struggled with cystic acne in college, I counted my lucky stars that I’d never had to go on Accutane. But roughly a year ago, my luck seemed to run dry as I started breaking out like never before.
Suddenly, my complexion was covered in pesky pimples, and I had no idea why. The only times I’d ever experienced breakouts in the past were during moments of high stress, so I assumed that was the culprit behind this too. After all, we were in the midst of a global pandemic, not to mention the personal anxieties I was experiencing. I figured it was only a matter of time until my skin returned to its former, acne-free state—but when my breakouts persisted after several months, I knew something else was at play.
I decided to try mixing things up in my skin-care regimen and incorporating a long list of acne-fighting cleansers, toners, and serums. And although this helped treat and get rid of blemishes more quickly, it didn’t do anything to lessen the occurrence of breakouts in the first place.
As a beauty editor, I was supposed to be a beacon of good skin, and it felt hypocritical to be writing about acne and how to treat it when I couldn’t get my own acne under control. I knew my breakouts were pretty mild, relatively speaking, but my role in the beauty industry and my history of good skin made them feel so much worse. So, desperate to find a solution, I enlisted professional help.
I made an appointment with New York City board-certified dermatologist Dr. Dendy Engelman, and after evaluating my skin and discussing what treatment methods I had already tried, she suggested a few options. She diagnosed my breakouts as hormonal acne, both because of the placement of it along my U-zone (cheeks, chin, and jawline) and because I had already eliminated any possibility that it was just dirt, grime, and bacteria with my thorough skin-care routine. With this in mind, she wrote me a prescription for spironolactone, a diuretic used to treat hormonal acne; but when I didn’t see any results with that a month later, she told me about another possible treatment: AviClear by Cutera.
How AviClear works
I had heard about AviClear acne laser a few months earlier when it was first cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but it wasn’t until Dr. Engelman mentioned it that I really started looking into the laser treatment. I found out that the energy device is used to treat mild to severe acne and was proven to significantly eliminate acne with just three quick 30-minute sessions. Unlike other lasers, it works on all skin types and tones year-round (so I could start right away even though it was summer), and there are no harmful side effects or downtime. Dr. Engelman explained that AviClear works by treating acne at the source by targeting and down-regulating the sebaceous glands to control the production of sebum (the oily substance on skin that causes acne). Although the device was new to the market and her office, she said that she had already seen very impressive results in the patients she’d treated with it and pointed to the 80% of clinical trial participants who saw at least half their acne clear after AviClear. I was sold—and hoped I could also contribute to a successful AviClear review.
How Much AviClear Costs
The average AviClear cost of treatment can vary between $3,000 to $4,000, although that depends on your location, your provider, how many sessions you need, and other factors. However, with the potential for permanent clearing, it could just be worth it.
What happens during AviClear treatment
I had my first appointment in mid-July. After I entered the treatment room, my skin was wiped clean with acetone, to strip it of any oils, and then my face was covered in soaking-wet gauze for a few minutes, to add a moisture barrier. Before starting the treatment, Dr. Engleman warned me that some patients find the laser to be quite painful and offered to do a patch test to show me how it would feel. And since I tend to have an unusually high pain tolerance, I could barely feel it.
So with the green light to continue, she started the AviClear laser treatment on the left side of my face, around my lower cheek. She stayed in that section for a few minutes, doing multiple passes over each area, before going to the right side of my face. I will say that it started to sting a bit more than I’d anticipated when she was treating the skin around my lips and just under my eyes, but as she moved to the outer realms of my face, I truly couldn’t feel it.
When my 30-minute session came to an end, Dr. Engelman remarked that my acne was already looking better—and although I was dubious, she wasn’t wrong. I scheduled my next appointment for a month later, but she said to keep an eye on my skin over the next week or so and let her know of any changes. So when I started breaking out once again about a week after my AviClear session, I sent her a note, just to make sure everything was okay. Dr. Engelman explained that it was completely normal and that my skin was likely just purging, much in the same way it does when you start a retinoid, but that it should settle within a few days. She was right.
My AviClear results
At my next treatment, Dr. Engelman ran through the same steps and noted once again that she was already seeing an improvement. By the time my third (and last) session came around, I was feeling a little disappointed, unsure of whether AviClear had really worked for me. I was still breaking out a bit and thought that perhaps I was just among the 20% of patients who don’t see half of their acne clear. Then I saw the AviClear before and after photos comparing my skin, and there was no denying that it had made a noticeable difference.
Dr. Engelman told me that my results would only continue improving in the month or two following my last treatment. But even after a few days, I’ve found myself reaching just for a tinted sunscreen in the morning instead of the heavy foundation I’d come to rely on over the past year to conceal my blemishes. The anxiety and embarrassment I felt even two months ago now seem like a fleeting memory, and even though my skin is not yet back to being entirely clear, I have no doubt that it will be soon.
