What treatment should I get for redness? V Beam, Microneedling, Erbium? (Photo)

Morpheus 8 is a non-invasive skin and soft tissue tightening treatment that is consistently amazing in our patients. We use the Morpheus to exact fractional induced RF into the skin or tissue in order to tighten collagen and stimulate contraction of the tissue. For acne scars, it is quite useful to build collagen in patients who have atrophic scars but is not very productive for ice-pick scars which require TCA Cross. For tissue tightening, Morpheus is ideal for the face and neck and we often combine it with CO2 laser or Ultherapy to further enhance results. Chemical peels and skin resurfacing should be done at least 5 to 7 days after, but can be performed earlier, depending on treatment severity. Avoid exfoliating skin treatments before Morpheus and expect a period of 2-4 weeks for skin contraction to set in.

Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian

While I certainly can understand impatience when it comes to fading of residual redness after acne, technically referred to as postinflammatory erythema or PIE, you might be comforted to know that in many, if not most cases of PIE, the redness will fade gradually over time on its own, so long as no new inflammatory breakouts occur to set the clock back. Waiting, while continuing to use suppressive topical medications to prevent fresh breakouts, is a lot cheaper than spending a whole lot of money for various bells and whistles lasers, etc. If waiting is simply not possible, relatively inexpensive in-office microneedling coupled with the use of topical tranexamic acid and, if also needed, a topical vasoconstrictor, can yield quite gratifying fading of the redness. It is crucially important that acne breakouts are appropriately suppressed to allow for healing and fading of what you currently have. So make sure that you are consulting with a board certified aesthetic dermatologist who can help you with this and with appropriate anti-redness treatment, if you still require or desire it. Best of luck.

I recommend getting a formal evaluation.  The V Beam laser may help with redness and it may also help with scarring. Acne scar treatment needs a combination approach for improvement. For the best results, one should target the acne scar type. As everyone has a unique pattern of acne scarring, the best solution is a tailored one. Vascular lasers like yellow laser, aerolase, excel V or IPL for redness or thick scars. And lasers such as fraxel, erbium, co2 or fractional radiofrequency like venus viva, skinfinity, intensif microneedling RF for textural issues and superficial scarring. All lasers are combined with microneedling and PRP to get even better results and improve healing times. The majority of patients will have a collection of different scar types, and hence a tailored treatment plan is needed by an expert physician. It is never about the laser or product that gives the results, it's about the expert behind the equipment that gets you the outcome. Scars cannot be cured and will need lifelong treatments to maintain and build on the results. See an expert. Best, Dr. Emer