Question: My 16-year-old daughter has pretty bad acne and wants to have something done about it. I think she is too young for skin treatments, but she is being very insistent. Is there some sort of procedure that could help her at her age, something that is not too invasive?
Answer: First, I would recommend getting a consultation so that her acne can be properly evaluated. I would also recommend medical treatment for her acne and ultimately would even go so far as to refer you to a dermatologist for consideration of Accutane if standard medical treatments for her acne are unsuccessful. Certainly, minor spa procedures such as microdermabrasion with extractions can be very effective at improving the acne as can various light treatments that have no downtime. I certainly would not recommend any sort of treatment for any early acne scarring as she would need to have her active acne under control before we would consider evaluating and treating any actual scarring that remains.