Laser Treatment for Acne: Skin Clarifying Facial

Acne is one of the most common skin conditions on the planet — over 80% of the population experiences it at some point in their life. It’s most common during the teen years, but for many, it can persist well into adulthood.

It’s a frustrating condition to deal with. From skincare and medications to dietary changes, finding an acne solution that works can take years of trial and error.

This is why laser treatments for acne deserve more attention. Laser treatments help reduce breakouts through targeted heating that addresses a few of acne’s underlying causes. If other treatments you’ve tried haven’t worked or their efficacy has stalled, it’s time to consider a laser facial.

In this guide, we delve into the science behind laser treatments for acne. We’ll explain how they help and how you can choose the right acne laser treatment for you.

Understanding Acne

Acne is a complex condition caused by a combination of factors, from underlying hormones and oil production to the balance of bacteria at the surface of your skin.

Hormones, especially androgens, stimulate greater sebum production, leading to oily skin. The more oil your skin produces, the more easily your hair follicles (i.e., pores) can get congested or clogged. But pores don’t just get clogged with oil.

The oil in the pores acts like glue, trapping dead skin cells. That’s how you end up with blackheads (where the pore is open to oxygen, turning the surface dark) and whiteheads (when a thin layer of skin covers the pore opening, resulting in a small bump).

Acne bacteria (p. acnes) is the final problem-causing agent. When acne bacteria get into the mix, it causes inflammation. Depending on the severity and depth of the infection, it can result in surface-level pimples or deep, painful cysts and nodules.

Because of that, to treat acne effectively, you need a solution that targets all three issues: Oil production, dead skin buildup, and the acne bacteria.

How Laser Facials Work

Laser facial treatments use concentrated light energy to repair and clarify the skin. The light from the laser gets absorbed by specific substances in the skin that convert it into heat.

The substances that absorb the laser include:

• Melanin — a dark pigment
• Hemoglobin — the red substance in blood vessels
• Water — which is present throughout the dermis and epidermis
• Porphyrins — inflammatory compounds produced by the acne bacteria
• Sebum — the oil produced by the skin. Sebum can absorb longer laser wavelengths.

By generating tiny bursts of heat in each one of these substances, laser treatments reduce impurities and activate a targeted healing response. They can clear away damage, reduce bacteria, and pave the way for stronger, healthier skin functions.

How Lasers Treat Facial Acne

Studies show that laser treatments can significantly reduce acne counts, helping to clear away both inflammatory and non-inflammatory blemishes. The reason why laser facials for acne are so effective is that they address the issue in several different ways:

Lasers Reduce Acne Bacteria

Laser treatments heat the porphyrins produced by acne bacteria in the pores, which damages the acne bacteria. This is key for preventing breakouts and inflammation, and is a big reason why results from laser treatment for acne are often quite speedy.

Controls Inflammation

Laser’s ability to damage porphyrins doesn’t just clear away bacteria, but also helps reduce inflammation in active pimples. This effect can be dramatic, with a visible reduction in pimple size and redness within a few days of a session.

The laser also triggers the skin’s natural healing and inflammation-fighting mechanisms overall, helping to reduce redness, increase collagen production, and trigger repair and renewal.

Target the Sebaceous Glands

When laser light gets absorbed by sebum in the sebaceous glands, it controls oil production and paves the way for lasting skin clarity and breakout prevention. Lasers with very long wavelengths target the sebaceous glands most directly, but even gentle heat from lasers like the Nd:YAG can help control excess oils.

Pore Size

Acne and larger pores often come hand-in-hand. Having oily skin generally corresponds with larger pores. Skin congestion can cause even further pore enlargement. Most topical treatments that help with acne don’t necessarily impact pore size, but laser treatments are an exception.

Lasers help tighten the pores by stimulating regeneration and collagen repair in the central layers of the skin. Studies show significant improvements in pore size with anywhere from 3 to 5 sessions. Importantly, these studies also showed that gentler laser modalities are often just as effective as more intensive ones.

Target Scarring and Texture

Treating acne scars is a slow and sometimes complex process, even compared to acne. By stimulating better collagen and elastin production, laser treatments help fill in and smooth out depressed or indented acne scars.

Some laser treatments are also ablative, which means they remove the outermost layers of damaged skin, like exfoliation on steroids. While they can be very painful with a lot of downtime, they often deliver the fastest results.

Stay tuned — we will dedicate a full post to acne scars in the future.

Addresses Post-Acne Discoloration

Even once breakouts heal, it’s common for a bit of redness (post-inflammatory erythema) or dark spots (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation) to stay behind. Laser treatments address both types of discoloration!

Laser facials address redness by heating hemoglobin and causing blood vessels to coagulate, and they clear away hyperpigmentation by heating and breaking up melanin deposits. This means that they create skin that’s not just acne-free, but is clearer and brighter overall.

What Is the Best Laser Treatment For Acne?

There are many laser treatments that help with acne. Depending on the technology, they penetrate the skin differently, reaching different depths with different levels of intensity. All of these have an impact on the overall treatment experience and your outcomes, so here’s what you should know when choosing the best laser treatment for your acne.

Intensity

Laser facials for acne vary in their intensity. They range from deeply ablative treatments that vaporize the upper layers of the skin to mild, non-ablative treatments that focus on the deeper layers, with many treatments falling in between.

The laser’s intensity level directly correlates with pain, downtime, risks, and speed to results. Gentler treatments like the SEV Laser Facial don’t cause pain, but you may need more sessions for your desired results. Meanwhile, an intensive CO2 laser treatment can be painful even with numbing and leads to at least a few weeks of downtime, but one session is often enough for a significant reduction in acne and scarring.

Downtime & Side Effects

Some laser treatments for acne, like SEV’s Laser Facial, have absolutely no downtime. Their side effects are usually mild and quick to fade. Meanwhile, laser treatments with greater intensity or that are more ablative (i.e., exfoliating) often cause more long-lasting redness, swelling, and discomfort, which may last anywhere from a few days up to several weeks.

Risks

Risks from laser treatments for acne range from very low to moderate, depending on treatment intensity. Most of the risks directly relate to the skin getting burned, which is more likely with devices that emit more energy, that heat the skin in longer bursts, or that remove surface layers of skin. This can lead to scabbing, blistering, pigmentation changes, scarring, and even infections. Gentler treatments like SEV’s Laser Facial are significantly less likely to carry such risks.

Cost

Acne laser treatments cost anywhere from $100 to thousands of dollars, depending on the treatment. More intensive treatments are usually more expensive, with the average resurfacing treatment costing around $1892, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. On the more affordable end, a single Laser Facial for acne at SEV costs just $199, with even bigger savings through our package or membership options.

Acne Laser Treatment Before and After

Curious about the results you can expect from a Laser Facial for acne? Have a look at the acne laser treatment before and after photos below. While we can’t guarantee every client will respond the same way, these images show real results from the Nd:YAG laser that we use at SEV. Because of the combination of anti-inflammatory and skin-renewing properties, this laser treatment offers a rapid and visible acne improvement.

Before and after images courtesy of our device manufacturer. Results may vary.

Combining Laser With Other Acne Treatments

If you’re using cosmetic, OTC, or prescription acne treatments, you may need to take a break before and after getting an acne laser treatment. The break may be longer or shorter depending on the type of laser treatment, but here’s what we generally advise our clients:

• Make sure you’ve been off oral isotretinoin (commonly known as Accutane) for at least 6 months.
• Make sure you’ve been off oral antibiotics for at least 2 weeks.
• Stop topical tretinoin (commonly known as Retin-A) for at least 2 weeks.
• Stop using benzoyl peroxide for at least 1 week.
• Stop using salicylic acid (BHA), glycolic/lactic acid (AHAs), and other chemical exfoliants for at least 1 week.

Make sure to speak to your doctor before stopping any medication, and always follow your provider’s guidance and the information in their consent forms. Some acne medications, while not explicitly contraindicated, may increase your risk of photosensitivity.

Gentle Laser Treatment for Acne: The SEV Laser Facial

The SEV Laser Facial uses Nd:YAG laser to target acne effectively without any pain or downtime. It’s a quick, budget-friendly treatment with deep-reaching effects.

Despite its gentleness, the effects on acne are incredible. Our client often see results with just a few sessions. By continuing treatments, you can maintain lasting clarity while actively fading the more prolonged side effects of acne, like redness, dark spots, and scars.

Try it out for the first time for free with our introductory offer. Simply book an appointment at your nearest SEV location with code HELLOGLOW.

References

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Hammoda, T. M., Ahmed, N. A., & Hamdino, M. (2023). Fractional CO2 laser versus 1064-nm long-pulsed Nd:YAG laser for inflammatory acne vulgaris treatment: a randomized clinical trial. Lasers in medical science, 38(1), 187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-023-03855-6

Jasmina Kozarev. (2018). HOW I DO IT Approaches to acne treatment: Nd:YAG laser. The PMFA Journal. https://www.thepmfajournal.com/education/how-i-do-it/post/how-i-do-it-approaches-to-acne-treatment-ndyag-laser

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Roh, M. R., Chung, H. J., & Chung, K. Y. (2009). Effects of various parameters of the 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser for the treatment of enlarged facial pores. The Journal of dermatological treatment, 20(4), 223–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546630802647244

Roh, M., Goo, B., Jung, J., Chung, H., & Chung, K. (2011). Treatment of enlarged pores with the quasi long-pulsed versus Q-switched 1064 nm Nd:YAG lasers: A split-face, comparative, controlled study. Laser therapy, 20(3), 175–180. https://doi.org/10.5978/islsm.20.175

Prohaska J, Hohman MH. Laser Complications. [Updated 2023 Aug 28]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532248/

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