Dear Dr. Seckel, I am a 36-year-old female. I have suffered from excessive oily skin and enlarged pores over my entire face. I know this is hereditary because my mother has this problem. I want to prevent this from becoming worse. At the age of 32 I had a full face CO2 laser. This did not seem to shrink the already existing pores. This problem is getting worse as I age. I have tried IPL (3 treatments) and LED (8weeks). Is there anything that can prevent these enlarged pores and shrink the existing ones? I can’t seem to find anything. Please help me. Thank you so much for your time. Jodi, Shawnee Kansas
Dear Jody,
Take heart, there is newer technology that can help enlarged pores. LaserGenesis® a new product by Cutera® has been shown to reduce pore size as well as improve skin texture and reduce redness and fine lines. What I like best about LaserGenesis® is that unlike other lasers and IPL, there is no contact with the skin, thus it is safer and less likely to injure the skin during treatments. The laser beam is just passed over your face until you feel heat and then moved to another area. Treatments take about 20-30 minutes and cost $350 in my area. Since LaserGenesis® is a laser, it is much more powerful than LED.
PLEASE don’t overlook the importance of good skin care and skin exfoliation in reducing pore size and reducing oily skin! I always start my patients on a skin drying program before starting laser therapy.
The enlarged pores are large because the underlying oil gland is full of oil and stretched, and the stretched oil gland makes the pore-the opening of the oil gland to the skin surface larger. Thus if you reduce the amount of oil in the oil gland, the pore size will become smaller. Deep skin exfoliation with microdermabrasion and dernmasound and drying skin creams like Retin A and Brevoxyl washes are very helpful.
To accomplish this I start my patients on a skin exfoliation and skin-drying regime using Brevoxyl washes-you can find them at your drug store. Also microdermabrasion® and dermasound treatments can remove debris from the pores, open them up and let the oil out and once this has happened the pores will become smaller. Also there are prescription skin creams that can be very helpful. Differin® is a prescription topical gel which slows down the growth of the oil-producing cells in the oil glands. Retin A® and Tazorac® are also helpful in drying the skin and controlling break outs.
So, before you spend more money on laser treatments make sure you have optimized your skin care with a drying regimen and good skin exfoliation, deep cleansing, microdermabrasion and dermasound. Once the oil glands are producing less oil they will be smaller and a treatment like LaserGenesis® will be much more effective.You don’t want to have the laser treatment first and then have your oil glands working against you and ruin the result.
Good luck and take heart! People with oily skin may have larger pores but they don’t form as many wrinkles – so be happy about that!
For further information on facial rejuvenation visit my Boston Plastic surgery Website, read Save Your Face or contact me.
Sincerely,
Boston, Massachusetts
Peabody, Massachusetts