Hello, I am a dermatologist. To all high school seniors, you have worked incredibly hard until today. After the CSAT, many high school seniors visit dermatology clinics. Let's take a closer look at the BEST 3 treatments for students, what procedures they receive, and which ones are recommended.
Student Skin Concern 1. Persistent Acne Breakouts
The primary reason students visit dermatology clinics is acne. Due to lack of sleep and high stress, acne is prone to continuous breakouts.
Why does acne occur?
Acne is generally closely related to stress hormones or steroid hormones. When stressed, it can turn into red acne, which can easily lead to red marks and scars.
What are the treatment options for acne?
Acne can be approached with three main treatment methods:
- Medication: Taking medication has the advantage of showing quick effects on acne, but it may not suppress recurrence.
- Scaling: It is effective in quickly calming acne and improving acne marks.
- Laser Treatment: It treats acne by destroying the sebaceous glands, which are the cause of acne, and also has the advantage of preventing recurrence. In the past, methods like PTT were used, but they had the disadvantage of temporarily worsening acne inflammation or leaving pigmentation after the procedure. Recently, treatment is performed using a method called Gold PTT. Gold PTT is known as a procedure that quickly improves acne after treatment, suppresses recurrence, and has minimal impact on daily life.
Student Skin Concern 2. Unwanted Acne Marks and Scars
The second reason high school seniors visit dermatology clinics is acne marks. Acne marks can be broadly divided into two types: red marks and depressed acne scars.
How to remove red acne marks?
Red acne marks can be treated with pigment lasers that remove red marks, such as the Vbeam Laser. The Vbeam Laser was originally developed to treat vascular malformations and is also known to be effective for facial redness. Excellent results can be expected for red acne marks as well.
How to treat deeply depressed acne scars?
Acne scars are actually somewhat difficult to treat and can take a long time, so it is important for students to receive treatment when they have time. Broadly, there are procedural methods and laser methods. For deeply depressed scars, procedural methods are preferred, while laser treatment methods are preferred for refining uneven scars.
Among laser treatments, Fraxel Laser is the most common, but its disadvantage is that it may have limited effectiveness, primarily being effective for mild acne scars. If acne scars are severe, procedures such as Ultrapulse Encore Laser or ProFractional Laser may be effective.
The Ultrapulse Encore Laser penetrates deep into the skin, generating heat that stimulates collagen production from within, causing the skin to plump up. Simultaneously, it has the effect of refining uneven acne scars. Therefore, even with a single treatment, you can expect a significant improvement in the unevenness of acne scars. The ProFractional Laser, like the Ultrapulse Encore Laser, simultaneously has the effect of slightly refining the skin and applying heat to the deeper layers to create new collagen.
These two lasers are chosen appropriately based on the shape of the acne scar for treatment. Receiving a combined treatment of Ultrapulse Encore Laser and ProFractional Laser can significantly improve acne scars in a single session.
There are several procedural methods for deeply depressed scars. The representative methods are Subcision and Punch.
- Subcision: This procedure involves using a needle to sever the scar tissue beneath the acne scar. By severing the scar, the depressed area of the scar can fill in, leading to an improvement in acne scars.
- Punch: This method involves using a round punch tool to cut out deeply depressed, cylindrical acne scars. Afterward, the underlying acne scar is pulled outward and sutured, or fixed using medical glue (tissue adhesive). These methods are known to be highly effective for deeply depressed acne scars.
Student Skin Concern 3. Moles and Freckles Present Since Childhood
Many high school seniors have moles or freckles that have been put off since childhood and wish to treat them all at once after the CSAT. Moles and freckles are treated using pigment lasers or mole treatment lasers.
How to cleanly remove freckles and blemishes
Freckles and blemishes are known as freckles because they appear as brown spots on the face after sun exposure. Pigment cells become active, causing the area to darken. Treatment involves using a pigment laser to emit strong laser light, destroying these cells. This procedure forms shallow scabs that naturally fall off after about a week, leaving the skin clear. Generally, it is often not necessary to apply regenerative tape after the procedure.
How to safely remove moles down to the root?
Moles, on the other hand, often have mole cells not only on the surface but also deep within. Therefore, lasers such as the CO2 Laser are used to shave off mole cells one by one. Please note that if the root is deep, you may need to apply regenerative tape for about a week after removal.
Questions about dermatology procedures after the CSAT?
Today, we looked at the BEST 3 procedures that high school seniors often receive at dermatology clinics after the CSAT. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments or via KakaoTalk. Thank you.