Hope for Acne Sufferers Before Laser Resurfacing?

Arkansas patients suffering from acne scars have been able to undergo Laser Resurfacing, chemical peels, or Dermabrasion at Little Rock Cosmetic Surgery Center for years now. Of course, these are remedies to be used after the damage is done. Recently, new developments are pointing to new types of treatments for acne in order to prevent the damage. Here is a new avenue of investigation researchers are looking into.

Did you know that skin has micro flora? You may have heard your intestines keep a microbial community of various good and helpful bacteria, which is why yogurt can be so helpful for digestion. Yogurt is also helpful when taking antibiotics, because these drugs can kill these helpful bacterial. It turns out that your skin also has a “microbiome,” a kind of ecological niche of microorganisms that keep it healthy. However, just as the intestinal flora can get knocked out of kilter, such as when a dangerous micro organism over populates the intestines causing bacterial infections, the same can happen with your skin. Bottom line, this is what causes acne. Bacteria that gets trapped then inflames and infects, when the propionibacterium bacteria begins to overpopulate the skin! Propionibacterium is the bacteria responsible for acne.

Now we know the cause, but what can be done? Research on these bacterial communities in the skin is finding that various viruses attack the acne bacteria. These viruses are called “bacteriophages” or phages for short. Now that the phages that attack and kill the acne bacteria are being isolated and researched, we can look forward to new treatments to fight acne! If you are extremely scientifically minded, you can read the study published in the Journal MBio.

Dr. Branman

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