Acne, actually treated.
Most acne plans treat what's on your face today. A protocol treats why it keeps coming back — combining in-office treatment, targeted skincare, and a realistic timeline, with the marks it leaves behind planned for from day one.
Acne isn't a hygiene problem. It's a biology problem.
A breakout needs four things to happen at once: excess oil, dead skin cells sticking inside the follicle, acne-causing bacteria, and inflammation. Treat only one of them and the acne comes back.
That's why scrubbing harder, drying your skin out, or spot-treating individual pimples so rarely holds. Those approaches address one factor while often making another worse — stripping your barrier drives more oil production, and picking at inflammation is exactly how marks and scars form. A protocol works because it addresses all four causes in the right order and gives your skin a full turnover cycle to respond. We also treat the aftermath, because for a lot of patients the marks left behind bother them longer than the breakout ever did.
Calm it. Clear it. Keep it that way.
Every acne plan we build runs through the same three phases across about six months. What changes is the tools, the intensity, and the pace — based on your skin, your history, and your tolerance for downtime.
Calm the inflammation
We bring active inflammation and bacterial load down first, using in-office laser and targeted topicals. The goal is simple: stop your skin from making new lesions while we work on the ones already there. Severe acne also requires prescription oral medication, and that is a conversation we have in office once we have seen your skin — not something we decide from a photo.
Clear the congestion
Peels and resurfacing clear what's already trapped in the follicle and speed up cell turnover, so existing breakouts resolve faster and fewer new ones form behind them.
Hold the result
Once you're clear, we shift to maintenance — a simplified routine plus periodic treatments — and start addressing any marks or scarring left behind, so you're not starting over every season.
Not all acne is the same acne.
The right protocol depends on what kind of breakout you're actually having — which is the first thing we sort out at your consult.
Hormonal Acne
Deep, tender breakouts along the jaw, chin, and neck that flare on a predictable cycle.
Cystic & Nodular
Painful lesions under the surface that never come to a head — and the ones most likely to scar.
Blackheads & Whiteheads
Clogged pores and rough, bumpy texture across the nose, forehead, and chin.
Post-Acne Marks
The red or brown marks that linger for months after the breakout itself is long gone.
Chest & Back Acne
Breakouts below the jawline follow the same logic — and respond to the same protocol.
Adult-Onset Acne
Breakouts that arrived in your thirties or forties, often alongside dryness and sensitivity.
That's the consult.
Most people have more than one type at once, which is exactly why single-product routines stall. We'll identify what's actually happening and build the plan around it.
Start with a free consultThe marks can outlast the breakout.
If you have a richer complexion, you already know the pimple isn't the real problem — it's the dark mark it leaves behind that sticks around for months afterward.
That's post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, and it's the single biggest reason to treat acne carefully rather than aggressively. Plenty of treatments will clear a lesion and leave behind a mark that takes three times longer to fade than the breakout did. Our protocols are built to bring inflammation down quickly and keep pigment from setting in the first place — which is why we prepare the skin before we treat it and choose devices that don't chase melanin.
Clearing your acne shouldn't cost you your even skin tone.
What's actually in the protocol.
No single device clears acne. These are the tools we sequence — which ones you get, and in what order, depends on what your skin is doing.
Aerolase Neo Elite & Peels
The Neo targets acne-causing bacteria and calms the inflammation driving your breakouts, with no numbing, no downtime, and full safety across every skin tone. Chemical peels and the VI Peel clear what's already trapped in the follicle and speed turnover so lesions resolve faster.
SkinPen Microneedling & Extractions
Targeted extractions clear the congestion that topicals alone won't shift, performed properly rather than picked at. SkinPen microneedling comes in once you're clearing, to start rebuilding texture and treating the marks the breakouts left behind.
Prescription Topicals & Medical-Grade Skincare
The between-visit work, and the part most plans get wrong. Prescription topicals paired with medical-grade skincare chosen specifically not to clog your pores and create the next round of acne. A short, specific routine — not ten steps — adjusted at every visit.
Deeper resurfacing for scarring comes later by design. We don't treat acne scarring while you're still actively breaking out — clearing first, then rebuilding, produces a far better result.
A protocol versus another product.
Most people arrive having already spent hundreds on products that worked for a few weeks. Here's the structural difference.
If a product is genuinely working for you, we'll tell you to keep using it. The goal is clear skin, not a longer receipt.
What six months looks like.
Consult and plan
We look at your skin, talk through your history, medications, and what you've already tried, then map the full protocol — including what it will cost, how long it will take, and whether oral medication belongs in your plan.
Skincare, and calming it down
We start with the routine — prescription topicals and medical-grade skincare that won't clog your pores — to bring inflammation down. Some patients purge briefly as congestion clears the follicle. It's expected, we warn you in advance, and it passes.
In-office treatments
Laser, peels, extractions, and microneedling in office, with your topicals running underneath and oral medication added if your acne is severe enough to warrant it. This is where the clearing happens — fewer new lesions, and faster resolution of the ones that appear.
Maintain and repair
We lock in a maintenance rhythm and turn attention to what's left behind — fading post-acne marks and planning for any scarring worth resurfacing, now that your skin is stable.
Before & after, in our chair.
Real Skin! patients on real acne protocols. Individual results vary — your consult sets honest expectations for your skin and your timeline.
I stopped planning my life — around my skin.
“My acne started in high school and it was the deep, painful kind along my jaw that never came to a head. I tried every drugstore thing there is and then a stretch of following whatever TikTok told me, which I am fairly sure made it worse.
It got to the point where it was going to be either Accutane or something else, and Dr. Kumar was honest with me about both. She did not push me either way. I decided to try the protocol first.
Within four months my active acne was cleared. By six months my skin was the clearest it has ever been. I do not plan my life around it anymore.”
The short list of big reasons.
Built for your acne type
Hormonal, cystic, and congestive acne need different plans.
Safe on every skin tone
With pigment protection built in from the start.
Marks planned for early
We treat the aftermath, not just the breakout.
A real timeline
You'll know what to expect at month one, three, and six.
Adjusted as you go
Your plan changes when your skin does.
No unnecessary add-ons
If you don't need a treatment, we'll say so.
Pricing, made personal.
Acne protocols vary — by type, severity, skin tone, and how much of the work happens in-office versus at home.
Because a protocol combines in-office treatments, prescription skincare, and a maintenance phase, we quote a full one-year plan at your consultation rather than posting a single price that wouldn't apply to you. You can pay for the plan up front or pay as you go, visit by visit.
Members save 10% on treatments and topicals. Acne protocols run over months with prescription skincare throughout, so that discount usually pays for itself well before you finish.
Your virtual consult is completely free — including the part where we tell you what you don't need.
Book a Free Virtual ConsultEverything you're wondering.
Most patients notice calmer, less reactive skin within the first month, with clearly visible clearing through months two and three. A full protocol runs about six months because that is how long your skin needs to complete several turnover cycles and stabilize, and most patients reach 80 percent or better clearance across it. Anyone promising you clear skin in a week is selling you something.
Not necessarily, and it is not a decision we make from a photo. Many patients clear on a well-sequenced protocol of in-office treatment plus prescription topicals. That said, severe acne genuinely does require prescription oral medication, and if that is the right call for your skin we will tell you plainly and discuss it with you in office. We would rather have that conversation early than keep you on a plan that will not get you where you want to be.
Sometimes, and it's normal. As turnover speeds up, congestion already sitting in the follicle comes to the surface faster than it otherwise would. It typically shows up in the first month, affects the areas you already break out in, and passes. We tell you in advance if your plan is likely to cause it so you're not blindsided.
In office: Aerolase Neo Elite laser to target acne-causing bacteria and inflammation, chemical peels to clear follicular congestion, targeted extractions done properly rather than picked at, and SkinPen microneedling once you are clearing to address texture and marks. At home: prescription topicals paired with medical-grade skincare selected specifically not to clog your pores and create the next round of acne. Oral medication is added where severity warrants it.
Yes, and it should be built differently. Fitzpatrick IV-VI skin is more prone to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, so we prepare the skin before treating, choose devices like the Aerolase Neo Elite that do not target melanin, and prioritize calming inflammation quickly. The goal is to clear the acne without trading it for dark marks.
We treat them, but in the right order. Flat brown or red marks are pigment and respond to laser, peels, and skincare during and after the protocol. Textured, indented scarring is a collagen problem and is treated under a separate scar protocol once your acne is under control. Resurfacing while you are actively breaking out gives worse results.
Yes. We will steer you toward non-comedogenic products and mineral SPF, and there may be a day or two after certain in-office treatments where we ask you to go without. Otherwise, we would rather you feel like yourself while your skin is improving.
We quote a one-year plan at your consultation rather than a per-visit rate, since the protocol combines in-office treatments with prescription topicals and a maintenance phase. You can pay for the plan up front or pay as you go. Your virtual consult at Skin! Medical Aesthetics is free, and members save 10 percent on treatments and topicals.
Let's get you clear.
Book a free virtual consult at Skin! Medical Aesthetics in Denver. Send a few photos, tell us what you've already tried, and we'll come back with a real acne plan — timeline, cost, and all.