Pimple scar treatment

As a teenager, I was never really bothered by acne. Fate, however, was having the last laugh by causing me to have monthly outbreaks that seem to have gotten worse as I’ve gotten older. If you are a woman in your 40s, you may be experiencing the same thing.

I wash my face at least twice a day with soap and water and I use a mild astringent or clarifying lotion about once a day. My outbreaks are cyclical, very much linked to monthly hormonal changes. Because my acne has been worsening, I asked my family physician for a referral to the dermatologist – and the soonest I can get an appointment is February 2009!

Last month, I was in the skin care section of my local drugstore, looking for something more powerful than the usual benzoyl peroxide cream, when I saw the store display of the Zeno mini. Given the price tag, I decided to go home and do some research before buying, and I recommend you do the same if you are considering this product. What I read encouraged me. I chose the Zeno mini because it costs a lot less than the Zeno Pro and it takes standard AAA batteries (included) instead of relying on a non-removable internal battery that can potentially go bad. Since I was just starting to recover from two bad blemishes and noticed another big one coming in, I decided to upgrade delivery to overnight (only $3.99 with Amazon Prime).

Here’s what happened:

Day 1: Big blemish starting to appear on chin. Ordered Zeno mini for overnight delivery.

Day 2: The Zeno arrived by 9 am! I quickly inserted the included batteries and turned it on. It takes about 2 minutes to warm up. Read the instruction booklet. It advises you to wipe the metal tip of the Zeno with rubbing alcohol before every use. (Remember you are trying to kill bacteria, not spread it around with a dirty tip!) Once the Zeno was ready, it beeped and I applied it to the blemish. It beeps every 30 seconds during treatment to let you know it’s working. Treatment lasts for 2.5 minutes. When I was done with the newest blemish, I cleaned the Zeno tip and used it on the two blemishes that were slowly improving, but still far from gone. The newest blemish flattened almost immediately.

Note: you can only use the Zeno for up to three back-to-back treatments at a time, then you have to give it a break.

I repeated the Zeno applications two more times on each of the three blemishes on Day 2. The heat causes a little localized redness. My complexion is very light and very sensitive, but the slight redness did not last long – perhaps 30 minutes.

Day 3: Two old blemishes are looking much improved – better in 24 hours than in over a week of benzoyl peroxide applications. After three treatments, newest blemish was almost gone. The old blemishes looked and felt much better. However, my work was not done, as a new blemish was coming in on my forehead. It was big, red and painful – and all it needed was ONE ZAP from the Zeno to put it completely to rest.

A month has gone by, and I have not had to use the Zeno in weeks. Usually, I would be getting a new blemish of the month by now – they tend to come back in the same places from month to month. Not this month! I did get one or two small whiteheads (gone quickly), and nothing in the usual trouble spots. This has been my best month in quite a long time. I can only conclude that this is because the Zeno dispatched the acne causing bacteria that had previously gain ground in those spots. The Zeno cost less than a visit to the dermatologist – and I didn’t have to wait six months.

Please note that the Zeno does not dry your skin out. Benzoyl peroxide dries your skin out, and makes it red and flakey while you are getting over a pimple. Zeno heats your skin and underlying tissue sufficient to kill the p. acnes bacteria. Before Zeno, I used to try using a super-hot wet washcloth on my blemishes, but the cloth did not stay hot long enough and I was not able to really focus it on the specific areas that needed attention.

I am completely pleased with the Zeno Mini and the results it produced for me.

Edited on 2/9/2009 to add: When I purchased the Zeno Mini, I hoped that it would help me keep monthly outbreaks in check once they appeared. Little did I expect that it would actually STOP outbreaks from recurring. I’m happy to report that I’ve only had to use the Zeno Mini ONCE in the months since I originally posted this review.