Maskne Treatment Protocol

This is part 2 of a 2-part series.

Part 1: Treating Maskne Inside and Out

If a patient comes into the practice complaining of maskne, Dr. Chilukuri has a treatment protocol that targets the issue inside and out.

Internally, he focuses on anti-inflammatory and stress-relieving methods. Dr. Chilukuri recommends his patients drink specific teas that include the antioxidant-rich African root Rooibis and take superoxide dismutase supplements to help prevent the oxygenative component of acne.

Similarly, he recommends his maskne patients take Nutrafol supplements.

“It has several components in it, [including] saw palmetto,” he says. “Saw palmetto is also used for decreasing the conversion of testosterone to DHT. It also has ashwagandha… [which] is a natural cortisol reduction plant component. It's going to decrease the amount of cortisol we have in the system.”

Externally, Dr. Chilukuri uses the V650 microsecond NB:YAG laser by Aerolase for the face, and calls the treatment a game-changer for acne.

“It has revolutionized what we can do, because I'm making papular pustular acne go away, typically within 24 to 48 hours, and this is without steroid injection. And because I'm running it over the entire face, I'm finding that we're improving the skin texture. We're improving skin color. We're having overall decreased flare-ups of the rosacea.”

Patients are scheduling the 15-minute treatment either once a week or once every two weeks. After the initial maskne-related irritation has been addressed, patients then come in for maintenance every three to four weeks, he says.

In conjunction with the laser treatments, Dr. Chilukuri recommends PCA Skin Acne Gel for spot-treating acne.

He also encourages his patients to do more at-home masks. For clarifying the skin, Dr. Chilukuri suggests charcoal or mud masks, including PCA Skin Detoxifying Mask and Rehab by ClarityRX.

For those with dry skin, he recommends rehydrating masks with cucumber.

Dr. Chilukuri also reminds his patients that even oily skin needs moisture and hydration.

“I give them a proper moisturizer because… people think you shouldn't be using a moisturizer when you have acne [and] you’re oily,” he says. “Most times that's incorrect. It's because there's so many breaks in the skin. We have to repair the breaks in the skin to let the body recognize that it doesn't have to keep producing so much oil from the sebaceous glands.”

Reference:

1. Lan J, Song Z, Miao X, et al. Skin damage among health care workers managing coronavirus disease-2019. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2020;82(5):1215-1216.