Concerns

This is the full acne library on this site: every page I have written on acne, acne scars and post-acne marks, arranged in the order I actually work through them in clinic. Start at the top if you are early in this, or jump to the section that matches what you are dealing with.

Written and medically reviewed by Dr Gerard Ee, MBBS (UK), MRCS (Edinburgh), PGDip Practical Dermatology (Cardiff), The Clifford Clinic, Singapore.

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Overview

Start here: what acne is, and what actually drives it

Most people arrive at a clinic having already tried three or four things. These pages cover what acne is at the level of the follicle, and which of the everyday causes people worry about are real.

Acne at each stage of life

Teenage acne, adult acne and acne in pregnancy are not the same condition treated at different ages. The safe options and the sensible first move differ in each.

Hormonal acne

Jawline and lower-face acne that flares on a monthly cycle usually needs the hormonal driver addressed, not another laser.

Oral and topical treatment

Guidelines still put topical and oral therapy first for most acne. These pages cover what isotretinoin does, what it costs a patient in side effects, and when a device is the better trade.

Devices and lasers for active acne

Sebaceous-gland devices are the newest part of acne care and the least evenly reported. Start with the comparison, then read the pages on why each one fails in the patients it fails.

Acne scars: diagnosis before treatment

The single most expensive mistake in scar treatment is choosing a device before establishing what kind of scar is being treated. These pages are the diagnostic half.

Acne scar treatments

Subcision, TCA CROSS, RF microneedling and fractional lasers each do one thing well. The pages on why a treatment did not work are as useful as the pages on how it works.

Acne marks: red (PIE) and brown (PIH)

Marks are not scars. Red marks are vascular and respond to pulsed dye laser; brown marks are pigment and need a different approach, particularly in Asian skin.

Preventing scarring in the first place

What a patient does during an active breakout determines how much scar work is needed later.

The Clifford Clinic at 50 Raffles Place, Singapore

Book a consultation with Dr Gerard Ee at The Clifford Clinic

Dr Gerard Ee consults and treats acne at The Clifford Clinic, 50 Raffles Place, Singapore. Consultations are by appointment. Message the clinic on WhatsApp, or call 6532 2048.

Book a consultation with Dr Gerard Ee

This page is written from published research and from clinical experience in Singapore since 2012. It is for general education, not medical advice. Whether a treatment suits you, what it may achieve and what it may risk can only be established at a consultation. Dr Gerard Ee is the Medical Director of The Clifford Clinic, a private clinic in Singapore, and treatments discussed on this site are provided commercially.