Despite the expense, Estrada went ahead with acne scar revision via laser, and says that his own acne scarring was improved by over 50% over his two-year treatment, and is feeling a lot better about himself.

Treatments available to prevent, control or improve acne and acne scarring:

Prescription medications

Isotretinion (Accutane):

Although highly controversial for its side effects, Accutane is a commonly prescribed drug for cystic acne. "I have a lot of models in my practice who have to look good for their shoots and so on," says Dr. Rene du Cloo of the Tokyo Skin Clinic, "and they have had great results with it."

But the side effects can be numerous, including dryness of the skin and hair, birth defects and even, according to the maker of the drug, Roche Hoffman, "depression, psychosis and rarely, suicide." Indeed, Accutane comes with numerous warnings that clearly states it can cause severe birth defects, and Roche Hoffman, suggests female patients to take two forms of birth defects, and even provides pregnancy prevention counselling.

Most recently, Accutane and its manufacturer came under fire after reports that the 15-year-old Florida pilot, Charles Bishop, who crashed his light plane into an office tower displayed suicidal tendencies after taking the drug. In the lawsuit filed April 16, 2002, Bishop's mother sued the the company, contending that the drug had made her son psychotic and suicidal.

Previous evidence had showed however that the pilot had no traces of isotretinion in his blood, and advocates claim that the link to suicide is tenuous as its best, considering that the drug is primarily used by people whose age group is, unfortunately, especially prone to suicide. (According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, for persons "15-24 years old, suicide is the third leading cause of death, behind unintentional injury and homicide.")

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