Strategies and Technologies for Acne Treatment in 2026, With Michael H. Gold, MD

Acne remains one of the most prevalent and clinically consequential conditions in all of dermatology, representing the most common skin disorder seen in clinical practice and increasing in prevalence since 1990.1

Against this backdrop, the condition continues to generate significant interest at notable dermatology conferences; the 2026 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting in Denver was no exception. The HCPLive editorial team spoke with Michael H. Gold, MD, the founder and medical director of Gold Skin Care Center, Advanced Aesthetics Medical Spa, & The Laser & Rejuvenation Center, who discussed his session at AAD: ‘Acne Boot Camp.’2

The following Q&A interview highlights the team’s questions and Gold’s responses regarding takeaways from his session on acne treatments at AAD:

HCPLive: Following your session here at AAD titled ‘Acne Boot Camp’ session, we would like to know why you felt this was an important topic to present about to clinicians in today’s acne treatment landscape?

Gold: So in the acne world, we have lots of medicines. They've been around for a long time, some new ones. We have great ways to treat our patients, but they take time. What I've always said over the years is that my patients want to be better yesterday. One of the ways I can add to this, it's not always by itself, is when you add in energy-based devices. We can make people better faster. It's always been my premise, and my way I want to approach things with my patients when it's appropriate.

Energy-based is in my world, and in most worlds, is strictly a cosmetic type of procedure, so it's cash based, and that changes the game in some ways. But if you keep the acne costs with the devices reasonable, and you deliver the results, then it becomes a successful part of the treatments. So that's why I do it, and I've been doing it for 25 years.

HCPLive: We know in your portion of the session on acne treatment that you talk about lasers and light sources for acne. So what are some of the lasers and light sources you touch on?

Gold: We actually break it into two different categories. The [cutibacterium acnes] bacteria is important. It actually has porphyrin in it, and we can use the absorption spectrum of porphyrin to target the porphyrin. If we destroy the porphyrin in the bacteria, we destroy the bacteria selectively, and the acne gets better. So there's a variety of devices that work for that. That's one way to do it.

Then in the past few years, we've actually had selective sebaceous gland destruction with the device that devices that are at 1726 nanometers that actually targets the sebaceous gland. If you destroy the sebaceous gland, the acne gets better. Is it total control and is it total clearance? Not every time, but the results are pretty spectacular. So for both ways to do it, we get great results.

HCPLive: What do you feel are the biggest misconceptions about acne, if there are any currently?

Gold: I don't know if there's a lot of misconceptions. I think that one of the things that we don't do well at is to actually think about and work with with and through the psychosocial aspects of acne when we see patients. That's my biggest thing. Now, I had really bad acne as a kid, so I understand it a little bit more, not that I had any psychosocial issues, but I see it. And we see it, so we have to be able to deal with it.

We're all busy, so when we're busy, that becomes back burner thing, right? But if you actually start talking to the patients and parents and all, you get a sense of how aggressive you sometimes need to be. That's when I'd like to start the conversations about energy based devices with my patients.

HCPLive: Is there an earlier age at which you feel like that's important to begin using these treatments?

Gold: We treat people with acne with devices in their teens, so all the way up. So I don't and what I say to people in our community, you have to be very careful, because if you hurt a child, they're done. You're done with that patient. So we have to make sure that we do these things so that the pain part of this is minimal. There's always some discomfort when you use a device, but we have ways to make it virtually painless in most cases.

HCPLive: What do you feel like the horizon looks like as far as acne treatments are concerned? Are you positive about the landscape currently?

Gold: I think when we look at the future, we need more medicines, we need better medicines. We need targeted medicines, and I think we've gotten some over the years. I think that if you look at the dermatology community, acne is now on the back burner for many compared to psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and all the other things that we're dealing with like HS, vitiligo, alopecia areata, and that's okay. But acne is a big part of every dermatologist practice, and it just is something that we have to take seriously, and we have to make sure our patients are getting better.

The quotes contained in this Q&A summary were edited for clarity.

References

1. Zhu Z, Zhong X, Luo Z, Liu M, Zhang H, Zheng H, Li J. Global, regional and national burdens of acne vulgaris in adolescents and young adults aged 10-24 years from 1990 to 2021: a trend analysis. Br J Dermatol. 2025 Jan 24;192(2):228-237. doi: 10.1093/bjd/ljae352. PMID: 39271178.

2. Gold M, et al. F019 Acne Boot Camp. Session presented at: 2026 American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting; March 27–31, 2026; Denver, CO.