AVENTURA, Fla. -- It's estimated that 60 million Americans have active acne and only 11 percent seek treatment.

Acne can be the result of many things, including stress, hormones and medications.

One South Florida doctor is using light therapy to treat acne. The therapy appears to be simple, safe and effective.

You don't have to be a teenager to have acne. Just ask Tina Franco, who is 45 years old.

"I've had cystic acne. It's hard abrasions under the skin and they blow up and kind of swell up a lot," said Franco.

She's tried all kinds of treatments to get rid of it.

"I've tried Proactiv, I've tried antibiotics and the antibiotic liquid for the face and all kinds of (other) acid treatments and nothing was successful," said Franco.

Aventura dermatologist Mark Nestor suggested Franco try the clear light, which is narrow-band, high-intensity blue light used to treat inflammatory acne.

It's UV safe and works by killing the most common bacteria that causes acne. There are no side effects, Nestor says.

Nestor says it works for people of all ages and is even safe enough for pregnant women. The treatment lasts about 15 minutes and typically patients receive it twice a week for four weeks.

"Gradually, over the next three to six months, the acne will come back. However, if you combine these light treatments, as we often do, with topical creams, topical creams we use for acne, these patients tend to even out at a much lower amount of acne than they would had they not had the light treatments," said Nestor.

Eight treatments cost about $1,000. Franco says it's well worth the price.

"It made me feel good," said Nestor. "Acne kind of debilitates you a little bit as far as going out. If you have this big crater on your face, it's not very fun. So this really made my confidence a lot better."

Red light can also help with acne, but it's not as effective as the blue light. And yellow light has been used with success to treat wrinkles.

The clear light therapy is not covered by insurance.

To contact Nestor in Aventura, call 305-933-6716.