Acne can be traumatic at any age. And as a teen, it seems especially devastating. But there's a way to clear it up you might not have thought of. It's actually a common beauty treatment - a chemical peel.

Teens like Jordan Spallas are bombarded with beautiful images everyday, "It's hard going to school and having like my face just not clear."

Jordan tried everything from face washes to over the counter acne medications to clear her skin, "I think it was about a year maybe of just going through different things until I actually found something like this."

Jordan found a beta hydroxy chemical peel which penetrates deep into the skin's pores. "When that happens, it allows new skin cells to be developed and uh, usually kills, kills the bacteria that causes the acne breakouts," says registered nurse Julie Anderson.

The whole in-office process takes about five minutes. Anderson cleans the face. Then, puts the acid preparation on the patient's skin for about three minutes. Then it's washed off. "A couple days after it will start peeling and so all the dead skin on top of your face will just like go away so your face is a lot smoother," says Jordan.

Anderson says some over the counter products contain the same acid but it's only about 2% compared to the 30% they use. Either way, she cautions it's not a quick fix, "They want to come in and have the treatment and the next day they want to be fine. But it takes some time."

While each case is different, some take up to a year to clear. "It feels good now to just like I can go to high school now and I can just feel like my skin is clear and people aren't just like staring," says Jordan.

Chemical peels start around $75, and Anderson says you should get them abuot once a month at the doctor's office. The peels work for most people with mild acne.