Dr. Cynthia L. Chen and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, studied 266 teen volunteers with acne from four public high schools in San Francisco.

The participants completed written surveys regarding how much of their lifetime they would give up or how teens and parents were asked how much they would pay to have never had acne, to be 100-percent acne-free from then on, to have 100-percent acne clearance but with visible scarring or to have 50-percent acne clearance.

The study, published in the Archives of Dermatology, teens reported they would pay a median of $275 to have never had acne, $100 to be 100-percent cleared of acne, $10 for 50-percent clearance and zero for 100-percent clearance with scarring.

Parents said they would pay a median of $250 for their child to never have had acne, $100 for 100-percent clearance, $100 for 50-percent clearance and zero for 100-percent clearance with scarring.