How To Treat Acne

How to treat acne – the basics

Acne treatment depends on whether you have mild, moderate or severe form of the disease. Sometimes a single-medication therapy is enough, but many doctors prefer to combine therapies to prevent developing drug resisting bacterias and to get best results. Treatments could include lotions or gels you put on the skin as well as oral medicaments.

When we think about how to treat acne lets remember, that acne forms under skin, so it is a myth that acne can be induced because people do not wash their faces enough. Of course, gentle washing of skin is important, but washing too often can rather cause complications such as irritating the whiteheads and blackheads, causing them to be more infected and making even more pimples.

For skin washing it is best to use mild cleansers like Cetaphil or Neutrogena Acne Wash. At least once per week it is good to exfoliate skin using a facial scrub. This should remove dead cells and all of the debris that can block skin pores and cause acne to be more severe. All cosmetics used on the skin with acne should be, of course, oil free, as it helps to keep skin pores clean.

How to treat acne – the medications

In a mild form answer to question how to treat acne is to use mild medicines as well as gentle cleaning soap or lotions. Often used in treatment is benzoyl peroxide gel or lotion. Standard 5% solution should be used one time per day and after one week of therapy increase dosage to twice per day. You should consider increasing to 10% solution if after several weeks your acne is no better than before applying benzoyl peroxide.

Benzoyl peroxide is also used for treating moderate acne, but there are also other medicines that can be used. Physicians often combine several methods of treatment to get best results.

Deeper blemishes (cysts and nodules) are more likely to leave scars, so your doctor can prescribe oral antibiotics to make the healing process faster. Inflammatory acne may need additional treatment. Several answers to the how to treat acne question in this case are also: draining of large cysts and pimples by a professional, applying gels and lotions containing antibiotics, as well as taking oral antibiotics.

Sometimes the azelaic acid and retinoids are also used for treating moderate acne. However, retinoids should be rather used in severe cases, as they are known for their serious side effects. Light wave therapy and laser one is also used sometimes to make scar healing faster.

Severe forms of acne are cured mostly by use of retinoids supported by antibiotics, or Accutan retinoid treatment. Using Accutan is often considered as last resort solution to severe acne problem. Although Accutan guarantees at least 95% chances of acne remission, the medication’s side effects are considered so serious that some doctors are trying to avoid using Accutan at all cost.

Highly teratogenic, accutane can be extremely harmful to fetal development in pregnant women and thus doctors demand to prove that a woman is on at least two forms of birth control before prescribing Accutane. Using Accutane for men is more secure, although side effects can be also serious. Both males and females can be harmed not only by physical but also by psychical side effects, such as depression and even depression – induced suicidal tendencies.

Accutane can be the ultimate answer to  how to treat acne, but indeed is also one of the most dangerous solutions available nowadays and should be used with extreme caution.