Which Acne Treatments Work the Best?
Posted: Wednesday, December 30, 2009
by Riley Andrews
Most people who have an acne problem would like to know how to get rid of acne. While that is definitely not surprising, nobody would disagree with the view that the best acne treatments are not of the remedial type, but of the preventive type. The axiom 'prevention is better than cure' is a time tested one. In the case of acne, by following the five basic rules given below, you can do justice to the truism.
Lots of people mistakenly believe that regular washing of the skin is extremely important both in averting an acne eruption, and in curing it once it makes its appearance. In fact, because acne has its origin underneath the skin, the surface washing of the skin is not overly important. Not only that, persistent washing of the skin might also do more harm than good. Irritating the skin too much could give rise to blackheads or whiteheads which might eventually become pimples.
All that is required by way of skin cleaning is a gentle washing. The important factor here is that the cleansers used should be of a mild type. Good acne soaps like Neutrogena and Cetaphil are recommended for it.
2. Getting Rid of Dead Skin
Exfoliation, or removal of skin cells that are dead, will help a lot in making the skin healthy. A mild cleanser is the best tool to effect exfoliation, and can be used after the face is washed. Scrubbing is also good, though it is better to restrict it to just two times a week. Exfoliation helps in acne treatments because it prevents the skin pores getting plugged by the debris of dead cells, and thus turning into pimples.
3. Making the Skin Clear
Skin oil is the number one enemy of all those who want to know how to get rid of acne. While we can't easily overcome the problem of the skin producing excess oil, everyone can remember to buy oil-less cosmetic products.
- Complex 15 is a moisturizer with no oil and is ideal for people with an acne problem.
- Cosmetics that have the tag 'non-comedogenic' are best for not blocking the pores.
- Avoid using hair creams and hair gels that may contain chemicals.
4. Proven Products
Benzoyl peroxide is a time tested product widely used in acne treatments. It can help in opening the closed pores, as well as in destroying the germs that promote the growth of pimples. It is available over-the-counter. It is ideal as a 5% moisturizer, at least in the beginning, and application once a day should suffice at this stage. The number of applications can be increased to two if the acne is not healing as it should, and the 5% can be increased to 10% if no satisfactory results are found even after one or one and a half months.
Since benzoyl peroxide is available both with and without prescription, it is better to enquire and confirm from the pharmacist which is the one you are looking for. And though it is available without prescription, it will always be better to use it on the recommendation of a doctor.
5. Antibiotics
Curative powers of antibiotics are well established. Where the acne has become swollen and pus filled, antibiotics may give instant relief as they destroy the bacteria that are causing the infection. Antibiotics are not generally available over-the-counter.
While using antibiotics for acne treatments, the doctor's guidelines have to be strictly followed with regard to dosage and timing. The medicines should not be stopped halfway, even if the acne gets better. For some people, the use of antibiotics may make their skin more vulnerable to harm from sunrays. So those who are on a course of it should ideally use some form of sun protection when out under the sun.
6. Accutane
The antibiotic Accutane is well established as a good healing agent. However, since the medicine is strong, it is prescribed only for people on whom other forms of treatments have failed to produce any result, or in cases where the affliction is severe. Blood tests are done at frequent intervals on patients who are on a course of Accutane since the medicine may have negative effects on the blood count.
Birth control pills have worked as an effective acne treatment option for some women, especially those who have problems of pre-menstrual mood fluctuations. So, doctors sometimes treat women with it before resorting to Accutane. For pregnant women, Accutane is not recommended, except on the strong recommendations of a physician.
7. Other Treatment Particulars
An average treatment schedule might last anything from six weeks to eight weeks. So results cannot be expected before that. In certain types of treatments, the condition may even get worse for a while before signs of improvement can be perceived.
In the case of some people, acne treatments of all types might fail to produce the desired result. If so, the physician may prescribe oral medications like retinoid. It may produce the desired result but it is both expensive and has a lot of unpleasant side effects. As such it is prescribed only when both the doctor and the patient are left with no other options.
Riley Andrews is the Editor of Get-Rid-Of-Acne-Now.Net a website that discusses the latest Acne Treatments and gives you great ideas on How to Get Rid of Acne.
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