Acne Treatment :Summary

To settle mild acne you may only require over the counter skin care products. Once your acne gets more severe or if it is not settling with skin products alone you need to make an appointment with a Doctor who specialises in acne management.

Summary of available acne treatments.

1. Over-the-counter skin care products.

Cleansers: You should cleanse your skin twice a day with acne. However the cleanser does not need to be anything fancy. I usually recommend Cetaphil, because it is a good hydrating cleanser, that is inexpensive and does the job i.e. cleans your face, so when you put on active ingredients they can penetrate.

BHA or salicylic acid gel preparations: (1-2% concentration at ph around 3) Not all salicylic acid products are created equal. We sell a very good product that retails for $36/120ml. Salicylic Acid is very good for UNBLOCKING PORE OBSTUCTION

Benzoyl peroxide preparations: There are various forms available and not much difference between them, so once again you do not need to pay allot of money for these. Benzoyl peroxide is good for settling the infection of acne but it can be drying and irritating to the skin. Note: introduce at benzoyl peroxide preparations at a lower strength and increase as your skin tolerates this.

Use Mineral Makeup. Though not strictly a skin care product, mineral makeup is the only makeup that should be worn if you have acne. It sits on the surface of the skin, providing a light but very camouflaging cover AND WILL NOT OBSTRUCT SKIN PORES. All other foundations only worsen acne.

2. Prescription treatments.

Antibiotics - if there is a strong infective component prescription topical or oral antibiotics should be used. Because of the risk of antibiotic resistance if you are on antibiotics you should also be using benzoyl peroxide.

Topical retinoids, such as tretinoin have a very established place in stabilising pore function. When used in combination with BHA gels they bring about very rapid settling of acne.

Other prescription treatments include contraceptive pills for women (some are better than others at keeping acne under control), and Roaccutane. Roaccutane is reserved for severe acne that cannot be controlled with other measures. Severe cystic nodular acne requires Roaccutane to prevent scarring. However people with mild to moderate acne should get control without this.

3. Physical treatments.

Microdermabrasion and acne treatment. Microdermabrasion works by clearing pore obstruction and improving skin quality, not only settling acne but also reducing scarring.

Chemical peels were once very popular, however there use has declined with less invasive measures such as microdermabrasion.

Blue light therapy - used in combination with microdermabrasion. It works by killing the bacteria that causes acne, however its effects may not be long lasting, if you do not have an adequate treatment plan in place.

ALA photodynamic therapy gaining use for more resistant forms of acne.

IPL and Pulsed light treatments are very effective for settling acne and work also by killing the acne that causes it. This tends to be quite expensive.