Acne treatments vary from case to case. All treatment from mild to severe should be treated on an individual basis. Sometimes your doctor may start with a very simple and inexpensive treatment by suggesting just plain mild soap and water and watching your diet. For moderate to severe acne, a dermatologist may be recommended by your family healthcare physician. Your dermatologist may recommend treatment from topical creams or oral medications. In some instances, it may be both.
Something very simple and inexpensive is changing your diet. It has been shown that foods high in fat and grease will contribute to the onset of acne. There has been some discussion over whether chocolate make a young teen break out. However, scientists and dermatologists disagree that chocolate is the reason for developing acne. Drinking plenty of water and eating healthy foods will help deter the problem. However, it is very likely that 90% of all pre-teens, teens and young adults will develop some form of acne. Diet is not the only factor, stress as well may add to the risk of developing acne.
Topical treatments alone may be enough to control acne over the long term. It is recommended that people who treat their acne with a combination of oral antibiotics and topical gels may be able to stop the treatment after a few months and just rely on the topical treatment.
A study of 253 people with severe acne, were given an antibiotic, or an antibiotic plus the topical medication adapalene. When their acne symptoms improved, they stopped taking the antibiotic. Researchers evaluated the patients at 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks.
The found that 75% of the people who continued using adapalene maintained the improvement in their acne, compared to 54 percent of the people who had only been treated with an antibiotic.
Another study looked at a different acne gel, tazarotene, in people with moderately severe to severe acne. Patients were treated with tazarotene along with an antibiotic for 12 weeks. Those whose skin improved were then randomly assigned to use tazarotene gel plus a placebo, a placebo gel plus an antibiotic, or tazarotene plus antibiotics for another 12 weeks.
The researchers found little different between the three treatment regimens. The researchers say the findings are important because they show long-term use of antibiotics is important as more bacteria become resistant to the drugs.
One new form of treatment is the laser therapy. More specifically Blue Light. Bluelight therapy. So far the Federal Drug Administration has approved Bluelight therapy for treating acne. Blue light works by killing the bacteria that causes acne. This type of treatment does not contain ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light, main form of light therapy used to treat acne at one time. Ultraviolet light can actually damage the skin and is not used to treat acne anymore.
Patients of blue light therapy receive several treatments in. The standard treatment will require 8 sessions over a for week period which last approximately 15 minutes.
Remember not all treatments work the same on everyone. Each case should be treated on an individual basis. Consultation with your physician or dermatologist is always recommended first.
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Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Acne |
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