The Best Acne Treatments

Acne is one of the worst problems a person can have in their life. The pimples, redness, physical and emotional pain, along with the constant worriment of your appearance is what people with acne have to deal with. I had some minor acne earlier in my life and then one summer is escalated from a few pimples on my chin to all over my face. At first I tried the usual over the counter products but salicylic acid really does not do anything. The cheapest and best things to use over the counter are various benzoyl peroxide products. I would recommend a BP face wash that you can use when you wake up and before you to go bed, and also a BP cream that you can put on your face when you go to sleep and during the day.

Prescription Treatments

If your acne does not respond to any of the BP products mentioned above after a couple weeks or so I would recommend making and appointment with a Dermatologist. There are several products that they will prescribe you that are more powerful that BP.

1. Duac

Duac is a cream that can be applied at anytime during the night or day that contains both BP and also an antibiotic. The BP will help clean out your pores and then the antibiotic will kill all of the bacteria that remains in them. I found this product to be very helpful because it works right away and there are not many side effects - the strongest being dry skin.

2. Differin - If your acne is pretty intense the Derm may prescribe you Differin. I used Differin for over 8 months and it changed my life. What Differin does is it changes the time in which your skin cells are formed. It speeds up the process so that the bacteria living on your skin will not have time to go into a pore and infect it. At first when using Differin (for a month or so) your skin will appear worse than it is and it will become redder with more acne on it. DO NOT BE PUT OFF BY THIS. This is just the product working by getting rid of all the existent bacteria in your pores. After the first month the redness will go away and your acne will begin to diminish as well. The side effects to using Differin are that your skin will be more likely to get sunburn, and also the usual dryness.

When I was ending my acne treatment Dermatologists discovered that by combining the both duac and differin it improved the results dramatically. The 2 medicines work off each other and they are amazing together.

If your acne still persists after this your Derm may put you on Accutane which reduces the amount of oil is produced by your skin. It is for the most severe acne patients and has many side effects including birth defects so do not use it if you are pregnant or may become pregnant.