If you’ve tried nonprescription acne products for several weeks and they haven’t worked, talk to your doctor about prescription medications. A dermatologist can help you:
– Keep your acne under control
– Avoid scarring or other skin damage
– Make scars less noticeable
Acne medicines work by lowering oil production and reducing swelling or treating bacterial infections.
It might take four to eight weeks before you see improvement, and it could take many months or even years for your acne to go away completely.
The treatment plan your doctor chooses depends on your age, the type and how bad your acne is, and what you’re willing to do.
For example, you might need to wash and apply medicines to your skin twice a day for several weeks. Topical medicines and oral medications are often used together. Treatment choices for pregnant women are limited because of possible side effects.
Discuss the risks and benefits of different medicines and treatments with your doctor.
Make follow-up visits every three to six months until your skin gets better.
Topical Medications
Common topical prescription medicines for acne include:
Retinoids And Retinoid-Like Drugs:
Medicines with retinoic acid or tretinoin are helpful for moderate acne.
These come in creams, gels, and lotions. Examples are tretinoin (Avita, Retin-A), adapalene (Differin), and tazarotene (Tazorac, Avage). You use this medicine at night, starting with three times a week and then every day as your skin gets used to it. It helps prevent pores from getting clogged. Don’t use tretinoin at the same time as benzoyl peroxide.
Topical retinoids can make your skin more sensitive to the sun and may cause dryness and redness, especially in people with brown or Black skin.
Adapalene is often better tolerated.
Antibiotics:
These kill bacteria on your skin and reduce redness and swelling.
You may use both a retinoid and an antibiotic for the first few months. Apply the antibiotic in the morning and the retinoid at night. Antibiotics are often used with benzoyl peroxide to avoid antibiotic resistance. Examples include clindamycin with benzoyl peroxide (Benzaclin, Duac) and erythromycin with benzoyl peroxide (Benzamycin). Topical antibiotics alone are not usually recommended.
Azelaic Acid And Salicylic Acid:
Azelaic acid is a natural acid from a yeast and has antibacterial properties.
A 20% cream or gel used twice daily seems to work as well as many standard acne scar treatment singapore. Prescription azelaic acid (Azelex, Finacea) is an option during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. It can also help with skin discoloration from acne. Side effects include redness and minor skin irritation.
Salicylic acid may help prevent clogged pores and is available in wash-off and leave-on forms.
Studies on its effectiveness are limited. Side effects include skin discoloration and minor irritation.
Dapsone:
Dapsone (Aczone) 5% gel used twice daily is recommended for inflammatory acne, especially in women.
Side effects include redness and dryness.
There is not much evidence supporting the use of zinc, sulfur, nicotinamide, resorcinol, sulfacetamide sodium, or aluminum chloride in topical acne treatments.