The Drugs’ Way
As we have seen the good so called homeopathic methods are in fact normal, day to day ways of cleaning our faces and the areas where our skin has got attacked by acne. Cleaning our skin with a mild soap and water; “treating” it with some benzoyl peroxide, alcohol, acetone, sulfur or salicylic acid, or a mix of all these ingredients are as well just methods for making acne less productive and annoying.
These homeopathic ingredients’ action, however, is situated somehow rather more at the skin’s surface, than in depth. That is why in mild acne, they could be everything we would need, but when acne gets severer we should better see a dermatologist for finding out other ways of fighting our skin disorder. It’s obvious that the dermatologist will be usually praised “the drugs’ way”.
We shall introduce you to some of the most commonly used and strong medications that the dermatologists are usually prescribing for acne. And after that we shall recommend you one of the best ways of fighting acne, the way that has proved successful for us thanks to its mixing up the homeopathic methods advantages with the medications’ properties.
But let us first present some of the most commonly used medications, which are usually prescribed by dermatologists. These are:
• Topical antibiotics. Because acne involves also bacteria and infections caused by bacteria, antibiotics become a demand in the case of severer infectious forms and types of acne. The topical antibiotics however should be used in combination with other agents so that they could be useful in fighting the skin disorder. On the other hand, the problem that appears when the topical antibiotics are being used on a long term is that this may lead to the skin bacteria’s becoming resistant to antibiotics. So for providing your skin with a real treatment against acne, the topical antibiotics should be used just from time to time and only combined with other anti-acne products.
• Topical retinoids. The topical retinoids represent a class of molecules from the Vitamin A family. They have proved to be very potent against the skin disorder because they are capable of stabilizing the abnormal growth and death of the cells from the sebaceous follicles. And because it is believed that these abnormal growth cycles play a key role in the formation of whiteheads, blackheads and other forms of acne, the topical retinoids prove to be a good weapon against this process. However, you should be aware that the topical retinoids must not be in any case used by pregnant women, by women who might be getting pregnant or even by these ones partners; it has been proved that there is a high rate of serious birth defects in the unborn children whose parents, especially mothers, have used topical retinoids.
• Oral medication. The oral medications include oral antibiotics, which work much of the same way as the topical antibiotics. The difference between topical and oral antibiotics is however that the oral ones are used as a systemic therapy because they reduce the bacterial populations from the sebaceous follicles. Oral erythromycin is, for example, a very commonly prescribed oral antibiotic, which has proved to be safe for being used in pregnant women, as well as in very young children.
• Hormonal therapies. The hormonal therapies are very sensitive methods because they are trying to action on the bodies’ hormonal equilibrium, which is itself a very sensitive thing. These therapies are expected to lessen the acne-promoting effects of the androgenic hormones through the counteract effects of the estrogen, the feminine hormone. However, because the estrogen has wide-ranging effects of the persons bodies, its use should be carefully monitored. Women whose acne has not responded to any other anti-acne treatments are prescribed birth-control pills, which contain estrogen, and they may indeed notice a significant lessening to their acne. But these women should be always aware of the side effects of the birth control pills.
• Corticosteroids. The corticosteroids are a range of very powerful anti-inflammatory substances. They are usually prescribed by dermatologists for very short courses for treating only the most severe acne types. They should be applied in low doses and this way they are very helpful to suppress the excessive secretions of the androgenic hormones.
These are only some of the medications that the dermatologists often prescribe for acne sufferers, by taking into account the skin disorder’s stage and also other factors, such as pregnancy and others. You should always see a doctor before starting a drug-based treatment against acne; in any case you must not start taking birth-control pills, hormones, or corticosteroids, and not even antibiotics by your own. These “weapons” could turn against you, if you start applying by your own, without previously seeing a doctor.