How Acne Treatments Work
How do acne treatments work? Regardless of the type of acne product that you use, whether over-the-counter acne treatment, oral medication, or acne home remedies, all work in one or several of the following four ways:
- Preventing blockage of the sebaceous glands by normalizing shedding of the skin.
- Killing the p. acnes bacteria on the skin that worsens acne.
- Controlling the inflammation response.
- Reducing oil production of the sebaceous glands.
Choosing Your Acne Medication
Just like any other medications, these acne products do have side effects ranging from minor ones like drying, peeling, or redness to more serious ones like bacterial resistance, allergic reactions, etc. This is why you may have to try several acne products and solutions before discovering what is best for your skin.
Many commercial acne preparations contain 2 or more ingredients that work in combination to attack acne in any of the several ways listed above. In addition, they may contain other ingredients like moisturizers or antiseptic components to reduce side effects and protect your skin.
We cannot overemphasize this point: it is important to give your chosen acne treatment a fair trial. Any acne treatment regimen requires discipline and compliance. Don't expect to see immediate improvements but evaluate it for a few months. In fact, you might even see a worsening of acne at the beginning as your body reacts to the medication.
Follow the treatment’s recommended protocol and give it time to work. Some people get discouraged by the side effects or the apparent initial worsening and give up too soon, and then blame the product for being ineffective.
Some of the most common acne remedies are as follows:
- Topical (salicylic acid, sulfur, benzoyl peroxide, tretinoin, topical tetracycline, etc.)
- Oral (tetracycline, doxycycline, isotretinoin, etc.)
We will now review each treatment in detail.
Next: Over the counter acne treatment
