Commercial Remedies for Pimples
The number of products used today in treating acne is astounding. If you head inside your nearest skin care store, you will be exhausted at the hundreds of products lining the store's acne aisle. Those who are just beginning their battle with acne can have a hard time weeding out the good products from those ineffective ones. Even acne veterans sometimes stumble at this task. Most enlist the services of a dermatologist to help clear up some confusion. As those who have attended their skin care appointments know, an equally immense barrage of prescription medications also exists. In order to ease your search for the right product and give you a basic understanding of how the ingredients in both over the counter and prescription products work, we have compiled further information below.
We should start with the more confusing of the two: over the counter products. There are far more OTC treatments than prescription medications, and with thousands of advertisements touting their purported effectiveness, it can be hard to choose the right one. A good portion of OTC products contain the active ingredient known as benzoyl peroxide. This medication bring relief on two fronts. On the first, it kills the bacteria that is responsible for inflamed types of acne such as whiteheads and pustules. On the second, it helps restore our skin's ability to slough off dead cells. This skin cell turnover function is compromised in those who have acne.
Benzoyl peroxide is just as effective in low concentrations as it is in higher ones. You will experience more irritation with the 10% cream than you will with its 5% cousin, without any added benefits. This is fine if you use moisturizer, however, it doesn't make much sense to up the concentrations. Bottom-line: stick to the 2.5% form. Some other popular products in acne treatments are sulfur and salicylic acid. These act in much the same way as benzoyl peroxide and are also good choices.
Dermatologists prescribe nearly all of their patients more than a single medication. After all, acne is the result of multiple influences. Topical medications prescribed by dermatologists focus on improving the turnover cycle and killing the bacteria that are responsible for acne. Erythromycin and Benzoyl peroxide are choice medications for bacteria control. Dead skin cell turnover can be normalized with topical retinoids including Tretinoin, the generic form of Retin-A. Retinoids are derived from Vitamin-A. Added bacteria control can be established through oral antibiotics, such as tetracycline. Accutane is a last-resort oral medication designed to temporarily end sebum production in acne-prone individuals. The treatment prolongs for six months and requires that the patient receives regular blood work. Due to some of the negative effects associated with Accutane, it is rarely prescribed on an initial visit.
You need to properly diagnose the severity of your acne before seeking any sort of treatment. Whiteheads, blackheads, and pustules are part of more mild cases of acne that can be treated with over the counter medications. The presence of more inflamed lesions such as cysts often requires a doctor's visit for further examination. Prescription medications are a good fit for such bouts of acne.