An Introduction Topical Acne Treatments

The use of topicals offers many advantages over oral therapy (taking medications by mouth). The most obvious advantage is that your skin gets the direct application of medications and very few serious complications can result, whereas the oral route may lead to more severe side effects. In topical therapy, a vehicle (an inactive medium) "delivers" the active ingredient (the drug itself) to its intended target. The vehicle may be a cream, ointment, gel, lotion, or solution (an oil-free liquid, that's usually composed of water or alcohol).

 

The solutions, gels, and lotions that contain active ingredients can also hitch a ride on convenient travel-friendly delivery systems, such as the pledget or swab. These are small absorbent pads, used to medicate the skin, that are made from cotton or wool. Just put them in your bag, backpack, or pocket, and away you go.

 

In the treatment of acne, the vehicle may be as important as the drug or drugs that it transports. A vehicle gives a product its texture and substance and can sometimes determine its strength and influence how effectively a drug gets absorbed.

 

Different topical treatments for different forms of acne are determined by many factors, such as:

 

The best product is one that works best for you. Topical treatment frequently involves a trial-and-error approach, beginning with those products that are known to be most effective, least expensive, and have the fewest side effects. As you find things that don't work, you and your doctor team up to remove them from your regimen and add different (and hopefully better-for-you) products. That's why it's important for you to have a continuing dialog with your dermatologist in order to come up with the right product or combination of products for you to apply.

 

Sometimes your dermatologist may choose to combine a drying product (most acne products are), together with a moisturizing product in order to make the drying product less irritating.

 

Topical acne therapy aims to counter several of the major factors that cause acne:

 

 Oral therapy is required to tackle the other important acne causing factors, such as:

 

Topical treatment is sufficient for most people who have acne, but oral reinforcements are generally a must if you have more extensive, deep, or scarring acne with nodules and cysts.

 

Most dermatologists agree that the combination therapy — the use of topical retinoids and topical or oral antibiotics or antibacterials such as benzoyl peroxide — reduces both inflammatory and noninflammatory lesions more rapidly and to a greater degree than can be effected with any of these agents alone.