Many people think of acne skin products as various kinds of infection fighters, but the fact is, the most important skin products for acne are those that prevent whiteheads, blackheads, papules, pustules, nodules, and cysts, not those that treat them.Here are the kinds of products that help clear up acne-affected skin and keep it blemish-free.
Accutane is the prescription form of a chemical known as 13-cis-retinoic acid, a derivative of vitamin A. In cystic acne, its results are sometimes nothing short of miraculous. For less severe forms of acne, it is usually not a good choice.
That is because its potential side effects include peeling skin, sudden inability to see at night, permanent loss of sight due to intracranial pressure, liver damage, and horrendous birth defects in children of mothers who take the drug during the first trimester of pregnancy. Lesser side effects include severely chapped lips and nasal passages, as well as nosebleed. Another drug in the same class, Retin-A, has similar benefits and side effects.
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Other Acne Skin Products
Alpha-hydroxy acids are used to gently peel away dead skin that blocks the entrances to skin pores and traps sebum inside. Alpha-hydroxy acids have a chemical structure similar to vitamin C, and increased vitamin C in the diet may have a similar, gentler, and less expensive effect.
Antibiotics are useful when the bacterial overgrowth that causes acne has gotten completely out of hand. The problem with long-term antibiotic treatment is that it may not leave any of the Propionibacterium acnes bacteria that ordinarily live in the skin and consume excess sebum. Staph bacteria may enter the skin and take their place, ironically, at the end of prolonged antibiotic treatment.
Benzoyl peroxide is an antibacterial chemical. It does not, as often advertised, “unplug” pores.
Cryotherapy involves freezing the skin with dry ice or liquid nitrogen directly to acne-affected skin. The downside of this method is that it has to be repeated every day for several weeks (including weekends) to stop inflammation.
UV and X-ray treatments were used in the first half of the twentieth century to “dry out” the skin. They did clear blemishes, but they also caused cancer.
Conventional treatments for acne tend to be:
- Not especially effective, but very risky, or
- Effective but impractical, because they cost too much or have to be applied in a doctor’s office too often, or
- Effective and practical but causing dangerous side effects.
So what acne skin products actually work?
As you can read on many pages in this site, cleaners, toners, and sunscreens chosen for your skin type can do a great deal to protect the general health of your skin and help it heal from acne. There is a acne laser treatment that generates just the wavelength of light that kills the acne bacterium Propionibacterium acnes, and spares skin cells. And there is a new combination therapy using first liquid nitrogen and then a measured dosages of radio waves on skin treated with local anesthetic. The most useful treatments for acne, however, work from the inside out rather than the outside in, such as you can read about in Acne and Food.