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Like most drug treatments such as domperidone, there’s always the specter of side effects, their potency on the body and how best to avoid or try to eliminate or minimize their influence as much as possible so that people can feel at ease when treated without worrying about the likely side effects that may appear.

Whenever the fate of your skin is at stake, the best kind of medication for fixing it quickly comes to mind . Right now there’s nothing simpler to use than generic and topical tretinoin. It’s one of the best and most effective acne prevention treatments anywhere to be found. It’s simply the quickest, simplest and most convenient process there is for getting rid of acne and reclaiming your rejuvenated skin back again.

Tretinoin oral or gel/cream treatment?

Choosing tretinoin gel or cream for treating your acne does give you an advantage over your condition. it’s so fast and simple to use that your pimples wouldn’t know what hit them next.

Sure acne breakouts can be really pop up fast when they start appearing, but tretinoin is faster to the task. All you have to do is to get a gel or cream of tretinoin, open it and apply it immediately.

You don’t have to worry about getting that glass of water, opening a bottle, getting a capsule out, putting it in your mouth, water in your mouth and swallowing. With gel or cream you simply apply!

Of course, both medications are super but tretinoin gel or cream is faster and just as effective.

However, if your doctor chooses a retinoin oral dosage regimen for you, you should accept and follow it to get best results from your treatment.

Using tretinoin gel or cream treatment

You need to know that before you use tretinoin gel or cream on your skin, you should make sure you skin is thoroughly clean for best results for your chosen treatment.

You should wash your face with warm water that contains a facial cleaner or a mild cleansing soap to keep skin abrasion to an absolute minimum.

You should then pat your facial skin softly with a clean towel to ensure your facial skin is completely clean and dry.

You should avoid scrubbing your face before applying the tretinoin gel or cream. A normal and gently wash is quite sufficient for removing dirt and bacteria from your facial skin area.

After you’ve dried you skin by patting with a clean towel, you should leave it in that condition for about 20 to 30 minutes to make sure it’s completely dry and ready for the tretinoin treatment.

Once your skin is thoroughly dry, you can proceed to apply a small amount of tretinoin cream to all the areas that have been invaded by acne.

There’s no need to use too much of the tretinoin cream because you only need to cover all the areas affected by acne with a light covering of the tretinoin cream treatment. 

If you know the size of a green pea, then that’s more or less the size of tretinoin cream you’ll need to use on your acne. The amount is more than enough for treating you acne.

Using the pea sized amount for your gel or cream treatment, rub it into your skin, especially on the areas that have been severely affected by acne.

It may be the case that you have been given a liquid solution of tretinoin to use by your physician or pharmacist.

If so, use a cotton swab or gauze bandage to apply the ointment to your face using a conservative amount as used when applying gel or cream to your acne. You don’t have to use a large amount.

After you’ve applied the medication to areas invaded by acne, you should dispose of all the cotton swabs or gauze pads.

After doing so, you should wash your hands thoroughly to remove any trace of tretinoin cream, gel or solution on your body.

Potency (Strength) of topical tretinoin

As with all other drug medications, the potency of tretinoin gel, cream or solution are offered in a variety of strengths.

These can range from a minimum of .01% up to a maximum of .10% for most countries.

In the United States, the .05% strong tretinoin concentration is the most commonly used potency found in gel or cream medications.

Because tretinoin is usually a prescribed drug, it’s essential that you consult with your doctor if you are intending to purchase the treatment.

Lower strength types of tretinoin gel, cream and solution can be purchased over the counter in some countries. In other countries a prescription is a must for purchasing all strengths of tretinoin.

Precautions and warnings for tretinoin

Generally speaking, tretinoin can be regarded as a safe and effective drug medicine for treating acne which every adult can use to revitalize their skin and minimize the development of blackheads, whiteheads as well as cystic acne.

Nevertheless you’d be prudent to take note of several instances where you should abstain from using tretinoin.

To make it easier for you to identify these instances, you should talk to your doctor concerning the dangers of side effects before you start using the drug medication. However, you should automatically avoid using tretinoin even without consulting your doctor if:

• you are already suffering from a skin condition that include atopic dermatitis (eczema), seborrheic dermatitis or rosacea
• you are taking other prescribed medical treatment
• you suffered from skin cancer in the past or that your family also suffered from skin cancer as well as other serious skin diseases in addition to cancer.
• In the past, you had experienced negative response to other prescribed treatment that included retinoids for treating your acne and other skin conditions related to acne.
• you are pregnant, breastfeeding or will soon become pregnant.

If you happen to be using other skin products, it’s also necessary to consult with your doctor before you actually use tretinoin, especially if the skincare products you are using contain alcohol.

It’s very likely that your doctor will be able to give you more data on which of the products will be safe to use together with tretinoin and which ones you should avoid using during your tretinoin treatment.

Bottom Line

When you have a treatment that’s totally effective in curing your acne breakouts, that’s very simple to use and has no or very mild side effects when used as a treatment for acne, everything seem to be panning out the way you want them to. Nevertheless, because medications are bound to introduce changes as they challenge physical incursions such acne. These changes usually trigger some warnings and precautions which must be taken seriously.

Many people suffer from functional irregularities of the digestive system,that part of the human anatomywhich is perhaps its most important. It generates energy to make possible the functions of the rest of the body. Its importance is critical and its proper functioning even more so.

When it comes to searching for the right medication for treating an infection such as acne, the most common problem is to be able to identify the most efficacious treatment for treating your acne from literally millions of treatment products on the market today. There’s a plethora of lotion washes, creams, gels, spot treatments and the like to choose from, but which one will prove the most effective? Please read on and find out.

Some strange perspectives

Looking for the right medication to ward off more acne breakouts is indeed frustrating, but isn’t the fact that we are still struggling against acne even more annoying? It should have been done away long ago. 

Wrong! It’s still very much with us and make no mistakes, by the looks of things, it may be with us for some time to come.

Acne for adolescents and adults is not an illusion but a very personal and tangible reality and to make things less comforting, it can affect people who are between 20 years of age and those well past their 50s.

People who’ve experienced breakouts of blackheads and whiteheads and found them miserably annoying haven’t really experienced anything so far.

There are also the flare ups of deep painful pimples that often accompany the appearance of adult acne which are much more annoying and of course even more difficult to do away with.

So the only thing that now remains is to try and find out the best treatments that are the most effective in treating the different types of pimples that can affect your skin and of course your health and livelihood.

The cause behind the condition

We can’t just simply ask a question and expect an answer to be provided immediately by someone else. If we are looking for the best medication for acne, we have to find out everything we can about acne.

And there’s no better place to start than knowing what actually causes acne!

What causes acne?

The formation of pimples begins with the accumulation of body oil (sebum) and dead skin cells come together to form a plug that blocks your skin pore (follicle).

Essentially, your skin is able to get rid of its dead cells, but if your body produces too much oil (sebum), the dead skin cells can accumulate and get embedded in your pores.

As the sebum and dead skin cells coagulate in your pores, the bacteria Cutibacterium acnes (also called Propionibacteria acnes eventually find their way into the milieu where they thrive and multiply from the bounty of available sustenance (oil and dead skin cells).

With time, the P. acnes bacteria begins to outgrow its plugged follicle home, causing the area to become inflamed which announces the start of papules, pustules and cystic lesions.

The perfect medication that can deal with this multi-infested acne formation is one that can kill 4 birds with the one stone so to speak.

The medication should be able to do these four cleansing actions:

• Exfoliate the dead skin cells which effectively means, getting rid of the outer layer of the dead skin cell formation
• Suck up the excess oil (sebum) that  has also accumulated inside the pore (follicle) with the dead skin cells
• Stop the inflammation caused by the pressure from the expanding substances clogged up in the acne as well as the growing size of the bacteria also trapped inside.
• Kill the bacteria that’s causing all the commotion within and beyond the confined space of the follicle within the pore.

No one-size-fits-all solution

This would of course be the ideal medication for curing acne breakouts, but unfortunately, no one medication has been known to have all these remedial prerequisites all bundled up into the one pill.

Another difficulty is that every patient reacts differently to a particular medication from other patients and in most cases, the effects of the treatment may well get worse before it actually gets better.

So rather than looking for the perfect single medication that can annihilate all the putrid components of acne in its different forms, a combination of sorts appear to offer a realistic solution.

This can be found in the combination of acne self-care for which you’ll be a contributor and the assistance of a dermatologist who can draw up a suitable acne treatment schedule for you to follow.

The help of a dermatologist is indispensible particularly if the occurrence of your acne breakouts  frequently take place or is moderate or severe.

What will the dermatologist do?

The first task for you dermatologist to do would be to ascertain the severity of your acne and allot a grade for it.

Your derm will most likely follow this procedure:

• use the grading of from 1 to 4 to signify severity from mild (1) to severe (4)
• ascertain what type or types of acne you are suffering from
• determine the type of medication (oral or topical) that would work best for you

The difference between the medications are as follows:

• Topical acne treatment – this is perhaps the most common type of acne treatment. Killing acne-causing bacteria is the specialty for some while decreasing oil to get rid of acne is the work of other medications.

The ingredients typically found in topical acne medications can include salicylic acid, retinoids, benzoyl peroxide, and antibiotics.

• Oral acne treatment – these medications work internally and are usually prescribed by your doctor for the treatment of acne cysts and nodules which are usually red, swollen pimples. They can come as:
  • antibiotics that kill bacteria and decrease inflammation
  • birth control pills that helps you with your hormonal acne
  • isotretinoin, also commonly called Accutane despite the fact that the brand is no longer used.

The best acne treatments available

Listed below are the best acne treatments used for occasional, mild and moderate acne:

Salicylic acid

This acne treatment is especially suitable for preteens infected with pimples which is readily accessible at mostdrugstores. It’s the active ingredient for “acne wash” or “spot treatment” medications with the main function of dissolving excess oil and defoliating dead skin cells.

Glycolic acid

This treatment is similar in function to salicylic acid having the same ability for gently exfoliating skin and gets rid of dead skin cells clogging up your pores. Like salicylic acid it can also be found in serums, washes, moisturizers, andpeels at the local beauty store or drugstore.

Benzoyl peroxide

The main function of Benzoyl peroxide is the effective demise of the C. acnes bacteria that causes breakouts. While effective, the cream and cleansing treatment can render sensitive skin dry and may bleach clothing. The ideal concentration for using this treatment is 2% of it, for treating acne.

Lactic acid

This is also a chemical exfoliant used on the skin as Glycolic acid but is much gentler. It’s the right treatment for people who have sensitive skin but need an exfoliant acid to clear away dead skin cells. It’s also a humectant that draws water to itself making it a hydrating agent. So exfoliants with lactic acid would achieve its purpose without being too hard on the skin.

Retinol

This cream form of this treatment is popular especially for its anti-aging properties while also efficient at clearing up acne. A dermatologist (Rita Linkner,) M.D. has been quoted as saying “Retinoids cause skin cells to turn over at a faster rate, decrease oil production and help exfoliate skin.”

Conclusion

Suffering from acne is a very disturbing, annoying as well as a very embarrassing experience and many of us are unwilling to be caught in a situation where we are overwhelmed with the infection. If you want to avoid getting acne breakouts, you should seriously find out and study the different types of medication available for treating acne breakouts. This article has provided the information you need. All you have to do is implement it.

Like many types of skin infections that pester most people acne also thrives in unclean places so if you are wondering why is my acne worse on one side, then the most likely answers would be you mobile phones may be dirty, or perhaps you’ve not changed your pillowcases or you are in the habit of touching your face with unclean hands. Sound familiar? Let’s have a closer look.

Acne’s favorite spot

For some people, the appearance of acne can be sudden and totally unnerving, while for others

its appearance is weirdly regular and sometimes it frequents certain spots such as the right or left side of your face.

When acne outbreaks regularly appear on one side of your face it’s reason enough for you to worry about the reason why it’s happening and try to work out an appropriate remedy for it. There are so many causes. It could be the cold winter, it maybe dirt on anything you are using.

A more specific cause of acne

More specifically, medical experts will tell you that the onslaught of acne usually start when you enter puberty.

And the reason for this belief is that at this stage of your life, your body develops plenty of androgens which are responsible for producing your deeper voice and in women, help develop their breasts but sadly it also contributes to the appearance of acne.

What are androgens?

Simply put, they are male hormones that help in developing the male sexual characteristics pertaining to the male species of Homo sapiens.

The hormone is found in both men and women, especially during their adolescent years and is responsible for producing more oil on the skin making it possible for acne to form and appear throughout the entire area of your skin.

Generally speaking, according to medical experts some people are more prone to getting acne outbreaks more than others, the reason given include their family history, the food they eat and their stress levels.

Acne on the face the most troubling

One of the most unique aspects of acne is its habit of choosing the face as its usually target for making an appearance. It can of course appear on other parts of your body but the face appears to be the main target.

Perhaps it’s because people regularly touch their face more often or because more oil is produced on the face or because by habit you tend to sleep on one side of your body rather than the other.

Wherever your acne appears, it’s normal that you’d rather it appeared somewhere else rather than your face. Nobody likes acne to appear on their faces!

Medical experts however hold that the location of the acne on the body can act as an indicator or a clue as to what may actually be causing acne to appear there. To them, apart from androgen, habit can also play an important role in the appearance of acne.

To prevent acne from appearing, experts believe that sufferers can improve their acne condition by changing their lifestyle.

They also offer different types of therapies for acne breakouts which are hormone triggered or caused by hair products and failure to exchange dirty pillowcases for clean ones.

Acne on different locations on the face

It’s very useful to know where acne usually appears on the face and why so here are the main places where acne normally appears on the face and the appropriate actions you can take against it:

Cheeks 

The right and left side of the cheeks is a spot usually frequented by acne outbreaks and the main cause is from rubbing. Rubbing causes friction and hence the name given to an outbreak here as “frictional acne” so if you keep rubbing your cheeks it’s the reason why acne keeps appearing.

Acne outbreaks on the right or left side of your face can be caused by your habit of always sleeping on your right or left side. Acne will appear on the side of your face on which you always sleep.

The way you answer your phone is another inadvertent invitation for acne to appear. If you always answer your phone with your right or left ear, acne is sure to appear on those areas.

The frequent application of facial cosmetics on the cheeks can also be responsible for causing the appearance of acne so if you are in the habit of using cosmetics on your cheeks it’s no surprise that acne will also keep on appearing there.

Let’s now focus attention on the individual areas where acne appear most and why

Forehead

Our forehead and the area along the hairline is a haven for oil glands and all it takes to activate the formation of acne is to use a heavy hair conditioner on your hair.

Another way is for you to use a moisturizer or oil based hair care product to trigger an acne outbreak on the forehead. What the products do is they clog up the pores and allow “fragrant acne” to break out on the forehead.

Around the mouth

The culprits here for giving rise to an appearance of acne are lipstick or lip balm. They’re fine on the lips but once you smudge your surrounding skin with them, your skin won’t be able to breathe properly and while your skin becomes smothered, acne begins to for so it can make its appearance.

It’s also possible that acne breakouts around the area of the mouth may be caused by hormones. The reason here is that sufferers may possess an excessive amount of male hormones (androgens) in their skin. We now know that hormones give rise to more oil production in the body.

Nose, chin and jawline

As with acne on the forehead, acne around the jawline, chin and nose are caused by the production of excessive oil in these areas.

This area of the face also includes the horizontal middle part of forehead down the nose line and is called the “T-zone”

If you don’t want to worsen your acne breakout on this areas, you should avoid touching or picking the skin around this area.

Breaking the cycle

In the case of acne, the cycle to break is not so much the inner components of an acne or pimple but rather to break the habits that tend to induce or worsen an acne breakout.

Here are some very useful and effective ones:

• Avoid scrubbing an area where acne is present because scrubbing can worsen it.
• Drink lots of water
• Be gentle when applying skin products on your skin by using your fingertips.
• Use gentle, non-abrasive skin cleanser.
• Keep away from things that irritate the skin and never pick the skin
• When you apply skin care products don’t use a skin irritant item such as a washcloth.

In the event that no improvement is seen and your condition remains the same, be sure to visit your dermatologist.

Bottom Line

There’s no harm in asking, why is my acne worse on one side, after all it’s another way of wanting to learn more about a condition that most of us, if not all, would like to eliminate for good. However, since it’s clearly not possible for us to rid ourselves of the habits that exacerbate acne breakouts, we should at least pay to heed to how we should change our habits in order to prevent acne breakouts.

If you decide to conduct an investigation on your own, to determine the number and types of acne there are today, you’ll be surprised to find that there are indeed many types of acne in the world today. You will also find that there are numerous types of medications available that can be used to combat acne breakouts. So the battle is still being waged between science and acne but casting that aside for a moment, is there any way an ordinary person can contribute to prevent the spread of acne?

It’s completely unrealistic to think that acne will simply disappear any time soon. Just look around and see how many diseases are still with us after so many years.

However, the good news is that as an individual you can add more verve into the battle by practicing certain new ideas that have developed over the years that you can use to manage you own fight against acne breakouts.

But before doing your own thing to help prevent you from getting acne breakouts, you should familiarize yourself with the enemy and find out everything you should know about acne before making any advances.

The different types of acne

For a start you should know that stress can act as a trigger mechanism that can get acne to start up in no time at all. You should know that acne pimples are of different size, color and pain levels.

You will also find that there are many different types of acne as listed below:

• Whiteheads – these are found to remain under the skin and are small in size.
• Blackheads – these type of acne are conspicuous and are clearly visible, they are of the color black as the name connotes and of course they appear clearly on the surface of the your skin.
• Papules – these are small and usually pink in color and appear as bumps, like the blackheads they appear clearly on the surface of your skin.
• Pustules – again, these are clearly visible on the surface of the skin and are essentially red of color especially at the base with pus located in the top part of the acne.
• Nodules – these are also visible on the surface of your skin, are large, firm and painful pimples which firmly plant themselves deep down in the skin.
• Cysts – again these are also visible on the surface of the skin, they are very painful and filled with pus and have the propensity to cause ugly scars wherever they occur on the body.

Tips for managing and preventing acne

The list below will provide you with essential techniques for taking care of your skin that may be harboring acne or is susceptible to it. For best results, read them carefully and put them into practice,

• First on the list is that you should wash your face no more than twice a day with warm water with mild soap especially made for acne,
• You should avoid squeezing and popping your pimples because this action can make scarring more likely occurrence and you definitely don’t want that.
• If you need a pimple to be speedily removed from your face (or anywhere else) by a qualified specialist if you need to apply cosmetics.
• At no time should you be touching your face.
• When you’re making or receiving a call or conversing on the phone, you should hold the telephone away from your face while you’re speaking with the other party. Your phone may have sebum and skin residue on it.
• You should frequently wash your hands, especially right before you apply makeup, lotions or creams.
• Make sure you also regularly clean your reading glasses as they may have collected sebum and skin residue.
• If you have acne on your back, chest or shoulders, you should try and wear loose clothing to permit the skin to breathe in some air. You should avoid wearing tight garments such as scarves, headbands, and caps or if you do, at least wash them regularly when using them.
• For your makeup you should use skin sensitive products while avoiding oil-based products. Remember to remove your makeup before going to sleep for the night,
• When shaving, you should use an electric shaver or sharp razors but before you actually shave, soften the skin and beard with warm water that’s been mixed with soap and then apply the shaving cream.
• You should always keep your hair clean as it may collect sebum and skin residue during the day (and night). You should also refrain from using greasy hair like products that contain cocoa butter.
•  You should avoid excessive exposure under the sun, as it can stimulate the skin to produce more sebum. Also, there are several acne medications that can exacerbate the risk of sunburn.
• Stay clear of anxiety and stress, as they can increase the production of cortisol and adrenaline, which can aggravate your acne condition.
• Always try and keep yourself cool and dry when you’re living in a hot humid climate. This will prevent you from sweating

We all know that acne is a common problem which can cause severe embarrassment. Fortunately medication is available to deal with it and in most cases they succeed in doing their job.

Things that aggravate your acne

If, you’ve been treating your acne with appropriate care, but you find that new breakouts are still happening, it may be your skin care routine that’s causing it.

For your benefit, 10 skin care routines that can aggravate your acne have been provided below together with tips from dermatologists to help you change them to get better results are given below:

1. Every week, try a new acne treatment and see the result – Over washing your face can irritate your skin and cause acne breakouts. 

Do this instead: be patient and use a product for 6 to 8 weeks and look for improvements. If no improvements occur try another product. It takes 3 to 4 months to completely clear your acne.

• Use acne medication only on your blemishes – this is usually done but it doesn’t preventnew breakouts.

Do this instead: evenly spread acne medication over all blemished areas,  for instance, you forehead, nose or chin

• Using makeup, skin and hair care products– Some makeup, skin and hair care products are oily and can cause acne breakouts. Continued use means continued blemishes so don’t use them.

Do this instead:  Use “non-comedogenic” or “won’t clog pores.” as they don’t acne breakouts in most people.

• Sharing makeup, brushes or applicators – sharing these items can cause acne blemishes while acne itself is not contagious. When you share them, bacteria, oil and dead skin cells of other people may fall on your makeup and the acne causing bacteria, oil and dead skin oil can clog up you pores and you get acne breakouts.

Do this instead: Make sure only you can access and use your makeup materials and tools

• Don’t sleep with your makeup on – any type of makeup can cause acne outbreaks if you don’t clean it off before you go to sleep.

Do this instead:  clean you off your face before going to bed, period!Use a small non-comedogenic towel if you’re too tired to wash your face.

• Avoid washing your face too many times during the day – washing you face too many times daily can irritate the skin and lead to more acne breakouts.

Do this instead: Wash your face only twice daily when you wake up and before going to bed. If you work and sweat during the day, you’ll need to wash the sweat off  so may need to wash your face a third time.

• Drying your skin – it’s true that oily skin is fertile ground for acne breakouts and you’re tempted to use pore closing (astringent) and other acne treatments to dry your skin. Don’t do it! Irritable or irritated dry skin can increase the risk of more acne.

Do this instead: – If you skin is dry, use a moisturizer on your acne-prone skin twice daily after washing your face. Avoid using astringents or rubbing alcohol or other substances that can dry out a skin.

• Scrub and clean your skin – You may feel you should scrub you skin clean to make your acne disappear.  Don’t do it! Scrubbing irritates the skin inviting more acnes to flare up.

Do this instead: gently wash your face and other areas of your skin affected with acne. Use a mild, non-comedogenic cleanser gently applying it with your fingertips in a circular motion.  Rinse the towel off gently in warm water using your fingers only. Pat your skin dry with a clean towel.

• Rubbing sweat off your skin during workouts – When you rub sweat away in a rough manner, you will irritate your skin, which cab result in acne breakouts.

Do this instead: use a clean towel during your workout routines and gently pat sweat from your skin.

1. Squeezing or popping acne – when you pop or squeeze acne, you force what’s inside the acne deeper into your skin. This increases inflammation and can lead to more acne, pain and possibly scarring.

Do this instead:  Don’t fall in the temptation and start popping or squeezing your acne. Your acne should be treated with acne medication. If your acne is painful, visit a dermatologist,

Conclusion

Providing timely and effective solutions to real life situations especially for a very irritating and uncomfortable condition such as being infected with acne and acne breakouts is a commendable task. Indeed the dermatologists who have provided the appropriate actions that should be taken for the 10 different real life situations mentioned have done a great job. There are many who don’t know anything about them and they are sure to benefit from the voluntary disclosures.

It has to be admitted that once you are infected by acne breakouts, all you want to happen is to be able to rid yourself of its presence in the quickest way possible and hopefully never to be overshadowed by it again as long as you live. You are not alone so stay tuned so you can get some idea of how acne and acne breakouts can be treated in the most effective way possible.

Hooray! Treating acne is a cinch

It looks like acne is here to stay among us until such as time as scientist figure out a way to totally eliminate it from our midst.

In the meantime, there are great treatments galore out on the market that are absolutely great for a temporary or total cure for acne and the beauty of it is you can easily access them almost anywhere.

Treatments for mild acne

For this type of acne there’s a variety of steroidal as well as non-steroidal gels and creams available for treatment and rest assured many are quite effective at doing their job.

Over-the-counter medications in the form of  soaps, lotions, gels, pads, creams, just to mention some of them are ideal treatments for mild acne and all you have to do is simply spread them on your skin.

If you happen to have sensitive skin, you best bet are the cream and lotion treatments. In case you have oily skin the best option for you are the alcohol based gels that can effectively dry out your oily skin.

The active ingredients they contain

Many of the OTC treatments can contain the following active ingredients:

• Azelaid acid – this active ingredient  strengthens your body cells that line the sides of the follicles, it acts to prevent periodic eruptions of sebum, and decreases the growth of bacteria. Cream remedies are also available but most other forms are used for treating a face condition calledrosacea.
• Resorcinol – this active ingredient helps to break down and destroy blackheads and whiteheads
• Retin-A – this ingredient actively helps to unblock pores that have been blocked by dead cells sebum and dead bacterial cells through rapid turnover of cells to replace dead skin cells.
• Benzol peroxide – with azelaid acid, this ingredient is also the most versatile. It kills bacteria, accelerates the replacement of dead skin, and slows down the production of sebum oil.
• Sulfur – It has not been possible as yet to explain the role of this ingredient plays in healing acne.
• Salicylic acid – this ingredient actively helps in reducing inflammation and swelling.

Treatment for moderate to severe acne

A dermatologist or skin specialist is the one who is able to treat more severe cases.

 It’s usually the case that they may prescribe a treatment consisting of a gel or cream similar to the kind of treatment available to the OTC type of treatment but with a stronger potency.

Or they may decide to prescribe an oral or a topical antibiotic that you simply apply to the skin surface.

Corticosteroid injection treatment

In addition to the treatment of mild acne breakouts there are also treatments for moderate to severe acne which can also occur at times in the form of a cyst.

Sometimes, an acne cyst can become greatly inflamed and it may rupture or become torn tissue that has completely lost its consistency, it collapses and the result is usually serious scarring.

When a rupture occurs, a skin specialist may treat the collapsed and torn tissue with an injection of diluted corticosteroid.

The treatment can help prevent scarring that may follow the rupture and speed up the process of healing and the cyst will break within a few days of the injection treatment.

Oral antibiotics

Another type of remedy for acne is the taking of oral antibiotics which a doctor may prescribe for up to 6 months for patients suffering from moderate to severe acne.

The antibiotic treatment will have the desired effect of lowering the number of P. Acnes living inside the follicles.

The first doses usually have a high potency but will gradually taper off as the acne starts to dissipate clearing the skin surface.

The bacteria P. acnes may become resistant to the potency of the antibiotic and another antibiotic may be needed as replacement.

The acne itself is much more likely to become resistant to topical remedies rather than oral antibiotics.

Antibiotics are also capable of addressing the growth of bacteria and also reduce inflammation that can result from the virulent nature of acne breakouts.

The two most prescribed antibiotic treatments for acne are Erythromycin and tetracycline.

Oral contraceptives

The use of oral contraceptives for controlling the spread of acne in women is also a popular treatment for suppressing their overactive gland in producing sebum oil.

Oral contraceptives are used as long-term acne treatments. However they may not work effectively for women who:

• Suffer from blood clotting problems
• smoke
• have suffered from migraines
• are more than 35 years of age

As a woman, it’s important that you discuss your issues with a gynecologist first before you start taking oral contraceptives.

Topical antimicrobials

The use of topical antimicrobials also aims at reducing the presence of P. acnes in patients who are suffering from moderate to severe acne.

Examples of these treatments include clindamycin and sodium sulfacetamide. Only a dermatologist may prescribe a topical retinoid.

These are derivatives of vitamin A that have the capability of unclogging your pores thereby preventing whiteheads and blackheads from developing.

Some examples of topical retinoids that are prescribed in the U.S. include adapalene, tazarotene, and tretinoin.

Isotretinoin

Isotretinoin is a potent oral retinoid that’s used for treating severe cystic acne as well as severe acne that has not shown any response to other medications and treatments.

Because this medication can potentially result in serious side effects, it’s a strongly controlled medication.

It’s so potent that a patient is obliged to sign a consent form that says the patient is fully aware of the risks involved in taking the medication.

The adverse effects caused by isotretinoin include mood swings, dry skin, abnormalities in fetus if taken during pregnancy, dry lips, and nosebleeds.

It’s a must for patients who take isotretinoin to avoid vitamin A supplements because these can result in toxicity with vitamin A.

Conclusion

It should now be clear that there are a different variety of ways in treating acne and that most, if not all, are quite effective in doing their job. The main reason for this is the fact that all the treatments contain active ingredients that are responsible for attacking the root cause of the specific condition being treated or the bacteria that’s causing harm to your bodily health.

Before we can even start thinking about the main causes of acne, we should familiarize ourselves and know the nature of this condition. It’s occurrence and presence in society is not a very welcomed one much less the act of treating it. It causes lots of discomfort, irritation and above all embarrassment for both adults and adolescents who have the misfortune of being infected by it.

What is this troublesome condition?

You’ll do well to ponder and be familiar with these general acne features:

It is first and foremost a disease of the skin that’s both chronic in potency and inflammatory in formation causing pimples and spots to invade certain parts of your body.

Its favorite settling grounds include the face, upper arms, chest, shoulders, back, and neck.

The most common types of acne include whiteheads, blackheads, pimples, cysts and nodules.

Acne happens to be the most known skin condition in the United States, affecting some 50 million Americans each year.

It most occurs during puberty when the body’s sebaceous glands go into action but it occurs at any age. While it’s seldom life threatening, it can leave ugly scars as a going away present.

They normally begin when your glands (sebaceous) are stimulated by male hormones which are produced by the adrenal glands found in both men and women.

Around 85 percent of people in the U.S. between the ages of 12 and 24 suffer from acne.

True blue facts on acne

Some of the immediate facts about acne indicate that acne:

• is essentially a skin disease that involves the oil glands at the bottom compartment of hair follicles.
• affects every 3 in 4 persons who are aged between 11 and 30 years.
• It can leave deep scars on your skin but it’s not life threatening.
• can be treated but the type of treatment depends on its severity and persistency.
•  has certain risk factors that can include genetics, menstrual cycle, stress and anxiety,  hot, humid climates, usage of oil based makeup and pimple squeezing.

Home remedies

Many types of home remedies for acne have been cited but not all have the support of the scientific community. Here are some of them:

Diet – while the connection between diet and acne has not been verified by science, some scientists have found that the consumption of foods containing vitamins A, E, and zinc may have a lower risk of getting severe acne.

Other sources have suggested that while the connection between acne and diet has the propensity to provoke differing opinions, they also suggest that a diet with low glycemic ingredients can help reduce acne.

Tree-tree oil – A study published in theIndian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology, and Leprology suggested that medication that contain 5 percent tea-tree oil may treat mild to moderate acne.

Tea: some evidence exist that support the claim that polyphenols from tea, and green tea when applied using native techniques, may have the ability of reducing sebum production and at the same time reduce the formation of acne.

However, compounds used in the study were extracts obtained from the tea which was not used directly.

Moisturizers: researchers hold the view thatthese have the ability to soothe the skin, especially of people who use treatments for acne such as isotretinoin.

Essentially, these moisturizes contain aloe vera with a concentration of at least 10 percent, or witch hazel which has a soothing and maybe anti-inflammatory effect.

Main causes of acne

The human skin is dotted with pores that connect to oil glands under the skin surface. Follicles, which are small sacs that produce and secret liquid, are the connecting channels between the glands and the pores.

An oily liquid called sebum is produced by the glands under the skin. The sebum actually carries the dead skin cells through the follicles up to the skin surface.

Growing through the follicle from below the skin and out of the skin is small hair.

When the follicles are blocked and oil starts to build up under the skin, pimples form and make their appearance on the skin surface.

What usually happens when the follicle is blocked is that dead skin cells, sebum, can all stick together in a clump and form a plug.

The plug is soon infected with bacteria and swelling from below the skin begins to form. When the plug commences to break down, a pimple begins to develop.

The name of the bacteria that lives on the skin and makes it possible for pimples to start developing is Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes).

Not all acne bacteria can trigger pimples and one particular strain actually helps the skin to stay free of pimples.

Moreover, it’s been suggested by research that both the severity and frequency of acne depends entirely on the strain of bacteria present in the follicles.

Hormonal factors

There’s a whole variety of factors that can help trigger the development of acne, however it is the belief that the main factor that causes a breakout is the increase in the levels of androgen.

Androgen is an hormone type substance which rises substantially in its levels at the commencement of adolescence. In women, androgen is converted to estrogen.

An increase in the levels of androgen levels also triggers an increase the growth of oil glands under the skin and of course the larger the oil glands the more sebum they can produce.

An excess production of sebum in this way can cause pressure to build up against the cellular walls of the pores which ultimately give way and collapse.

This in turn allows more bacteria to thrive and multiply which ushers in an expansion of the area that has succumbed to the invasion of acne.

 This event marks the beginning of making the ground ready for a full blown breakout of acne to take place.

What else can trigger an acne breakout?

There are some studies that suggest genetic factors may also increase the risk of triggering the formation of acne but there are other causes as listed below:

• Menstruation
• Medications that contain androgen and lithium
• Emotional stress
• Greasy cosmetics
• Hormonal changes

Conclusion        

Causes are always very important and relevant in the study of any condition, but more so for acne which is the subject of this article. No one welcomed the day when they were overwhelmed by an acne outbreak which, if serious enough, would leave unsightly scars that would be difficult to remove. Thanks to science most of these tragic results have been obliterated and hopefully living without acne may soon be on the horizon.

Sometimes, because of the sheer number of blackheads and whiteheads that pop up during acne breakouts many people tend to panic and accept the first medication that some friend or neighbor recommended, only find it unsuitable. The best thing you should do is spend some time studying up acne treatments from your doctor or online pharmacist or even online so you can get one of the best acne treatments and this article should help you out.

Understanding the basics about Retin – A (tretinoin)

Retin – A (tretinoin) is a medication that’s provided under prescription by a doctorand is used to treat mild to moderately severe acne.

It belongs to a class of medications known as topical retinoids which are derivatives of Vitamin A.

Retin – A (tretinoin) is particularly effective in treating inflammatory acne and is also an ideal treatment for comedonal acne where numerous whiteheads and blackheads develop on your skin.

Retin – A is usually available as a gel or cream and since both are topical treatment, you can apply then directly onto your skin where acne breakouts are occurring and causing discomfort.

Using Retin – A, which is the brand name for generic tretinoin, may result in side effects which you need to know about so that you can take the necessary steps to guard against them.

Main Uses of Retin – A (tretinoin)

The main medicinal role of Retin – A (tretinoin) is its ability in preventing the clogging up of pores in your skin which usually trigger the start of acne formation.

If your pores aren’t clogged up, it means that they are being cleaned and it’s true because Retin – A actually does the cleaning in the following manner:

Retin – A speeds up cell turnover rates meaning that it accelerates the rate at which your topmost skin cells that die leave the body by the exfoliation process and is replaced by new skin cells.

The accelerated speed at which the dead skin cells are removed doesn’t allow dead skin cells, sticky material and bacteria or comedones to form and enable acne to start developing. There is simply no breeding ground for acne to develop and fester.

Efficacious treatment for aging

It’s not only in the treatment of acne that Retin – A (tretinoin) is known for. It’s equally proficient as an anti-aging medication. How does it do it? Well, Retin – A effectively modifies the harsh profile of wrinkles and fine lines that appear due to aging.

In doing so, Retin – A smoothens and brightens the complexion and modifies the roughness of wrinkles and telltale aging lines that usually accompany aging.

For adults who use the medication, it can be like killing two birds with the one stone so to speak, because their acne, wrinkles and fine lines would be treated with the same medication at the same time.

What Retin – A also does is to decrease the stickiness in blackheads so that potential substances forming the plugs are easy to force upwards and expelled. At the same time, it exfoliates the skin and cleans out the follicles and reduces the expanded form of the pores making them smaller.

Effective treatment for acne, dark marks and scars

Here, we can ask the question whether or not Retin – A can eliminate the depressions, indents or raised acne scars but unfortunately the findings are inconclusive.

However, it’s certain that Retin – A (tretinoin) can actually trigger brand new skin growth which means that you’ll have smoother and more uniform skin texture which can smother the appearance of acne scarring.

If by chance you suffer from very serious acne scarring the effect of the medication can be compromised and you’ll need the help of a professional practitioner for an effective procedure for scar treatment to succeed in healing your scarring condition.

Another feature that highlights the efficacy of Retin – A is its ability to help lighten the dark post-inflammatory colored dots which pimples leave behind after being completely healed instead of acne scars.

Because Retin – A accelerates dead skin cell shedding, it indirectly curbs excess production of melanin which gives your skin its color, or boosts its production when hyper-coloring is needed.

Formulations for Tretinoin based medications

In layman terms formulations here mean how the ingredients in medications are mixed to give the desired potency for treating a condition.

In drug medicine, there’s always an active ingredient and in our case it’s tretinoin which is mixed in different concentrations to achieve the desired potency or strength and in most cases the different names given to medicines betray the variance in concentration.

Branded Retin – A is not alone in containing tretinoin because other medicctions such as Retin – A Micro, Avita, Renova and of course tretinoin itself all have this active ingredient.

It’s safe to surmise that since all these medications contain the same active ingredient (tretinoin) they would work in a similar manner in consort with the “vehicles” in the medication.

The “vehicles” are the other ingredients of the medication and their main purpose is to deliver the active ingredient to your skin which they do in different ways.

For instance Retin – A and Retin – A Micro are two different versions of tretinoin. The difference is that Retin – A Micro releases its ingredients more slowly than Retin – A and hence is less irritating and less drying than Retin – A

Comparisons of Tretinoin based medications

Tretinoin vs. Isotretinoin

Even though the names look and sound similar tretinoin and isotretinoin are not similar because you can’t use one when the other is not available.

It’s true that the active ingredient for Retin – A and Retin – A Micro is tretinoin, but isotretinoin is the active ingredient for brand name Accutane.

Another difference between the two active ingredients is that isotretinoin is taken orally in pill form rather than as a topical cream or gel. Because of its potency it’s reserved for treating severe inflammatory acne.

Retin – A vs. Retinol

It’s evident that the names of these medications are surprisingly similar, but Retin-A and Retinol are in fact very far from being the same treatment and here’s why.

Retinol is an ingredient that can be purchased over-the-counter and can be found in numerous products used for anti-aging treatments.

They are similar in that they are derivatives of Vitamin A but Retinol is not as potent as Retin – A and can’t be used as a substitute for Retin – A for the treatment of acne.

Bottom Line

You now know that there’s a plethora of drug medications available on the market for the treatment of acne. Because of the sheer numbers it can be difficult to ascertain the best medication for treating your acne. As suggested in this article the best way for you to identify and use the most effective treatment will depend on your own knowledge of some of the best acne medications available. This article has tried to point you in that direction.

When something turns out to be successful at what it’s supposed to do, it wins the hearts of many and it becomes an icon that sparks wonder, admiration and acceptance. This has been true of drug treatment tretinoin and the best way to trace how it got to where it is now must involve the pulling away of the covering to expose the pros and cons of this unique drug medication. This article will try to do just that.

Tretinoin, what is it exactly?

In simple terms, tretinoin is derived from vitamin A which makes it a retinoid. The answer to the next question, What is a retinoid, was provided by Estee Williams who defined a retinoid as an umbrella term used to designate numerous types of vitamin A of which tretinoin is only one example.

According to the definition, every retinoid is different from the next due to their chemical and molecular structure. Even the receptors they bind with inside the cell are different that ultimately lead to their desired effects and side effects.

What is unique about tretinoin is not only its ability to treat acne like retinol as well as other retinoids but it can also treat signs of aging such as wrinkles, skin damage by the sun and hyperpigmentation. This is why people view it as some sort of a skincare wonder.

How does Tretinoin work?

Tretinoin is the main treatment for acne as well as other conditions as indicated earlier so it’s worthwhile to have a look at acne and see what it is.

According to one expert, “Acne is a multi-factorial disease with increased dead skin cells filling up in our pores causing inflammation.  Bacteria often colonize the pore, leading to worse acne.” But an escape from dead skin accumulation in the pores is provided by the process of exfoliation.

 The same dermatologist, Karp, explains the exfoliation process saying that “Tretinoin increases cellular turnover and chemically exfoliates the top layers of our skin,” The expert adds that “Tretinoin lessens the shedding of dead skin cells into the pore/hair follicle and decreases inflammation.”

What these statements essentially mean is that tretinoin accelerates the shedding of skin away from the body instead of into the pores and in doing so robs the bacteria of essential sustenance to thrive and multiply. In performing these two processes tretinoin prevents pores from clogging up.

So in a nutshell, tretinoin gets rid of dead skin cells at the skin surface instead of inside the pores so pores don’t clog up. Bacteria fail to accumulate and thrive due to lack of breeding ground resulting in clean pores. Clean pores mean that acne development inside the hair follicle is effectively stopped.

While it can be argued that other non-prescribed versions such as retinol can work much deeper and more effectively than tretinoin which is available by prescription only, tretinoin is about 20 times more potent than retinol and has been touted as the “gold standard” of topical treatment against acne.

Differences between tretinoin and other acne medications

The way in which tretinoin confronts acne is totally unique from those of other common acne medicines. First and foremost is that it’s a power of exfoliating skin turnover. This means that it accelerates the process of replacing dead skin with new skin away from the body.

Secondly, tretinoin can be used as a gel, cream or even in liquid form instead of been taken orally by swallowing. Other talked about medications such as spironolactone, are swallowed. There are essentially two types of medications with a different focuses.

When compared with spironolactone, we realize that tretinoin is used topically for treating acne and the clogging up of pores, while spironolactone is a medication that’s taken orally for treating women with acne.

Tretinoin may also be compared with adapalene another much talked about acne drug treatment that’s on level par with tretinoin. Adapalene is, like tretinoin, a retinoid and has been found to be as effective as tretinoin.

One advantage for adapalene is it’s now available as an over-the-counter product, meaning that acne sufferers are able to buy the drug treatment without needing a prescription.

An expert has recommended the Proactive Adapalene Gel saying it’s the best option for a getting a medication with prescription-strength without having to go to a doctor or an insurer. Adapalene can cure moderate to severe acne breakouts.

Who qualifies for a tretinoin prescription?

Again, drug medication experts or dermatologists are the primary sources that guide our approach in answering this question.

Experts maintain that tretinoin is a generally applicable drug medication that’s suitable for most people suffering from acne breakouts.

The only people that need to be cautious about taking tretinoin are those who possess extremely sensitive skin, who have rosacea, (recurring inflammatory disorder of the skin of the nose, cheeks and forehead,

These conditions are usually known by their swelling, dilation of capillaries, pimples and a reddish complexion.

Those who possess the kind of skin conditions mentioned above, especially women who have sensitive skin conditions may find tretinoin too harsh for them even though it’s a topical medication.

Women who are pregnant or might be pregnant soon are also disqualified from using tretinoin despite the fact that it is used externally instead of taken by swallowing.

Given that the main side effect is that of dryness to the skin, moisturizing has been recommended as the best solution. Ideally, moisturizing should be applied followed by the application of tretinoin.

Conversely, if you are not pregnant, have normal rather than sensitive skin and you don’t haverosacea and you suffer from a specific kind of acne,then tretinoin may be just right for you.

Experts say that tretinoin is the perfect treatment for blackheads and whitehead or comedonal acne due to its efficiency at exfoliating dead skin and prevent the clogging up of pores.

The problem of dryness at the start of a retinoid treatment such as tretinoin has been solved with the production of a topical tretinoin lotion treatment with FDA approval.

Bottom Line

Knowing as much information as possible about tretinoin is something that everyone should aspire to. As a young or middle aged parent, you’d never know when an acne breakout will appear on your own skin, those of your children and their children as they grow up. To know nothing or very little about tretinoin as being one of the best and most versatile acne treatment on the market is a situation you should avoid.