Available Acne Medications

Over the counter and prescription acne medications are widely available today either in oral or in topical forms. In fact, every single year you can see new brands and products piling up on pharmacy shelves, specifically developed for the treatment of acne. But let’s evaluate how these acne medications work and how reliable they are.

How do acne medications work?

Acne medications indeed play a significant part in the treatment of acne. When researching the available acne medications, it is important to understand that they are developed for the purpose of targeting and eliminating the physical symptoms of acne, which include clogging of the pores, oiliness of the skin due to excessive production of sebum, redness, swelling, pain, itching or infection.

In most cases acne medications are very effective in reducing any immediate symptoms. However, we also need to be aware that the symptoms of acne are in fact resulting from several significant underlying causes, which unless are addressed and also eliminated, regardless of the use of acne medications the condition will recur. These root causes have led to the overproduction of sebum or androgens, the follicular rupture or the increasing number of bacteria in the first place. Although the use of acne medications can be beneficial in many cases and they definitely have validity in the treatment of acne, when the fundamental root causes of acne are neglected, the repeated re-development of acne will continue to persist as soon as the use of acne medications are discontinued.

Acne medications include:

• over the counter creams and ointments
• different types of antibiotics
• birth control medications (for women)
• antimicrobial acne medicine
• corticosteroid injections
• Isotretinoin (under the brand name Accutane or Roaccutane)
• topical retinoids

All these medications work in different ways, deliver different results and target different types of acne.

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