The Best Acne Medications For Treating Acne Pimples

If you suffer from a bad case of acne, there are a variety of acne treatments you can pursue to reduce or even curing your skin blemishes. Depending on how you want to teat your acne, you have a variety of different options to choose from. The acne treatments discussed in this post are all drug medications; should you wish to pursue the home acne remedy route – i.e. non-medicated acne treatments – there are a variety of natural remedies to experiment with. However, even many of the best acne home remedies are not scientifically tested or proven; though many people claim they are effective. If you want scientifically tested acne medications that are proven to work against acne, then these are the best treatments currently known.

Before you actually go on a medicated acne regimen, you should first follow a strict regimen of facial hygiene. Acne is caused by the overabundance of sebum in your oil-producing skin glands. Normally, sebum is beneficial, helping to keep your skin moisturized, but too much can cause the production of blackheads and acne pimples.  If you really want to know how to prevent the daily migraine headache that acne brings with it, the solution is simple: take a proactive stance against it. The onus is on you to find a way to eliminate your acne; the chances are that it won’t just disappear.  One of the biggest preventative treatments you can use against acne is to maintain proper facial hygiene. 

Preventative Acne Treatments

Cleaning and Exfoliating Your Face Prevents Blackheads

It’s proven fact that if you wash your face several times a day and gently exfoliate once or twice a week, you can improve your skin. While this may not cure your acne problem (though for some people, that has proven the case), it will go a long way towards reducing your skin blemishes and preventing future outbreaks. Washing your face removes dirt, oil, and bacteria – the key elements that form acne.  Reduce these and you reduce the acne breakouts. There are also various acne home remedies that provide effective ways to clean and refresh your face.

Use mild soaps such as Cetaphil or special acne soaps like Aveeno acne bar. If you want to use a medicated soap, you can go with the Benzoyl Peroxide soap bar.Why exfoliate? Because when you exfoliate your skin you remove the top layer of dead skin cells – a very important factor in having healthy, clean-looking skin. You want to exfoliate once to twice a week. There are a variety of facial scrubbers out there. Make sure you don’t try and “scrub your acne away” – scrubbing your face too hard can actually irritate your skin and make your breakouts worse.

Avoid Oil-Based Products

You also want to make sure that you keep your face clear of any oily products. Products such as cosmetics, sunscreen, moisturizers, and lotions contain oil that clogs your pores, which can result in blackheads! If you are a woman, this may be difficult, but try going without any type of facial or makeup product for a month. You may find that your skin blemishes radically improve! While these may not be a feasible choice for some people, you can still apply cosmetics and facial lotions, but you need to choose oil-free, water-based products. It may be a choice you have to make between makeup and acne! Water-based cosmetics and lotions don’t clog up your pores as much. When looking to buy facial creams, moisturizers, and lotions, look for product labels that read “non-comedogenic” which means they won’t clog up your pores. There are a lot of products women use to help remove wrinkles and lines of the face, such as retinol skin care products . It’s not advisable to use these if you have adult acne (yes, some older people do have acne!) as the retinol may clogg up the pores and contribute to your acne problem.

Acne Medications

There’s a jungle of acne medicines out there. However, only the most effective medicines will be mentioned here. Remember, these are only “medicated” treatments – there are alternative, natural or home remedy acne treatments out there that you can pursue as an alternative.

One of the side effects of acne medications is the drying out of your skin. These chemicals are often very harsh on the face. It’s important to start with low dosages and apply once a day before moving up to stronger mixes. As much as you want to get rid of your acne immediately, being overzealous can result in a chemical “sunburn” that’s quite painful.

Benzoyl Peroxide

You can find this common off-the-shelf acne medication in any drugstore. Benzoyl Peroxide works by killing the acne-causing bacteria which helps unplug clogged pores and aids in the healing of pimples. The most common dosage is 2%, but you can find 5% or higher dosages. You may need to consult a pharmacist to purchase higher dosages, however. It’s quite important that you don’t use too many cosmetics while treating your acne.

How To Use Benzoyl Peroxide to Treat Acne

Always be conservative when you start Benzoyl Peroxide treatments (2%) and slowly increase the strength. Apply once a day after washing the face. After a week, increase dosage to twice a day and make sure you are not using another acne medication at the same time. If after 4 weeks your acne has not improved, try a 10% solution – you may have to have a doctor’s prescription, though some places now sell it over-the-counter without the prescription. You want to make sure you have a pure form as possible. Try the 10% solution for another month. Stop if you don’t see any improvement and switch to another medication. There are a plethora of natural acne home remedies you can pursue, if medication is not to your liking. However, most home remedies are not scientifically proven, though this does not preclude them from being effective.

Retin-A

Available only with a doctor’s prescription, Retin-A is the “next” level of acne treatment after Benzoyl Peroxide. The drug is also a topical acne drug. Retin-A works by opening up blocked oil glands which unclogs your pores.

How to Use Retin-A to Treat Acne

It’s not uncommon for Retin-A to cause your skin irritation and redness. Your skin may peel and dry and be uncomfortable to the touch. Retin-A is a reliable acne care treatment that’s been used for a while. Different versions of Retin-A have milder side effects so consult your doctor as to the right choice. You should only use Retin-A at night because the drug causes your skin to become more sensitive to sunlight (you can sunburn more easily). When you do go outdoors, use sunblock. Retin-A is not an instant acne cure. It may take 2 to 3 months to see an improvement. Stick with your Retin-A regimen and make sure to follow the preventive acne strategies listed above. There are many skincare tips for using Retin-A effectively, but it’s best to consult your doctor about the exact routine.

Antibiotics

You can treat acne with certain antibiotics, but you’ll need a doctor’s prescription to do so. Antibiotics are a great acne treatment if you have inflamed acne (indicated by acne that is swollen and reddish). If Benzoyl Peroxide and Retin-A prove ineffective, Antibiotics may be the solution.

How to use Antibiotics to Treat Acne

Always follow your doctor’s instructions. Like any pill-based medication, take lots of water when taking the medicine. One of the side effects is increased sensitivity to the sun, so wear lots of sunscreen (oil-free of course) when you go outside.

Accutane

Accutane is the most powerful and effective acne medication known. If there is one drug that can cure your acne, Accutane may be it. It’s “the” acne cure solution. However, before you leap ahead with pursing the Accutane route, there are some very severe side effects to deal with. These side-effects really change this treatment from the first one you should pursue to the treatment of absolute last resort. You should only go on Accutane if all other medications have been ineffective. Accutane is very effective against particularly bad acne, such as cystic acne. You must have doctor or dermatologist’s prescription to obtain Accutane.

How to use Accutane to Treat Acne

Follow your doctor’s directions. You will have to undergo frequent blood testing as Accutane can affect your blood cell count. Women who may become pregnant or are pregnant are strongly advised to avoid Accutane – the drug can severally damage fetal development. If you are a woman, you may have prove to your doctor that you are taking two forms of birth control.

These are the most effective acne cure medications on the market today. Read the information carefully before pursing a specific acne strategy.  For some people, simply improving their facial hygiene is enough to reduce or eliminate acne breakouts. If not, then work your way up the given list, starting first with Benzoyl Peroxide. Getting rid of your acne can be a long process, but knowing how to treat your acne will give you the right treatments needed to cure troublesome acne.

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