Better Health Centre |+| Acne Treatments

What is the best acne treatment….find out more.

Author: Allan Johns

There are many types of acne that people experience; whiteheads, blackheads, lesions, etc.  In cases where the acne is severe, it is highly recommended that you seek treatment from a dermatologist. 

Make sure you do this because the dermatologist can examine your skin to see if problems other than acne exist and he has much more powerful acne treatments at his disposal. 

In cases where the acne is mild to moderate, you can typically treat your acne on your own using topical ointments. 

The first line of acne treatments for mild to moderate acne problems is exfoliating the skin.  Some people need only use mild cleansers or scrubs that exfoliate the skin, whereas others may need to use some type of chemical to get down deep into the pores. 

One chemical treatment option is doing a chemical peel.  The ingredients in this treatment, salicylic acid and glycolic acid, are able to unclog the pores and remove the top layer of skin so that the skin can breathe easier, making it harder for oil and dirt to get trapped under the skin.

Another exfoliating chemical cure uses glycolic acid.  Its main purpose is to get rid of the dead skin cells on the surface layer that are causing the pores to get blocked. 

This type of treatment would need to be repeated about every two to four weeks for six months to give you lasting results.  You wouldn’t want to use this type of product any more often than recommended because it could damage your skin by drying it out too much.

If you see a dermatologist for alternative acne treatment, the doctor will often use comedo extraction on your skin at each of your visits.  To explain, this is where the doctor uses a sterile pen-like instrument to remove blackheads and whiteheads.

You would never want to try this at home, because without the special instrument and training you would damage your skin and possibly create scarring.

If you have severe acne, the dermatologist may feel that it is necessary to drain any cysts that have formed under the skin.  By draining the cysts you can get rid of the pain that is often associated with severe acne. 

Also this treatment will decrease the possibility of scarring.  Once again this is something you should never try on your own.

Other alternative acne treatments include light therapy to get rid of acne bacteria in hard-to-reach areas and laser therapy for getting rid of acne scarring.  There are also natural acne treatments that you can try or you might even see a good acne cure kit sold over the counter. 

You don’t have to live forever with acne.