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Getting acne....Q&A............(part 3 of 5)

I’ve started getting acne spots. How long do they last? This depends on what type of spots they are and, even then, it can be very difficult to predict what will happen. Some spots will appear and then disappear during the course of a day but others will evolve more gradually through the various stages. Comedones can be very persistent if they don’t get inflamed. Mildly inflamed spots will last 5–10 days before settling down, but can leave a flat red mark (macule) for several weeks. Nodules and cysts may last for weeks or months unless you get some treatment. What is the difference between a whitehead and a yellow- head spot? These two common terms describe quite different types of spot. A whitehead is a closed comedone where the pore is blocked and not open to the air. There is no inflammation (redness). A yellow- head suggests a spot with pus in it. The medical term is a ‘pustule’. Whiteheads may become yellowheads if the blocked pore becomes infected. My daughter is only 9 but she seems...
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Taking the Topical Route in acne treatment


The use of topicals offers many advantages over oral therapy(taking medications by mouth). The most obvious advantage is that your skin gets the direct application of medications and very few serious complications can result, whereas the oral route may lead to more severe side effects (such as those discussed in Chapter 10). In topical therapy, a vehicle (an inactive medium) “delivers” the active ingredient(the drug itself) to its intended target. The vehicle may be a cream, ointment, gel, lotion, or solution(an oil-free liquid, that’s usually composed of water or alcohol).

TIP:-The solutions, gels, and lotions that contain active ingredients can also hitch a ride on convenient travel-friendly delivery systems, such as the pledget or swab. These are small absorbent pads, used to medicate the skin, that are made from cotton or wool. Just put them in your bag, backpack, or pocket, and away you go.

In the treatment of acne, the vehicle may be as important as the drug or drugs that it transports. A vehicle gives a product its texture and substance and can sometimes determine its strength and influence how effectively a drug gets absorbed. Check out Chapter 7 for more on the general principles of topical therapy.

Different topical treatments for different forms of acne are determined by many factors, such as:

  • Your skin type: dry, oily, combination, or normal
  • The types of lesions you have: blackheads and whiteheads, papules and pustules, or both
  • How long your lesions have been present
  • Your past response to acne treatments and side effects that you’ve encountered
  • Your tendency to develop scarring or disfiguring acne spots
  • How much a treatment costs you and whether you can afford it
The best product is one that works best for you. Topical treatment frequently involves a trial-and-error approach, beginning with those products that are known to be most effective, least expensive, and have the fewest side effects. As you find things that don’t work, you and your doctor team up to remove them from your regimen and add different (and hopefully better-for-you) products.That’s why it’s important for you to have a continuing dialog with your dermatologist in order to come up with the right product or combination of products for you to apply.

Sometimes your dermatologist may choose to combine a drying product (most acne products are), together with a moisturizing product in order to make the drying product less irritating.
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