The Side Effects on Six Common Acne Treatments

By Christine Jackson

So we all want to eliminate acne and look good, even better. However there are some things we need to know and be ready about its treatment - the side effects. Here are a few of the common side effects we may want to ask our dermatologists after receiving the prescriptions.

1. Acne Treatment Cream

Perhaps the most common side effect of using acne treatment creams is allergic reaction. It ranges from redness, drying and flaking, itching and swelling of the skin. Feeling of burning is sometimes present too.

Retin-A, a topical treatment for severe acne, might cause a currently sensitive skin to become blistered, puffed and red. In a few cases during its early use, worse situation may happen particularly in areas where acne attack is rather hidden.

2. Astringents

Just like acne treatment creams, astringents also exhibit the same side effects like swelling, redness, dryness, itching or burning. It is recommended that the user should steer clear of too much exposure to sunlight since skin discoloration may also occur.

3. Oral Antibiotics

As for other diseases, over exposure to antibiotics might result in bacteria becoming resistant. The exact same goes with acne. Prolonged usage of antibiotics to treat acne may in turn result in resistant bacterial infection. Tetracycline is one example of acne treatment antibiotic. Here are its common side effects:

1. anemia

2. loss of appetite

3. nausea

4. fever

5. itchiness

6. photosensitivity or abnormal sensitivity of the skin to sunlight

7. rashes

8. allergic reactions

9. vision disturbance

10. dizziness

11. diarrhea

12. may affect a nursing infant therefore is not recommended for breastfeeding mothers and pregnant women

Erythromycin, another typical acne antibiotic, also has several side effects. Several users reported the following symptoms:

1. nausea

2. diarrhea

3. seizures

4. confusion

5. mild to serious allergic reactions

6. abdominal pain

Just about all oral antibiotics have the ability to cause candidiasis or vaginal infections of yeast (by Candida albicans) in ladies. Among all acne oral antibiotics, Tetracycline seems to be the most common to have infection as its side effect. Also, oral antibiotics have a tendency to reduce the strength of contraceptive pills.

4. Acne Laser Treatment

Acne laser treatment is supposed to eliminate the oil-producing glands of our skin, without destroying the epidermis or the outer skin layer, therefore might be painful. It also generates temporary swelling and redness. Such symptomatic side effects of this type of treatment may require extra treatment during the process of healing. Furthermore, laser treatment may be left with unequal pigmentation on the skin. Aside from these physical side effects, laser treatment also needs to be done regularly and can be quite costly.

5. Cosmetic Procedures

Chemical peels are often used with creams to generate new skin cell growth. The end result is a youthful looking skin. Nevertheless they have side effects that consist of scarring, abnormal skin color, redness and blisters.

6. Acne Surgery

Not as popular as before, acne surgery has its share of side effects. Apart from scarring, there's also a possibility of developing serious infection whenever acne cysts aren't carefully drained.

Acne Treatments That Work Fast

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Light and Laser Acne Treatments: What's New in Acne and Acne Scar Removal

By Kathy Roberts

Acne Causes

Acne generally appears during puberty and is one of the many changes the body undergoes because of this period. One of the results of some of these changes is hyperactivity of the sebaceous glands. This leads to the secretion of excess sebum, a natural oil that, in normal quantities, moistens and protects the skin. If sebum cannot flow smoothly to the skin surface (due to excess production or follicle blockage), the dermis is injured. This injury to the dermis sets off an inflammatory reaction that forms the lesions and redness typically associated with acne. If the pore becomes clogged, sebum is forced to collect within the follicle, forming an environment that propagates bacteria.

Such infections place heavy demands upon the skin's natural components and structures, especially when acne is severe. Areas affected by frequent acne infections develop deficiencies in essential skin components, making it difficult for the body to properly defend itself as well as heal.

Acne lesions, because of the body's overzealous inflammatory response, destroy the skin proteins collagen and elastin, severs the microvascular system, and damages and/or kills other cells. If this reaction isn't moderated and damage is allowed to happen within the dermis, it can cause scarring.

There are two main types of scarring that are resultant of acne. Atrophic scarring refers to those caused by a loss of tissue, appearing as divots or depressions in the skin. Since acne commonly damages and sometimes obliterates important skin proteins and structures, atrophic scarring is expected. Although not occurring as often, hypertrophic and keloid scars can also result from acne. In both hypertrophic scars and keloids, one sees an excess of tissue. Quickly constructed scar tissue consists of collagen fibers. In both types of scarring, the normal functional tissue (skin) is replaced by connective tissue (scar) to close the wound.

How to Get Rid of Spots from Acne Using These New Acne Treatments

Light Therapy

Light therapy for acne, also phototherapy, treats acne by killing the acne-causing bacteria Propionibacterium acnes. High intensity blue light and pulsed light and head energy (LHE) are the two types of phototherapy currently being used to treat acne. In addition, LHE therapy has also been found to shrink sebaceous glands, reducing the amount of pore-clogging sebum produced.

Laser Acne Treatments

Although lasers have been utilized in the last half century for medical purposes, we are just now seeing its use in acne skin care. Today, there are two kinds of laser acne treatments. One works similarly to light therapy, where it treats acne by killing P. acnes and reducing sebaceous gland size. The second therapy is focused on removing the scars caused by it.

Laser skin resurfacing, the latter, eliminates skin layer by layer, effectively removing the topmost portion of scars. This controlled elimination of skin promotes healing and assists in more rapidly replacing damaged skin with healthy tissue. Also, the heat of the laser causes the skin to tighten, resulting in smoother scars. The lasers used in skin resurfacing are the carbon dioxide laser or the Erbium:YAG.

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Laser resurfacing acne treatment works well on shallow scars as well as those that need to be smoothed out or tightened.

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