Acne Medications

Before getting into acne medications and their side effects lets talk briefly about acne. Acne medications come in various forms. From liquid washes to pills to creams. If you've ever been a teenager then you've most likely had to do battle with acne to some degree. Of course this condition is not only limited to teens but it is most common in that population. Whether it came one zit at a time or whether they invaded your face, shoulders, chest and/or back... acne needs almost no explanation, but I'll give a brief one anyway.

Acne is a very common skin condition that occurs as a result of clogged skin pores. Acne can be treated with simple procedures you can do at home and also by using certain other medical procedures. These are out of the scope of discussion for this website though as I will only be focusing on drug treatments here.

There are many over-the-counter (OTC) acne medications that can be used before graduating to the prescription products. A lot of them however all have the same active ingredients so I'll focus on the active ingredients and not specific brand products. The OTC treatments for acne include:

• Benzoyl peroxide
• Alcohol and Acetone combination products
• Sulfur
• Salicylic acid
• Resorcinol

If these acne medications just don't quite cut it or the acne is just not responding to these, then your doctor may choose to step up the treatment to prescription medications. These include:

Oral medications:

• Erythromycin
• Tetracycline (Achromycin V), Doxycycline (Adoxa, Doryx, Monodox), Minocycline (Dynacin, Minocin) - these all belong to the same drug class, known as "Tetracyclines"
• Isotretinoin (Accutane)
• Oral contraceptives

Creams and Gels

• Benzoyl peroxide (stronger ones than the OTC versions)
• Clindamycin (Cleocin)
• Azelaic acid (Azelex, Finacea)
• Erythromycin yes, it comes as both a tablet/capsule and cream/gel
• Sodium sulfacetamide
• Adapalene (Differin)
• Tretinoin (Avita, Retin-A)
• Tazarotene (Tazorac)

• Wash your face daily with ordinary soap and water: try not to scrub too harshly. Don't bother with facial scrubs and medicated cleansers... the cleansers are rinsed away thus making them useless and a washcloth is just as good as a facial scrub... but a lot cheaper.
• Avoid becoming a "Pimple-Popper, MD": don't squeeze, pop or pick at your pimples. This will only increase the chances of you developing scars and/or leaving pits in your skin.
• Watch what you eat... Maybe...?: though studies haven't showed any true link between certain foods and acne, if there are certain foods that do make you break out then just avoid them. Sometimes emotional stress and too little rest can also cause flare-ups so be sure to get adequate rest.
• Avoid oil-based makeup and cosmetics: opt for water-based instead, look out for products that say "non-comedogenic", this is good... these are the ones you want to use. The physician-formulated PerriconeMD line of products are one of a number of products you can try that fit this bill. And don't forget to remove all cosmetics before turning in for the night!

The placebo cures 30% of patients,
no matter what they have
-David Kline

I update this website quite frequently (as things change so rapidly in the world of pharmaceuticals), so please subscribe to my monthly newsletter, The Armchair Pharmacist. It tells you each month about the new information that I have added to the site as well additional news on the latest goings-on in the world of medications and all things pharma.

Return from Acne Medications to Home Page

April 28, 2009

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information:verify here.