How can acne be treated?

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Acne can be treated in different ways. The main thing to remember is that it will take about two months of any treatment before your skin starts to look better.

Benzoyl peroxide (in different strengths) clears up acne for many people. You can get benzoyl peroxide without a prescription. It comes in a cream, lotion, gel, soap or in pads. You spread it over the whole area where you have acne (not just dabbing it onto each blemish). Your doctor may tell you to use it once a day at first and then work you up to two times a day. If you start using benzoyl peroxide, begin with a lower strength. Use it once a day at bedtime. Before using it, gently wash the skin with soap and water. If benzoyl peroxide doesn't seem to help after two months or is very irritating to your skin, get advice from your doctor. Benzoyl peroxides can bleach your clothes, so be careful.

Antibiotics can be very good for acne. They can be taken by mouth, or used in a lotion, cream, or gel on the skin. Again, be sure to apply the lotion, cream or gel over the whole area where you have acne. Often doctors start with these but if they don't work, you may have to take the antibiotic as a pill over months.

Tretinoin (some examples are Retin-A, Stieva-A) can be a very good treatment for acne. It is often rubbed onto the skin once a day. Be sure not to get it near the eyes, mouth and area under the nose. It may seem at first that tretinoin is making your acne worse. Give it several weeks to start working. If you use tretinoin, you must avoid the sun or use a strong sunscreen. Tretinoin increases your risk of getting a very bad sunburn. Some come with sunscreen added to them. Pills are used to treat severe acne. Many creams/gels contain a combination of acne treatments such as vitamin A and an antibiotic.

Isotretinoin (Accutane) may be needed to treat severe acne. Accutane comes as a cream and may help less severe acne. It is best in treating cystic acne and to prevent scars. It is taken once a day by mouth for 15 to 20 weeks. Isotretinoin can cause serious side effects. It causes serious birth defects and miscarriages. It should never be taken during pregnancy or even one month before pregnancy. All women must use birth control while you take isotretinoin, as well as one month before and one month after you start taking it.

Talk to your doctor and follow directions carefully if he or she prescribes isotretinoin for you.

Acne Treatment - Benzoyl Peroxide

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Benzoyl Peroxide is one of the common ingredients used to treat acne. You can find this active ingredient in the form of a cream, gel, lotion, facemask, or cleansing bar. Benzoyl Peroxide is very effective in treating mild cases of acne. This acne treatment drug is available in non-prescription form for concentrations of 2.5%, 5% and 10%. If you are looking for concentrations higher than 10%, you need a doctor's prescription. Several studies have shown that 2.5% benzoyl peroxide is equally effective to combat pimples and is less irritating. Therefore, if you want to try Benzoyl Peroxide to treat your acne, you should begin with a low concentration (example 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide).

How Benzoyl Peroxide works
Before we go into details on how benzoyl peroxide can prevent acne, it is useful to understand how acne is formed. Propionibacterium acnes (P.acnes) is a bacteria that causes the skin disorder acne. P.acnes is a major inhabitant of human skin and is the causative agent of acne. This skin-dwelling organism will multiply rapidly within clogged sebaceous follicles if left untreated. Fortunately, these bacteria cannot live in the presence of oxygen. Benzoyl Peroxide is an oxygen-releasing chemical in the organic peroxide family. Upon applying on the affected area, this chemical is absorbed into the pores and releases the oxygen to destroy P.acnes.

Side Effects of Benzoyl Peroxide
It is important to note that there are some side effects when using this anti-acne medication:

a. Dryness
If you are using 5% or 10% of benzoyl peroxide, you may want to try a lower concentration, say 2.5% of benzoyl peroxide.

b. Irritation
For irritation, you can reduce the usage frequency. If you encounter severe irritation even the usage frequency is low, you should discontinue using the product.

c. Allergy
If you are allergic to Benzoyl Peroxide, you should discontinue using it and consult your dermatologist for other acne treatments.

d. Bleach
Benzoyl Peroxide is a powerful bleaching agent. You should prevent your hair from contacting this bleaching agent as this medicine can cause permanent color dampening.

Before using Benzoyl Peroxide for your acne treatment, please take note that this medicine generates free radicals in the skin. The result is redness of the skin due to oxidative stress. The effect is similar to unprotected sun exposure. If you are using a benzoyl peroxide product to treat your acne, you should avoid unnecessary sun exposure and use a sunscreen during the day.

Please be reminded that the above information is for informational purposes only and it is not intended to replace any health care services you need. The information provided is strictly not meant to diagnose medical conditions, offer medical advice, or endorse specific products or services. Do not rely upon the information provided alone for medical diagnosis or treatment. Kindly consult your doctor about any personal health concerns.

Julian Chee is the founder of Skincare Daily. This accredited skin care website provides information on acne, acne treatments and acne products. For more acne information, please visit http://www.skincaredaily.com
By Julian Chee
Published: 6/21/2006

May be Demodex the cause of my acne?

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Who causes acne? At this question we may get on a simple google more than one millions of pages who write about this disease and the causes which may lead to it. I found some articles on net where there are scientist who believe that in more than 90 cases from 100 are caused by Demodex.

So what’s Demodex?

Demodex are parasites which live on the face and in the hair follicles of humans. They can badly damage the facial skin of humans, usually starting at middle age when the immune system is weakened and their population has increased. In the photos below you can easily see, under the 3D microscope how Demodex looks like. The mites can live on all body parts wherever there are hair roots and sebaceous glands however, they are most prevalent in the facial area, especially the nose, forehead, chin, and cheeks. These areas have the most favorable living and breeding conditions and provide an optimum temperature for them to thrive.

It is commonly accepted that Demodex affects more the dogs and not humans, nut this seems to be wrong. Actual theory about acne says in more than 90% of cases the agent is considered to be Demodex mites. As you can see in the photo, it has 8 legs and the mouth of these mites is like a very sharp needle that can directly sting into the cells to absorb nutrition. They like a wet and warm environment and become the most active in the dark. There are five stages in the life cycle. After mating on the surface of the skin, they go back into it and lay eggs, taking bacteria with them and excreting wastes and secretions, laying eggs and dying within its layers. After death, their corpses become liquid and decompose inside the skin. Surely, there are some more agreeable creatures on Earth :)

What is Acne and how may it appear?

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Acne is not my friend. I know this from my 15 years old, when my face met my first spots. Than was a big drama happening to me, more because of that I couldn't understand why I must suffer this affection.
I didn't knew that there are many causes which may induce acne and so the remedies are pretty different, so I started to wash and clean my face with a lot of usefulness products, which promised me a lot, but every time I quited, because my skin didn't improved. By contrary, it turned more and more irritate.
Last year I discovered a product based on benzoyl Peroxide, an antibacterial remedy, which is used successfully as a remedy against the acne.
Benzoyl Peroxide acts as an antibacterial treatment, therefore it doesn't destroy our tissues and selects only the bacteria which populate our skin.
So one of the big reasons why Benzoyl Peroxide is used in acne is about its Antibacterial Effect.
So, we'll deduce that only that form of acne which is produced by some bacteria like staphylococcus epidermis may be treated with a such remedy, nor the acne which canhve some other origin.
You didn't knew that acne is produced by some other factors?
Ok, there are a lot of causes which may lead to appearance of pustules and spots on the entire body, not only on the facial skin. I will enumerate some of them:

1. Some parasitic forms of arachnoid's (such as demodex)
   
2. Some disturbances in the inner bladders, such as gallbladder or sexual glands which in some affection may secrete bigger amounts of sebum and this way they create a favorable environment for different bacteria.
3. uncontrolled diet and irrational meals - this may lead to obesity and, this way, to a extra-oily skin, which, again is a good environment for bacteria.

So, in order to help you ameliorate your skin condition, in my further articles I will describe some solutions to all of these problems. Keep reading and visiting my blog :)

Is Benzoyl Peroxide a good choice in treating Acne?

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"I am waiting for a miracle!" one of my customers wrote me yesterday in an email. "You know, she said, I'm 31 years old and I'm still fighting acne on my face, shoulders and back. I can't understand where my problem is."
After a long email she asks me to send her my Benzoyl peroxide based cream, I sell through my site.
Should be Benzoyl Peroxide considered a miracle in treating acne? Is this drug a revolution in medicine? How does it influence your skin and your body and how much does it costs? Which products contain Benzoyl Peroxide and how can you try this remedy in your Acne affection.
These and more questions, I'll try to answer in future articles on this blog, which I wish it to be a solution for those which are searching for a remedy against our common damn - Acne.