Alternative Treatments for Acne

Came across a news article in today’s papers discussing about alternative treatments for acne.

There seems to be a drug-free treatment which uses a specific blue light that acts to destroy the acne-causing bacteria. It is suitable for people who can’t tolerate the antibiotic treatments or for women with bad acne who want to get pregnant.

Besides that, it was mentioned that aesthetic treatments like microdermabrasion, intense pulsed light (IPL) and laser therapies can also help to treat acne and improve the appearance of scars. IPL seems to work on the same logic as Roaccutane, that is to shrink the inflamed oil gland and it will also help to repair mild acne scars by stimulating collagen growth.

I did remember people mentioning that while Roaccutane is effective in improving the acne condition, sadly it doesn’t do much on the acne scars that are already existing. Perhaps one should consider IPL or microdermabrasion as a finishing touch to your acne treatment after stopping the oral medication?

Just for education sake, here’s a list of the different kinds of acne and their usual course of suggested treatments extracted from the article:

Non-inflammatory acne: comedonal acne
What it is: Blackheads (pores blocked and capped with a blackend mass of skin debris) and whiteheads (closed blocked pores).
Treatment: Creams or facial washes with ingredients like benzoyl peroxide or fruit acids unclog pores. Over the counter scrubs like papaya scrubs are fine. Tropical retinol prevents both from forming.

Inflammtory acne: mild acne
What it is: Blackheads, whiteheads as well as papules and pustules are present. A papule is a small, solid elevation of the skin that appears red while a pustule is a small, yellowish pus-filled pimple.
Treatment: Topical antibiotics like clindamycin or erythromicin or treatments like blue light or IPL.

Moderate acne
What it is: Skin is characterised by more painful and deep-rooted inflamed lesions like bigger pustules.
Treatment: Dr Chee Yew Wen, medical director of Wen & Weng Medical Group, advised that in addition to topical therapies, oral medication can be used. Antibiotics like doxycycline and minocycline are effective but acne could recur when they are stopped.

Severe acne
What it is: Skin may be covered with many small pustules but no big nodules. Nodules are like papules in that they are white and dome-shaped but bigger
Treatment: Patients with severe acne usually use Roaccutane, which is an oral vitamin A derivative that shrinks the sebaceous gland. The drub should be taken for between six months and a year an during that time, the pateient should avoid becoming pregnant and may also experience increased cholesterol levels and transient liver dysfunction as side effects. Those with just a few nodules may be administered an intra-lesional steroid injection which flattens the nodule within 48 hours.

This was not a very good week for me in terms of the acne condition, new spots have been erupting and there practically isn’t a single day that my face is absent from acne. Is this the most common stage where depression sets in? I certainly hope that it will be over soon… …