When we treat acne, we come at it from the perspective of what kind of acne does that patient have. So if for example, somebody has really mild acne, or they’re really young, a lot of times, we’ll just recommend over the counter cleansers, things like benzoyl peroxide, which is anti-inflammatory or salicylic acid. Both of those products can be found over the counter. We also offer an over the counter cleanser in our practice called epionce lytic gel cleanser, which is all-natural and helps exfoliate, and with inflammation as well.
If that’s not enough, then we start turning to prescription medications, so we’ll use topical things. In particular, with comedonal acne, where there’s a clog in the pore, we’re actually looking for something that’s going to very gently exfoliate that out. We’ll use a topical cream that works to do that; it’s a family of medications referred to as retinoids.
If we’re unable to get the resolution that we want with those, or if we feel like there is more of an inflammatory breakout, we often will have a conversation about oral medications also. So those are going to include antibiotics, in particular doxycycline, minocycline tend to be our first step. They’re both anti-bacterial as well as anti-inflammatory, so they’ll help with both components of the acne.
