Medicine against acne

Question: “Medicine against acne”

Hey Mads

I’m already using your wonderful products, which are really good! I have used them for almost 2 months now and it really was my last attempt with skin care, because I’ve really tried everything else. Danish Skin Care products are the first ones that seem to work without giving more pimples. I have not experienced to go through a “adaption period”, where the skin goes crazy.

I have decided to try out Danish Skin Care products for 6 months and if they have not helped me, I will talk with my doctor about other treatments. In this regard, could you talk a little bit about what medicine actually works. I think that, like skin care, there must also be medicine that is better than other products.

So what medicine works for pimples and acne?

Well, so my question isn’t really about skin care, but I hope you will try to answer it anyway. You are always so great at providing guides with good answers at Danish Skin Care and I hope that you will try to answer my question. Even though I really hope that your products will solve my acne and it will not be necessary at all. I’m not really crazy about taking medicine.

Thank you for your reply in advance.

Mette

Answer to: “Medicine against acne”

Hi Mette

Thanks for the question. I would very much like to try to describe the various medications and medicines available for the treatment of pimples and acne.

However, I would like to start by saying that I’m really happy to hear that you can already see a good effect with the Danish Skin Care skin care series. And I’m very happy that you will give the products a fair chance! Really happy :-) And when you’re already doing well, im pretty sure you will se a GREAT improvement in 6 months – and maybe you are even well on your way to becoming pimple-free, and who knows, maybe all your pimples will have disappeared.

Medication against pimples is not just the same! Although, of course, there may also be side effects with skincare products, the side effects of skincare are redness, over treatment and irritated skin. Contrary to medicine, there are far more serious side effects, because the medicine must be sent throughout the entire body – and it does not just work on the skin like skin care.

An essential advantage to mention in skin care is also that skincare – that is, good skincare, like my skincare series Danish Skin Care – can help a lot of other problems at the same time. Problems such as scars, redness, sun damage and so on, like skincare can nourish your skin with good nutrients and help you to have a beautiful skin now, but also in the future.

Medication against acne and pimples, only helps against pimples and unclean skin.

Subsequently, you have to do something about the scars and red marks in the skin that your pimples have left.

But if you are really plagued and have a lot of acne – and skincare has not shown any results – luckily there are a number of medications that can help eliminate acne.
Even for the most acne medication, you should expect to use the medicine until you are no longer bothered by pimples, acne and blemishes. When this happens, it’s very different from person to person …

Let me start by mentioning one of my favorite medications for the treatment of pimples:

BENZOYL PEROXIDE CREAM

Cream with Benzoyl Peroxide is my personal favourite when it comes to dealing with severe cases of pimples. Or for the treatment of blemishes and acne where skin care has not immediately shown any result – Benzoyl Peroxide cream can help boost the treatment and removal of the pimples.

In addition, Benzoyl Peroxide cream can also help remove the last few pimples where skin care has already worked well and removed most of the pimples, but you still constantly seem to have a few pimples.

Benzoyl Peroxide cream is a cream that can be used with your normal Danish Skin Care skin care series. Which might be the biggest reason why Benzoyl Peroxide cream is my own favourite when it comes to a little bit faster and harsher treatment of pimples. With this treatment you can both nourish your skin with skin care and add extra attention to the removal of your pimples – and the combination of Benzoyl peroxide and the salicylic acid from Perfect Skin Power Treat, you really get a effective treatment for pimples and acne removal .

The cream works because of Benzoyl peroxide, which is the active ingredient in Benzoyl Peroxide cream, and it inhibits the growth of acne bacteria and dissolves blackheads. In addition, Benzoyl Peroxide cream inhibits the opening of the sebaceous glands and may thus stop acne.

You can get Benzoyl Peroxide cream with 5% or 10% and you can also get Benzoyl Peroxide cream as gel (cream) or as a gel. I can not recommend Gel and Washing gel (Face Wash) with Benzoyl Peroxide, it does nothing but dry your skin out.

Benzoyl Peroxide cream with 10% Benzoyl Peroxide many believe – wrongly – is best, but it is not! And even though it can be bought, I would strongly discourage it. There is a high risk of over treatment with Benzoyl Peroxide cream with 10% Benzoyl Peroxide, as well as the risk of provoking new pimples.

What I do however recommend, is Benzoyl Peroxide cream with 5% Benzoyl Peroxide. It’s really amazing! Especially when combining it with the Danish Skin Care skincare series and the following routine:

Morning:

Perfect Skin Face Wash
Perfect Skin Power Treat
Perfect Skin Day Protector

Evening:

Perfect Skin Face Wash
Perfect Skin Moisturizer
Benzoyl Peroxide cream with 5% Benzoyl Peroxide

Salicylic acid in Perfect Skin Power Treat works brilliantly with Benzoyl Peroxide. However, the ingredients can not be on the skin simultaneously, so Perfect Skin Power Treat is moved to the morning, despite Perfect Skin Power Treat is usually used after using Perfect Skin Face Wash in the evening.

Benzoyl Peroxide cream is lubricated on the skin in a thin layer once a day, it should be in the evening, as Benzoyl peroxide is light sensitive – Benzoyl Peroxide cream stops working if it gets sunlight. Therefore, you should also avoid sun, solarium and sunbathing when treating your skin with Benzoyl Peroxide cream – even if you only use it in the evening as the skin becomes thinner and thus more sensitive to the sun.

In addition to the above, I would recommend that you first use the Danish Skin Care series for a minimum of 3 months. Preferably 6 months before moving on to using Benzoyl Peroxide cream. And you should not use Benzoyl Peroxide cream for more than 3-4 months at a time.

It should also be mentioned that Benzoyl Peroxide cream is very bleaching so you should use an old pillow case – and avoid getting Benzoyl Peroxide cream on your clothes or in your hair.

BIRTH CONTROL PILLS FOR THE TREATMENT OF PIMPLES AND ACNE

From my favorite to my most hated medicine for the treatment of acne: birth control pills.

Pills can not really be referred to as medicines for the treatment of pimples and acne, but quite a few girls use birth control pills just to avoid pimples. And that’s why it’s has to go on this list.

It is also true that some girls and women experience an improvement with their pimples if they take birth control pills. The reason that birth control pills work to eliminate pimples is that birth control pills contain anti-androgen’s, which must ensure that hormones are unbalanced.

And here’s the problem of birth control pills. Thus, birth control pills cause imbalances in hormones, which some mistakenly misinterpret and think about balance when the pimples disappear.

Normally, a girl must have menstruation – that is, the normal hormone balance. It is precisely this balance that the birth control pill must change. Thus, creating imbalance in the normal hormonal balance.

And since hormones are one of the main causes of pimples, this imbalance can also help to make the pimples disappear.

The problem is just that the vast majority of girls experience the pimples is almost just accumulating. Or in other words they are postponed, just like the menstrual period. And thus, a much bigger pimple problem will appear on the day you stop taking birth control pills.

It may be that the pills did not have a lot of pimples while you were 17, 18 and 19 years old, but when you stop – maybe in the late 20’s – you get a huge acne outbreak, which can be violently frustrating. Especially when one’s colleagues, peers and girlfriends are over their pimples when they where teens, and the hormones raged a lot.

So from here, I really wonder about the use of birth control pills for the treatment of acne and pimples. If you want to take birth control pills, I do not want to interfere with this – I think you should take birth control pills for the right reasons and not to remove pimples.

Also note that like birth control pills help some girls with their pimples, many other girls experience a severe deterioration of their pimples – just because they eat birth control pills.

ALTERNATIVES TO BENZOYL PEROXIDE CREAM

Lets just return straight to Benzoyl Peroxide cream. Namely, the alternatives to Benzoyl Peroxide cream that you can use and try if you can not tolerate Benzoyl peroxide – or if you do not experience any positive progress with Benzoyl Peroxide cream.

There are 4 products like Benzoyl Peroxide cream, which must be lubricated on the skin – and can be used in conjunction with skin care. Your skin care routine with Danish Skin Care products and one of 4 options below will be the same as you retire with Benzoyl Peroxide cream with 5% Benzoyl Peroxide.

I would also like to point out that you should try Benzoyl Peroxide cream with 5% Benzoyl Peroxide as a start. Benzoyl Peroxide cream is really good! Especially when you combine it with Danish Skin Care products, but as mentioned, someone is unfortunate and can not tolerate Benzoyl peroxide – and becomes violently dry and gets itchy skin.

In addition, one of the following may be a good option, just like if you have used Benzoyl Peroxide for 3 months together with Danish Skin Care products – and continue to experience a little outbreak of pimples.

The products are:

– CLINDAMYCIN (DALACIN)

If you are not successful with, for example, Benzoyl Peroxide cream, your doctor may prescribe Clindamycin, which is a substance found in Dalacin. This medicine can be used either in conjunction with Benzoyl Peroxide cream or it can be used by it self. Dalacin should be lubricated on the skin twice a day.

If you use Dalacin with Benzoyl Peroxide cream, your Danish Skin Care routine should be:

Morning:

Perfect Skin Face Wash
Perfect Skin Power Treat
Perfect Skin Day Protector
Dalacin

Evening:

Perfect Skin Face Wash
Perfect Skin Moisturizer
Dalacin
Benzoyl Peroxide cream with 5% Benzoyl Peroxide

When lubricating Dalacin on the face in the evening, make sure to allow the cream to penetrate the skin 2-3 minutes before lubricating Benzoyl Peroxide cream on your face.

Clindamycin / Dalacin may only be used for a shorter period of time, in order to prevent bacteria from becoming resistant to the medicine.

– ADAPS (REDAP / DIFFERIN)

First of all, it should be mentioned that the Adapal is the only one of the mentioned creams which must not be used by pregnant women.

The effect of the Adapal works by inhibiting the tissue reaction in the skin, thus reducing the risk of accumulation in the skin’s pores – thus reducing the risk of pimples.

This also makes the Adapal probably the most effective of the mentioned creams if it involves treatment of blackheads. The other creams work best for treating yellow or red pimples. In addition, it should be mentioned that salicylic acid, found in, among other things, in Perfect Skin Power Treat, is still a better ingredient for the treatment of blackheads than the Adapalene.

– CLINDOXYL

Clindoxyl is a combination product that contains both Benzoyl peroxide and Clindamyn.

Now, you may think that Clindoxyl must therefore be better than Benzoyl Peroxide cream or Dalacin, each containing only Benzoyl peroxide and Clindamycin. With Clindoxyl, you get both together in one cream. You may also think that Clindoxyl sounds much easier than using both Benzoyl Peroxide cream and Dalacin on the skin.

And that thought may also be true, but there is neither much benzoyl peroxide in Clindoxyl. Neither is there much Clindamycin. Thus, as concentration, you get a LOT less of both clindamycin and benzoyl peroxide. This does not mean that Clindoxyl is not a good product, because if you experience a lot of skin irritation from Benzoyl Peroxide cream or Dalacin, and you become very dry, it may be a good idea to switch to Clindoxyl and thus get a treatment that is a lot less harsh on the skin.

– EPIDUO

Like Clindoxyl, Epiduo is a combination product that contains both Benzoyl peroxide and Adapal. That’s not Clindamycin.

However, the amount of benzoyl peroxide is again much lower than in normal Benzoyl Peroxide cream – and lower than in Clindoxyl. So Epiduo is perhaps the mildest of all medicine creams and creams that require a medical prescription for the treatment of pimples and acne.

If you want to treat your pimples with medicine, I would not recommend Epiduo – it’s a very mild product and the effect is not good enough. However, it should be mentioned that many doctors and dermatologists choose to start treatment of pimples with just Epiduo. However, I would strongly recommend you to start with Benzoyl Peroxide cream – and alternatively Clindamycin, Adapalen or Clindoxyl.

Because the product contains Adapalen, it must not be used by pregnant women.

– ISOTRETINOIN (EARLIER ROACCUTAN)

Maybe you’ve heard of Roaccutan before. Roaccutan is today called Isotretinoin. And with Isotretinoin it definitely is medicine – that is, pills against acne and pimples.

Thus we are also over in the really violent cases of pimples and unclean skin. Isotretinoin can only be prescribed by a dermatologist. A dermatologist will only write a prescription for Isotretinoin and let you start with Isotretinoin treatment if you are really violently attacked by pimples and acne. And you can only prescribe Isotretinoin after you have tested alternative treatments like Benzoyl Peroxide cream, Adapalen or Clindamycin.

It’s not everyone who can get started with Isotretinoin – nor if you think you’re very bothered by pimples. It is your dermatologist who will make the assessment. An assessment your dermatologist will determine how violent your acne breakout is – is in no way compared to your own irritation of the pimples.

The reason is, that Isotretinoin only should be used in really severe cases and is associated with a wide range of side effects. Isotretinoin must not be taken by pregnant women or men / women trying to have children.

– You can read more about Isotretinoin here.