Looking for a quick fix for acne? The easiest, fastest, and most expensive treatments have one major drawback: They don't work. Here are five fast treatments for acne that you almost certainly need to avoid.
1. Oral antibiotics
Acne occurs when pores get clogged with oil and acne-related bacteria. Killing the bacteria would seem to stop the acne. So why not just get a shot or take a pill of penicillin, clindamycin, or erythromycin.
The problem with this logic is that the bacteria that cause acne are on the body, not in the body. Antibiotics taken by mouth or given by injection simply never reach their targets.
Of course, it's always possible to apply an antibiotic cream, but let's think about that for a moment. The problem with acne is that pores aren't open. So how does the antibiotic get inside a clogged pore? Pharmaceutical companies have attempted to solve that problem by mixing the antibiotic with benzoyl peroxide, but that causes another problem. Benzoyl peroxide dries out the skin. The skin can flake and clog a different pore.
Antibiotics just don't work very well at killing the bacteria that cause acne. They do kill the symbiotic bacteria in the colon, however, and can cause flatulence, belching, bloating, and heartburn, problems that are every bit as socially difficult as acne.
2. Accutane
Accutane (isotretinoin) is a chemical cousin of vitamin A, a vitamin that is very important to the growth of skin. Basically, Accutane makes the skin in pores grow so fast that they open up and spill out their long locked-in bacteria and irritants.
To be fair, this effect can actually be helpful in the early stages of treating acne nodules and cysts. Most people who have acne, however, don't develop nodules and cysts. For them, Accutane actually increases inflammation and redness at first. For a few days to a few weeks, it will make acne worse. Add to this the likelihood of side effects such as sudden onset of night blindness (that can occur while you are driving your car), chapped lips, liver damage, high triglycerides, and birth defects, and you have to wonder why anyone would ever take it. The answer is, it actually is helpful in the most severe cases of adult acne for a short time. Most acne sufferers, however, are better off without it.
3. Retin-A
Retin-A is another chemical relative of vitamin A. Most people who take Retin-A experience tremendous amounts of inflammation the first few weeks they take the medication. The only time this is helpful is when the acne is even worse-but this is the case for only a very small number, about 1%, of people who have acne.
4. Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy freezes acne away. Or, actually it usually doesn't. The problem with using liquid nitrogen cryotherapy to treat acne is that the doctor has to apply liquid nitrogen to the pimple every day for at least 14 and preferably 21 days-and do you know many dermatologists who work weekends? Cryotherapy is an interesting idea that doctors simply won't take time to make work.
5. Radiation, X-rays, and Radio Waves
After Marie Curie discovered radium and before she died of cancer, various forms of radiation became very popular for treating acne. They definitely kill acne bacteria, and they kill bacteria in seconds. The problem was, they also killed patients. Although there is a high likelihood that radio wave radiation will eventually be refined into a useful treatment, for the most part, if your dermatologist suggests X-rays for your pimples, you should see another doctor.
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