I think we can all agree that acne is our bitter enemy. The teenage years are awkward enough but when you throw in some acne with everything else that’s changing, it’s almost laughable. As an adult when a little bit of acne shows up it’s almost like you get Narnia-ed right back to those “memorable” teenage years. There are treatments such as Accutane that work really well for really bad acne. However, there are things you can do to stop it from getting too bad. While Accutane works, it’s not without its crazy side effects, which is why it’s better to stop it from ever getting bad enough to need Accutane.

 In preventing and treating acne, it is very important to take the "nip it in the bud" approach.  My goal is always to get clear skin for my patients without antibiotics and Accutane when at all possible.  I will maximize topical treatments (usually a few different topical prescriptions depending on the person and their insurance benefits) and I really like to use a wash that has sulfur AND salicylic acid in it.  For a moisturizer, I recommend the TrueLipids(R) Hydrate, Correct & Perfect Lotion. We made an amazing discovery with this product when it was in the development stage. All of our acne patients who used it came back and told me that it made their skin less oily, that they didn't need to use blotting paper anymore, etc.  I believe the combination of the niacinamide with the lipid replacement and the anti-inflammatories WITH the pH optimization is helpful in acne-prone skin.

 In addition to the topical treatments, we will often add to this a series of extractions (if needed) with superficial chemical peels and treatment with red and blue light therapy.  We will do a series of 6-8 of these to get our patients as clear as possible and then they are in maintenance mode with occasional touch up sessions.  Unless the acne is super bad and very inflamed, we can keep most of our kids and patients off of antibiotics and Accutane with this method! 

Best Wishes