Acne Treatment: Definition, Causes and Treatments

Author: FITivate | Published date: September 16, 2021 | Category: Medical

What is acne ?

When our hair follicles are clogged with facial oil and dead skin cells, they become prone to infection by bacteria. [1]

When infection and inflammation occurs, acne or pimples develop. It can affect all parts of our skin but tends to be worse on the face, back and chest where there are higher density of hair follicles.

What are some of the causes of Acne?

There are multiple causes of acne and a few factors often combine together to give rise to serious acne issues:

Hormonal – such as During puberty and adolescence
Menstrual related acne – acne and pimples that occur just before or in the first few days of the menstrual cycle.
Stress – such as emotional or physiological stress.
Genetics – your chance of developing acne is higher if you have a family history of acne.
Diet – which are high in sugar and milk or dairy products
Medications – such as steroids and hormonal pills etc.

Lifestyle Modifications – Do It Yourself

Adopting a Healthy lifestyle is crucial in the management of acne, and below are some of the activities you may undertake:

Drink lots of plain water
Avoid drinks high in sugar contents and dairy products.
Exercise to promote blood circulation and increase sweating to help cleanse your pores and follicles the natural healthy way.
Exercising can also help to manage your stress and improve your sleep.
Get at least 7-8 hours of sleep so that your skin can recover better from the inflammation of the pimples.

Doctor’s Recommendation

Doctor’s recommendation for acne treatment can be subdivided into [2]

Cleansers and Topical medications
Oral medications
Treatment in clinic

Cleansers and Topical medications

Cleansers

First, good cleansers are important to clear away the bacteria on the face and to get rid of excessive oil without causing too much dryness. If your face is very oily, Cleansers that contain salicylic acid may be good to remove excess sebum.

In singapore, some of the common products available that contains salicylic acid includes

There are many other products on the shelves of major pharmacies in Singapore. Look out for the salicylic content on the product description.

If your face belongs to the dry and sensitive type, then gentle foam cleansers may be more suitable for you. Some examples that you can find in the pharmacies in singapore are:

Cetaphil Pro, oil removing foam wash
Eucerin pro acne cleansing foam

Topical medications

The first group would be the topical antibiotics. Antibiotics help by killing the bacteria and reducing the inflammation of the pimples. [3]

These are doctor’s prescribed only in SIngapore. The common antibiotics available in our Singapore market are :

Clindamycin containing creams or gel : eg. Dalacin T gel or cream

The second group would be the topical benzoyl peroxide.

Benzoyl peroxide helps in killing the bacteria. In addition, it reduces oil production and helps active pimples dry up faster and promote faster healing. Again, some of the products available in singapore includes :

Benzac’s spot treatment water based gel
Oxy 5 or Oxy 10 lotion
Neutrogena On-The-spot acne treatment

The third group would be the Retinoid containing creams or gel. These are doctor-prescribed only in Singapore.

They help in reducing oil and sebum production, reducing congestion of our hair follicles and help in drying up active pimples fast.

These can be products that are retinoid-containing only like :

Differin
Stieva-A
Retinol

Or they may be combined with other medications like antibiotics or Benzoyl peroxide as mentioned above. Some examples are

Epiduo ( Differin + benzoyl peroxide )

Oral medications

These are usually given when the acne condition is more severe or when lifestyle and topical treatments are not working. [4]

All the medications listed below are prescribed only and are not available over the counter in Singapore.

Oral antibiotics

There are various oral antibiotics available to treat acne such as doxycycline, minocycline or erythromycin.

What antibiotics to give depends on your doctor’s decision. There are some side effects related to these antibiotics. Consult your doctor for more information.

In general , we would start to see results only after the 2nd month of oral antibiotics. We may need to continue the oral antibiotics for 3-4 months or longer for best clinical outcome.

Isotretinoin

Isotretinoin are powerful medications that can provide very good and effective clearance of acne.

However there are side effects associated with these medications – so a detailed consultation with your doctor is necessary before starting on it.

These medications may cause sensitivity to sun, skin dryness and peeling, liver inflammation and high triglyceride levels. Ladies who are on these medications must be reminded that these are teratogenic medications.

Hormonal medications

Oral contraceptive medications like Diane 35 are hormonal pills that are given to treat hormone related acne in females.

Again, it takes 2-3 months before these pills become effective. There are side effects to these medications therefore, detailed consultation is necessary before you are started on these medications.

Common Acne Treatment Available in Singapore Clinics

Treatments there are often prescribed in the clinics in Singapore includes

Physical treatment
Chemical peels
Lasers and light treatments

Physical treatments

Some of the physical treatments are

Extraction facials – these are careful extraction of comedones and cleansing of face by skilled therapists. Occasionally some pustules can also be cleared through these methods.
Aqua Peel facials – these are machine assisted facials which combine superficial oil and keratin reduction solution with hydration treatment.

Chemical peels

In Singapore, chemical acid peels are administered by doctors in the clinic. It can help with

Reduction of oil on the face
Exfoliating dead skin cells
And even help with reduction of acne scars

However these have to be done in experienced hands as burns from chemical peels is not uncommon.

Laser and Light treatment

Lasers and IPL treatments can be done by experienced doctors with the appropriate training and certification in MOH-licensed clinics. These treatments can help to reduce: