Hello there! Welcome to this week’s edition of House Call. Today we will be discussing acne.

Most people think that acne is only an issue to deal with when you’re a teenager, but actually, it can be an issue that will follow many people for the majority of their lives.

First off, acne happens when we have the pores in our skin that are blocked by old skin cells and other debris. And that usually causes what we call a comedone, or a black head, or an open comedone. Acne lesions have all types of names. The reason why we see this happen in your teenage years more often is because we have a lot more oils secreted in our skin and all over our bodies during that time. So, that’s the time where you notice teenagers have more acne lesions and they’re trying to hide them with make-up or other cover up. One thing that can also increase acne on your face is touching your face. So, when you’re a teenager and your skin’s making more oil than usual, you can’t help but touch your face from time to time and you just have regular life stuff. Acne can happen.

One way to prevent it is by treating it. So, the same way you wash your body by taking a bath or a shower, you need to cleanse your face. One of the treatments I recommend for many patients is a daily face wash that contains salicylic acid. That’s spelled S-A-L-I-C-Y-L-I-C, acid A-C-I-D. It is the key active ingredient in a very popular company’s facial wash that can be used. I recommend using a face wash with that active ingredient at least twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. It’s not very drying of your skin, and it won’t make your skin feel so tight when you try to move your mouth or things like that. One thing I’ll add is, when you see many companies with commercials of people washing their face, they usually have smiling actors or actresses washing their face with the suds with their fingers on their face, but your hands are going to produce oils on their own. If you wash your face and suds up the material in your fingers first, you’re just adding more oils to your face when you wash your face. I recommend taking a cotton ball or even a cotton round and putting your face wash agent on it first, and wetting your face, and then using that to wash your face. When you’re done with that, you can throw it away. This way you’re not adding more oily…more oil to your face by washing your face.

We want to get rid of an acne lesion right away, that’s when we turn to other medicines like the topical products that are in brand name materials, but they’re also called, and of course, the generic name is… it’ll come to me in a minute, you just put that on the lesion, usually at night, and in the morning you wash it off. Now I remember! Benzoyl peroxide. Spelled B-E-N-Z-O-Y-L. Second word, peroxide. P-E-R-O-X-I-D-E. That is a product that really works to dry out the acne lesion to help it go away. This is good except it can sometimes cause bleaching of your bed sheets or your towels that you’re using. So, I usually recommend, if you’re going to use these types of products, use them but with a white pillow case and white towels. Unless you don’t mind seeing little bleach spots on your towels and bed sheets from time to time. Because that agent can be very drying to your face and irritating, usually I’ll recommend using it every other day or every two or three days. Just to give your face a little break. And usually making sure you apply a moisturizer of some type on your face too.

So, I have many teenagers tell me, “Well, I saw this product on TV or online and it says it will do wonders for my face, except it costs a lot of money.” One thing about acne treatment is you need o be consistent. You do it every day all the time is going to help increase the odds that you’re going to have success with treating your acne. One reason why many of these products that are offered online or on TV are successful is because they have a regimen that tells you exactly what to do, steps one through three. And you do it every day and of course, you’re going to have results. So one thing I do mention before buying something expensive is starting with what your medical professional suggests to you to use for your face.

If topical reagents aren’t working well, one other treatment clinicians can use are oral medicines that will help clear the skin. These oral medicines are actually antibiotics because acne is formed by a bacteria, specifically acne propionobacterium. So oral antibiotics, specific ones, will treat the bacteria in the skin, and when it treats it those big bumps and everything can go away. That’s only if necessary by your health care professional. There’s also topical, or on your skin surface, antibiotics that can be put on that can also help with treating your skin. Usually the oral medication are only used if you’re acne is very severe. I won’t go into depth about other acne treatments, but one I’ll add is a medication that is used best only for severe severe acne. That needs to be prescribed by a clinician and usually you have to be monitored for that. Again, that’s only in very severe cases.

So, when it comes to treating acne, the main thing you need to know is:

Be consistent. Do a regimen every day to help clear your acne.

When you’re washing or cleansing your face, do not use your own fingers and put the soap or whichever product you’re using on your face. That’s just going to add more oils to your face. It’s better to use a cotton ball or a cotton round or any other product to use on your face.

Start with basic things. Salicylic acid is one of the active ingredients in a basic daily face wash that you can use, that you can get in generic, its not too expensive, and its not very drying to your face. So, if you’re going to start somewhere, start with something that will work.

As always, always check with your medical professional if you have other questions or concerns for managing your acne or other health issues.

Thank you for your time with me today. Remember to take care of yourself and others. Keep washing your hands and I’ll see you next week.