Cystic Acne Treatment
Cystic acne treatment is a type of severe acne treatment that affects the various lymph nodes all over your body. Your dermatologist must be involved in the treatment of this type of acne. In order to diagnose a skin condition correctly, a dermatologist should be seen. Cystic acne is a severe form of inflammatory acne and normally will not improve with medications that are normally used on the other acne cases.
Cystic acne treatment requires the use of isotretinoin (Accutane) which is a type of retinoid. The drug is taken for 16 to 20 weeks orally at a rate of once or twice daily. This medication is used to prevent oil from being produced by reducting the size of the sudiferous, or oil, glands in the body. By reducing the production of oil, which is a major cause of acne, the severe acne should be prevented. Isotreinoin also helps to reduce the amount of cell shedding and reduces the stickiness of the cells in the follicles, thus preventing the development of comedones.
Advantages of Isotretinoin
Isotretinoin is a very effective medication for the treatment of cystic acne and is also effective in the prevention of extensive scarring in many patients. In approximately 90% of patients who used this medication for 16 to 20 weeks, the acne either completely or almost completely went away. In some cases, the acne returned and resulted in another treatment program with isotretinoin.
Disadvantages of Isotretinoin
Isotretinoin does have many disadvantages for any patient who starts treatment with it. Using this drug is expensive, which is one of the first disadvantages. It has been linked with some severe adverse effects, one of which is inflammation of the lip and mucous membranes of the eye. Other symptoms associated with it include mouth dryness, itching of the nose and skin, nose bleeds, muscle pains, and light sensitivity. Increased lipids and triglycerides, increased liver enzymes, and high blood cholesterol are some of the more serious side effects. Your physician will need to monitor your complete blood count, blood chemistry, cholesterol, triglycerides, and liver enzymes prior to starting this treatment and several times during your cystic acne treatment. If any of these symptoms show up, the isotretinoin should be stopped immediately. These side effects will stop once the medication is no longer being taken. A doctor must be contacted immediately if a patient experiences any of these sides effects so that he or she can reduce them by lowering the dosage.
A big disadvantage to using isotretinoin is that it may cause a tetragenic defect, which occurs to the developing fetus in a pregnant woman. Isotretinoin should always be avoided if the female is of childbearing age or plans to get pregnant in the future. One month prior to taking the drug, women should start on a birth control method and continue it until one month after the acne treatment has stopped. A doctor needs to be consulted in order to determine what is a safe period to get pregnant once the treatment is over.
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