Treatment for cystic acne involves multiple approaches. Since cystic acne is a severe type of acne, a combination of medications, antibiotics, home remedies and topical agents is needed to effectively treat it.
What is Cystic Acne?
Cystic acne is characterized by lesions that are big and deeply inflamed. This is a severe type of acne where the inflammation is rooted within the deeper layers of the skin. This results to large, swollen lesions that can be painful. Causes of cystic acne are attributed to the interplay of microbial growth, hormones and skin changes.
What is the Treatment for Cystic Acne?
As said earlier, the treatment for cystic acne involves multiple approaches; primarily because its causes are not only attributed to one factor. Treatment focuses on the four factors that cause the formation of cystic acne: inflammation, increased sebum, bacterial proliferation and follicular keratinization (dead skin cells clogging the follicles). There are several methods that address to these problems, these include the following:
Treatment by Dermatologists
Most dermatologists use comedolytic agents to treat cystic acne. Initially, acne forms as a comedone; this is a small lesion that forms on the surface of the skin. Comedones may come in the form of an open lesion or a closed one. An open lesion is called blackheads, and it is characterized by a small brown-black lesion in the face especially the nose.
Closed comedones are otherwise known as white heads, pimples, papules and cystic acne belong to this category since these lesions appear raised and they do not have an opening to the skin surface. Comedolytic agents are medications that treat these types of acne, since it is more likely to see the two types in most skin conditions.
Examples of comedolytic agent include retinoids. Retinoids are derived from vitamin A, and this vitamin had been found to exert therapeutic effects to the skin. Vitamin A slows the process of skin shedding, this way dead skin cells would less likely to block the follicles or the sebaceous gland ducts. Another action of Vitamin A is it facilitates the absorption of other topical agents, making their effects more potent and effective when applied to the skin. Retinoids have been used for treating acne since the 70’s and 80’s and older brands of Retinoids are still in the market today.
Older brands of retinoids tend to have certain adverse effects. Photosensitivity, dryness of the mouth and eyes are among them. Retinoids are also strictly contraindicated among pregnant women since it can cause certain defects to the fetus. Because of these adverse effects, new generations of retinoid products are developed. Brands such as Retin-A, Differin, and Avita have lesser adverse effects, though new brands with less side effects are available in the market. Still retinoids need prescription from a dermatologist.
Another mode of treatment for cystic acne is the use of antibiotics and hormonal therapy. The action of antibiotics is to kill the microorganisms that cause the inflammation and purulent lesions seen in cystic acne. Tetracycline and erythromycin are the popular drugs of choice. Hormonal therapy is also employed in treating cystic acne, the use of birth control pills such as Ortho Tricyclic helps in alleviating the lesions and the extent of inflammation.
Treatments Over the Counter
Sulfur is used in treating skin conditions even in the ancient times. We can still see the use of sulfur in dermatology up to this modern age. Modern sulfur brands such as Sulfacet-R, Klaron and Novacet. Sulfur is fit for those who have sensitive skin and cannot use tretinoin or benzoyl peroxide and they are readily available over the counter.
Salicylic acid is used because it works as a keratolytic agent. This means it causes the skin to dry and peel to allow new skin to emerge and to treat cystic acne. Salicylic acid is also incorporated in some anti-acne foundations and cosmetic products.
Home Remedies for Cystic Acne
Home remedies don’t exert much therapeutic effort in treating cystic acne. This is because of the severity and extent of cystic acne, making it difficult to manage with home remedies alone. However, home remedies such as washing the face with warm water, increasing fluid intake and modifying the diet combined with dermatological treatments may yield to a better result.
Pros and Cons of Treatments
The primary advantage of these treatments is the alleviation of the symptoms, prevention of further breakouts and the lessening of acne scarring and tissue damage. Retinoids is seen to have the most therapeutic effect among the treatments for cystic acne, but the disadvantage of this treatment is its adverse effects. People who are under retinoid treatment experience dryness of the mouth, eyes and skin. Since most of the treatments involve medications, adverse side effects may be expected. Antibiotic therapy of tetracycline causes staining of teeth in an unborn child while erythromycin causes gastrointestinal toxicity.
Treatment for cystic acne maybe complex, but with modern technology and breakthroughs in medicine, it is highly possible.
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