Although acne doesn’t pose a serious risk to a person’s health, it causes enormous distress to those affected because of the unsightly nature of this condition. That is why people try to treat acne frantically as it otherwise may even lower their self-esteem. In this article, we will attempt to find out the various ways of treating acne and analyze the advantages and drawbacks of these.
If
it is a minor outbreak, you could try treating
acne with some over the counter creams and see if
they work (in most cases the acne makes a comeback
because conventional medications just treat the symptoms
without treating the real causes). If they don’t, you
will have to decide on whether you go in for prescribed
drugs and creams or whether you try the naturist way of
curing your condition. If prescription medication is
your treatment of choice, you will probably be
administered Isotretonoin, antibiotics, Retin-A or oral
contraceptives (if you are a woman). We will briefly
discuss the details of these drugs and tell you what
they are used for.
Isotretonoin
is an oral medicine that is prescribed in cases of very
severe acne. However, you must keep in mind that this
drug has very serious side-effects. These include severe
depression, psychosis and, in some extreme cases, even
suicidal tendencies. Also, it could adversely affect
pregnant women and cause defects in their unborn
fetuses.
Antibiotics
are generally used to fight bacteria which may be
present on our skin. While a bacterium does not cause
acne, it does engineer the formation of infection which
ultimately leads to acne. However, with time, some
bacteria grow immune to it and it then ceases to have
any effect. Also, antibiotics sometimes lead to vaginal
yeast infections in women.
Retin-A,
a derivative of Vitamin A is widely used to tackle
whiteheads and blackheads but takes a fairly long time
to work. And oral contraceptives are administered to
women who suffer bouts of acne during their menstrual
periods. While it helps, it does also lead to irregular
bleeding, breast tenderness, weight gain or loss and
mood swings.
Other
than causing the side effects, these medicines also
cannot cure acne because they cannot take on all its
causes which can be many. Instead of trying to control
the production of sebum and eradicating the toxins, they
just heal the symptoms.
If
however, you wish to try naturist practices for treating
acne, you would first have to change your dietary
pattern. Meat, dairy products, caffeine and soda are
strictly taboo and you are advised to partake of fish,
fruits such as apples, oranges and grapes and plenty of
vegetables. You are also asked to drink at least 64
ounces of water every day. You should apply Aloe Vera
directly on the affected parts as this accelerates the
healing process.
However,
whatever method you choose to employ in treating
acne, you must realize that both these methods treat
your condition from the outside. Therefore, the
disappearance of this affliction could be only temporary
as the root cause still lies untreated within. This is
where the holistic approach outscores the others. It
tries to repair the root of the problem from within by
asking you to change your whole lifestyle. If you are
prepared to do this, choose the holistic approach. It is
the only one which will give you permanent
relief.
