Acne Medication: Severe Side Effects and Alternatives

Accutane is a medication prescribed to people for the treatment of severe acne. It is usually used for cases of nodular acne, which is characterized by the formation of large, hard bumps caused by excess oil production deep within the skin.

Oil glands that attach to hair follicles in the skin produce oil that normally travels up the follicle to lubricate the skin. When excess oil is produced, the oil may not make it up the follicle and may form a lump deep beneath the skin. This is exacerbated by an accumulation of dead skin cells inside the follicle. Bacteria buildup contributes to the formation of nodular acne as well. The hard lumps cannot be popped like normal pimples, and attempts to pop them can lead to scarring. Nodular acne tends to be painful.

Oil production is the skin is generally thought to be precipitating by hormones. This is why acne is common among teens, pregnant women and women just before their periods; hormones are fluctuating at these times. However, a consistent hormonal imbalance or hereditary factor can lead to persistent acne.

Nodular acne is particularly stubborn and often doesn't respond to regular treatments like topical creams or antibiotics. These, of course, should be tried before more aggressive and expensive treatments are considered. Many turn to Accutane for treatment because, according to WebMD.com, it has an 80% success rate. A round of treatment with the drug is usually 3-6 months. It is important to understand the many risks associated with Accutane. Its array of severe side effects make it a last resort treatment.

Accutane Side Effects

When reading a list of side effects for this medication, you might not believe it is an acne medication derived from vitamin A. The following is a partial list of side effects associated with the drug.

Psychosis

Depression

Suicide/Suicidal Ideation

Severe Skin Reaction

Pancreatitis

Liver Damage/Failure

Severe Back Pain (particularly among pediatric patients)

Bone Fractures

Impaired Healing

Seizure

Severe Birth Defects if Pregnant

Birth defects associated with the drug are prevalent enough that female patients must pledge to use two different forms of birth control while taking it.

Why would anyone risk these things for clear skin? It is important to recognize that acne can be painful emotionally as well as physically. For some people, the distress of persistent acne can be sufficient to warrant such risks. However, there are other treatments that should be tried first. Again, this drug should only be a last resort.

Alternatives

When nodular acne flares up, you can opt to receive "acne surgery," which consists of draining the nodules. This procedure can help prevent recurrent flares, as the bumps often reoccur in the same location. Many insurance companies cover this procedure.

Another option is an anti-inflammatory injection, which generally shrinks the nodule down within 5 days. This likely prevents any type of scarring. Insurance may cover this treatment as well.

Photodynamic therapy (PTD) is a new treatment for severe acne as well as superficial skin cancer. It is a form of light therapy that destroys bacteria that may cause inflammatory acne. PTD is a non-invasive treatment and may be covered by insurance. According to Cancer.org, it has no long-term risks and may be safely repeated a number of times. It can be used to precisely target acne sites. See customer reviews for this form of treatment at http://www.realself.com/Photodynamic-Therapy/reviews.

Whether or not to assume the risks of Accutane is a personal decision that should be based on a firm understanding of those risks. Every alternative should be tried before resorting to this medication.

Safe choices for pain management solutions exist. Educate yourself in alternative solutions for back pain management. Please ask questions, give comments or stories related to this article submission regarding back pain management.

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ByAmee LaTour Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert

How to Banish Severe Acne From Your Skin

Severe acne can reside anywhere in your body. For some people, it would be in their face. For others, it would be in other parts of their body. Therefore, I will generalize it and give some useful suggestions about . I don't claim that I know how to do this properly, but I know that my suggestion worked for me in the past. So, I would like to share it to you and give some ideas about how to get out from this miserable suffering.

As you may know, severe acne is not a problem that can be taken lightly. If you neglect it, it will spread more in your skin, and give you a bad look. So, your apathy is definitely not the best answer to eliminate your severe acne problem. It is only by active efforts from your part that you will be able to banish this problem once and for all. Even so, your effort should be the right effort. That's because you can't treat your severe acne carelessly.

Your skin is very sensitive. Therefore, when you treat your acne carelessly, it will tend to make the condition worse. So, just follow my suggestions below.

When you have severe acne, remember these things:

1. Don't touch it. If you feel itch, just rub it softly with the back of your hand.
2. Remove whiteheads inside your severe acne immediately when they appear on the surface. This will help to reduce the swelling significantly within few days.
3. Eat light portion of meals. I mean, don't be a glutton and eat anything that you see. You will give your body more burden as well as toxins. Control your appetite.
4. Excrete your bowel regularly. Give yourself a time every day to clean your digestive system from toxins.
5. No matter what you're doing, when you feel that you need some rest, make sure to go to sleep immediately.
6. Keep your clothes and your surroundings clean and organized.
7. Avoid exposing your skin in excessive heat or cold. Extreme environments can aggravate acne.
8. No matter what you do, keep your mind at peace. I can't stress this enough because peacefulness will help you to keep your skin clear from acne. Control your temper.
9. Do not overwork your body. Do everything in moderation. Know when to stop.

My suggestions above will help you to banish severe acne from your skin. Again, I can't guarantee any result for you, but I know that those things work because I've applied them in the past.

If you want complete treatment for your severe acne, there's one system that I recommend to you. It is called holistic system. This system will allow you to clear your acne from inside out. It will also help you to improve your overall health. You can find out about this system at http://shareacnethoughts.wordpress.com/. This is my website and I explained about the system there.

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Possible Acne Scar Treatment

Chemical Peels: A Blemish Remover

Did you know that 60 million Americans suffer from acne in the U.S. alone? Out of those 60 million, 20 million have acne bad enough to cause scarring. A lot of acne suffers have tried a number of over-the-counter treatments that may treat the acne, but does nothing for the scarring. Acne scarring is sometimes permanent and can be weighing on one's self-esteem.

Eliminating acne scars can prove to be a trial and error task. So if the over-the-counter solutions don't seem effective enough, you can try using chemical peels. Dermatologists and estheticians have successfully been using them as one of their treatment options for removing scars, fine lines, wrinkles, and other blemishes. People can apply their own chemical peels in the privacy of their homes, and get good results. There are many to choose from depending on your skin issues and concerns. They range from 8%-50% concentrated levels, the higher concentration levels give more in depth results. Fifty percent concentrated levels are never recommended for at home use.

Alpha hydroxyl acid chemical peels give lighter results. They include glycolic, lactic, and tartaric acid peels. They are used to reduce the appearance of acne, acne scarring, treat areas of dryness, and remove dead skin cells. They are not super strong, and require several applications to get the best results. A more effective peel is the beta hydroxyl acid peel. Salicylic acid is an example of a beta peel, and they are used to control oily skin, acne, and remove dead skin cells.

Jessner chemical peels are used to treat acne and acne related issues like pimples, but not scarring. They are a mixture of 14% salicylic acid, resorcinol, and lactic acid, with an ethanol base. Sometimes TCA peels are layered or are used with them to achieve a deeper peel and to treat scarring. Retinoic peels are sometimes used after a Jessner peel as well for the same reason, and can be used to treat scars and wrinkles as well.

TCA or trichloroacetic acid peels are stronger than the other two kinds. They are used to reduce fine lines, wrinkles, remove blemishes, and solve other pigmentation issues. Although TCA peels are more effective than the others, multiple treatments are still required to get the best results. Results are not permanent, and last for about 6 months. The strongest chemical peels available are Phenol peels. They are able to penetrate past the epidermis and inside the dermis within 15 seconds of application. They have long lasting results of up to 20 years. Phenol peels treat stubborn skin issues like deep wrinkles, freckles and blemishes caused by sun damage and acne. People with dark skin tones are not ideal candidates for this treatment because it can lighten the skin and reduce its ability to produce pigment. Skin treated with the phenol chemical peel has to be protected from the sun for life through the use of sunscreen/block of 30 SPF or higher.

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My Secret to Cure Severe Acne

Now I have what you call a clear skin. But, I still remember clearly when people shunned me because of my severe acne few years ago. I've experienced this skin problem for at least 7 years, and this experience was the worst experience in my life. I couldn't have normal friendship with people around me because of my acne. I also had many psychological problems as well, such as shyness, lack of self-esteem, social anxiety, panic attack, and so on. But, when I finally cured my acne, people think that it is because of some magic pills that I use, especially my family. Or, they think that my acne disappears by itself. They really don't know what they are talking about.

To tell the truth, I've come across many methods to cure my severe acne. Most of those methods fail but some of them worked for me. I'm striving every day to find out the best method to cure my acne.

I keep searching and experimenting, and finally I have what I need - a secret to cure my severe acne. I call this a secret because people around me don't know what it is. In fact, this secret makes it possible for me to experience clear skin. The secret is about foods, digestive system, and how I use my body.

First of all, I discovered that I have allergy toward some foods. When I eat those foods, it is sure that acne will come quickly. I think that this realization is very important in my journey to clear skin. Without realizing that some foods can actually cause acne, I will never be able to control my severe acne. So, when I realize that some foods can cause allergic reaction in my body, I'm determined to find out those bad foods. Once I've found those bad foods, I eliminate them completely.

Then, I realized that digestive system is affecting my overall body condition. For instance, when I'm not excreting my bowels regularly, my skin will become very bad and I will tend to increase my stress level. Once I've realized about this, I begin to excrete my bowels at least once per day or whenever necessary.

Lastly, I also discovered that the more I overuse my body, the more acne will emerge in my skin. My body also needs rest and I don't usually give my body a proper rest every day. So, I begin to change this pattern. I'm changing my sleep pattern and give my body proper rest.

The result of my experiment based on my realization about foods, digestive system, and how I use my body is clear skin. This is .

Also, I won't forget to mention that certain holistic system is responsible for keeping my clear skin with me. You can see further information about this system  below

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It might also help you to cure your severe acne permanently.

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Cure Severe Acne - The Importance of Cleansing Your Body

I know how it feels when you have severe acne. Your life will look like a mess. You will have a difficult time building relationships with people. Also, you might have a difficult time finding a love partner. I know how it feels. It feels like your severe acne is limiting your life experience. It's like you are shackled and not being able to escape.

But, I would like to tell you that you are able to escape from this madness of suffering. Your acne is treatable, and you can cure it as soon as you're committed to do it. Curing acne is as certain as mathematics, if you are willing to put some efforts in the process.

I will tell you one thing that is important for your skin health. Your severe acne can only be cured once you've cleansed your body from toxins. This is important. And I've been experiencing it for myself. Without a clean body, you won't be able to have a clear skin.

To cleanse your body, you only need to do two things:

1. You have to eat clean foods.

2. You have to regularly excrete your bowels.

Those are the things that you need to do. You don't need to do anything else. When you've successfully cleansed your body, you will begin to see the change in your skin as soon as possible. In the course of few weeks, you will see that your skin is gradually becoming clearer and healthier. Severe acne that once invaded your skin will gradually become small acne, and then they'll be gone forever.

Why cleansing your body is important? It's because of your body mechanism. Your body gets all the required nutrients from the foods that you eat and spread those nutrients all over the body, including your skin. So, when you eat nourishing foods, your body will spread healthy and nourishing nutrients all over your body, including your skin. The result will be a healthy skin.

But, when you eat bad foods, they will turn into toxins inside of your body and your body will spread the toxins all over the body, including your skin. The result will be an unhealthy skin, which is an ideal place for acne to emerge. That's why you have to eat only clean foods.

Next, no matter how clean the foods that you eat, they will produce waste inside your body after the nutrients are extracted from them. The waste should be eliminated quickly in order to maintain healthy body condition. That's because when you're not eliminating the waste regularly, your body will eventually redistribute the waste all over your body. That's why you need to regularly excrete your bowel.

Cleansing your body is important for your skin health. When you have clean body, you will have healthy skin. Severe acne won't be able to stay long in a healthy skin.

Blast Severe Acne in 60 Days

Not all acne treatment plans will work for everyone. Some of them will work, some of them will not. Do you know what works 100% of the time when you apply it? It's when you apply the whole acne treatment system to your body, instead of only to your skin.

This system will help you to understand how you can strategically eliminate your acne within 60 days-down to the roots of it. Thus, it will guarantee permanent result. Check this out

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Is Laser Treatment For Acne The Best Form Of Treatment?

Acne is one of the most embarrassing conditions which people suffer with. This skin condition can cause great anxiousness and embarrassment to anyone who suffers with it, what makes it worse is that it is also considered a social taboo.

There are literally millions of acne sufferers all over the world; in fact just in America alone there are around 60 million people with acne. This shocking statistic has resulted in hundreds of remedies for acne being reported, tested and reviewed. These stem from the simple old wives tale such as the use of toothpaste on your skin to the extreme laser treatment.

Acne appears when excess oil, dirt and dead skin cells become trapped in the pores of your skin. Here it then mixes with bacteria and becomes infected, acne then appears, either in pimple and cystic form or by just red patches appearing on the skin.

People who are looking for a quick fix have been turning to laser treatment for acne in order to get super quick results, the question is does this work? And if it does is it worth the money?

The majority of laser treatment clinics for acne use the Sciton laser. Contrary to its appearance and name, this laser is painless and is actually very gentle on the skin. The laser will heat up the skin around the affected areas, usually where the reddening is at its worst, the laser then kills off the bacteria which then eliminates this skin conditions, reduces the reddening and gets rid of the pimples or spots which had previously formed.

This all sounds very good and appears to be a fast way to get rid of acne but what does this entail? You will have to attend a first consultation with the operator of this procedure, once given the all clear you will have to return to have your FIRST session. Laser treatment for acne can drag on for a number of weeks and even months.

It is not uncommon to have to attend the clinic for laser treatment once a week for half an hour at a time. You can expect to have to attend the clinic for anywhere between 5 to 8 weeks. All of this comes at a cost; it is again not uncommon to have to pay in the region of $2500 in order to have this kind of acne treatment. Is it worth the money? This would be a question that you will have to answer personally with your own situation in the forefront of your mind.

Find more about laser treatment for acne at my website!

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Pimple on Breast Area

Pimple on Breast - What To Do Now If you have a s, it could be because of a number of reasons. Pimples, or acne, can form on virtually any area of the body. They are less likely to form on the skin of the legs and arms because these areas are less likely to have a significant amount of bacteria exposure. More so, these areas do not have a lot of oil production. The breasts, on the other hand, in both men and women, do. This is why having pimples in this location can be considered common. It occurs in many people, but it is treatable.

Why It Happens

How did you get a s? Pimples develop when the conditions are ideal. In order to live, bacteria (which cause the acne development in the first place) will need an area that is warm, moist and has a good source of food. For bacteria, the oils from the skin create that moist environment. In addition, the dead skin cells from the skin's normal chafing process work well as a food source. This creates the ideal environment for the development of bacteria.

The body does not want the invading bacteria present so the immune system goes to work to force it out. In the process, the skin becomes irritated and inflamed. This is what leads to the pimple's development and overall to the red coloring and pain. Keeping this in mind, it is clear to see what a pimple on breast tissues can happen. The area is ideal for the production of oils.

What to Do About Them

If you have a s, you can get rid of them. For those who have one or two, it may be possible to allow them to heal on their own. The body's immune system can get overwhelmed, though, when numerous pimples develop in this area. When this happens, it is important to take bigger steps to get rid of the condition.

1- Everyone can benefit by increasing the quality of their cleansing of the skin in this area. Washing the skin with a mild soap at least twice a day will help to remove the dead skin cells as well as the oils.

2- You can use an over the counter treatment product for the s. You will want to ensure that the product is safe to use in this area, though most will be.

3- If the pimple has become painful or has become larger and open, it may be necessary to use an antibiotic treatment to kill the bacteria and to help encourage the healing of the skin.

You can avoid pimples from scarring by not scratching them, popping them open or otherwise breaking the skin open. This only encourages the bacteria to grow and that often leads to considerable problems overall. Do take steps to get rid of a pimple on breast tissues because it can worsen and others can develop if you do not do anything about it.

Pimples are a condition that happens to many people. Take the time to find out how to treat Pimples. How to Get Rid of Pimples

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