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. A dermatologist is a physician who cares for all the different types of skin disorders. Even though other acne cases will respond well with some of the more common medications, cystic acne is so inflammatory that it will not respond to these methods.
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. By reducing the size of the oil glands, which prevents oil from being produced, this medication can get very good results. Since oil is a major cause of acne, this overall reduction in the production of oil should help prevent this severe form of acne. This drug prevents the development of comedones by reducing the cell stickiness in the follicles and helps reduce the shedding of cells.
Isotetinoin Advantages
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. By using the drug for 16 to 20 weeks, 90% of the users were able to completely or almost completely get rid of their acne. In some cases, the acne returned and resulted in another treatment program with isotretinoin.
Disadvantages of Isotretinoin
Isotretinoin may have several disadvantages for anyone wanting to take it. One of the biggest disadvantages is the expensive cost of the drug. Some of the severe side effects include inflammation of the lips and the mucous membranes of the eye. Dry mouth, itching skin, muscle pain, nosebleeds, sensitivity to light, and possible decreased night vision are symptoms that are associated with it. Some of the more serious side effects are elevated blood cholesterol, abnormal liver enzyme readings, and high lipid and triglyceride levels. 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. Your treatment with isotretinoin should be immediately stopped when any of these symptoms occur. These side effects will stop once the medication is no longer being taken. Any patient suffering from any of these side effects should tell their doctor immediately so that he can reduce the dosage of the drug until the side effects have stopped.
A big disadvantage to using isotretinoin is that it may cause a tetragenic defect, which occurs to the developing fetus in a pregnant woman. If a woman is of childbearing age and plans to become pregnant, isotretinoin should be avoided at all costs. In order for this therapy to work best, a women should be on birth control starting one month prior to taking the drug and continue it for one full month after the treatment is finished. They should consult with their doctor about when it is safe to get pregnant when treatment has stopped.
