June 6, 2006

Acne Medications are for Suckers Part 2
   by stacy <pfftnet@stacy.pfft.net>

I'm sorry to say it, but my last article was over a year ago, and it was Part 1 in this so far very occasional series. So, I've got some updates for you that I'm sure you have just been dying to hear.

I finally got myself back to a dermatologist (another one, and this one didn't look like she was taking 5 minutes out of his busy golf schedule to nod consolingly at me and my stupid problems). She asked what I had been using, and then wrote a prescription for a "soothing lotion" for the morning, and Tazorac for evening. She warned that the Tazorac would be irritating for a couple of weeks, but that the "soothing lotion" would help. Well, the good news was that the Tazorac seemed effective very quickly, but it did irritate my skin at the lotion didn't help at all. I wasn't sure what it was good for, but I kept using it. The Dr. prescribed an antiobiotic too.

So, skip ahead a few months, and we moved across the country, so I had to find another dermatologist. She asked if I was happy with the medications I was using, and I said yes, so she said to keep with it, but she also wrote a prescription for a clindamycin foam for my shoulders. I never really used it, since my back wasn't really breaking out. The next time I went to the Dr. I complained about blackkheads, and she recommended switching to Retin-A. So I did, and that irritated my skin pretty badly. I never was able to use it every night, and couldn't tell that it was having a good effect on my blackheads. So the next time I went back (the most recent time), I switched back to Tazorac. Also, my back had started breaking out, so she said to use the foam like she said, and that worked to get rid of the breakouts very quickly.

So, today, my shoulders and back look good, my face still has occasional mild acne, but with good make-up it's very manageable. I think the conclusion at this point is that if you are genetically predisposed to acne, the OTC stuff doesn't do a damn thing, but following a Dr.'s advice and using prescriptions can help quite a lot, if you keep it up. Which is a sort of half-PFFT!

Published: June 6, 2006
Editor: stacy