I was 15 years old when my acne started to come out and it never stopped appearing since then. I’ve tried all the unimaginable ways of getting rid of it, but still it’s there. They say it’d spontaneously resolve by the time you reach the age of 25. Well, I’m 24 now and hoping to have a pimple-free skin by next year. Nah! I doubt it, it’s in my “genes”. And even if it were true, it has already left lots of scars on my face so I guess it’s too late. A dermatologist (I think) once said that a millimeter of scar takes a mile of confidence (or something like that). Very true! I partially blame it for my lack of self-confidence. If I could only turn back time, I would have sought for a professional help much earlier. But it’s there, and the only hope I am holding onto now is the possibility of having laser dermabrasion to correct it (or whatever procedure it’d take). I am no longer trying hard to get rid of my acne, I guess I got used to it. So are the people I know. They’d be more surprised if I don’t have one. I love derma, and my friends think I’d make a good dermatologist. Just last week I’ve attended a conference about acne. And I found out there’s there’s an international committee for acne. Imagine how important that speck on your face is, that experts all over the world would meet up every year just to talk about it! So I realized I wanted share my little knowledge about acne to the public.

There are 2 kinds of acne, the inflammatory (those red, swollen, painful ones) and the non-inflammatory or the comedones. Comedones are basic lesions known to the lay people as black and white heads, which eventually evolve and become inflamed. Different kinds of acne would also need different treatments. Basically, the inflammatory ones are best treated with benzoyl peroxide (topical antibiotics can also help), while the comedones are best treated with retinoic acid (or it’s derivatives, I think the tretinoins, isotretinoins, adapalene). These are over-the-counter drugs. I personally am using benzoyl peroxide 4% cream (Brevoxyl) in the morning over the lesions. It costs around 500 pesos but your gonna use it for a long time (mine lasts for more than a year, unless your whole body is affected hehe). There’s also this new brand Duac which has an additional antibiotic but more costly at I think 800. At night I apply Isotretinoin 0.05% cream (Isotrex) all over my face to treat the comedones, which as I said would eventually become inflamed. It also costs around 500 pesos. My friend uses Adapalene it works good for her. I think there’s this new product coming out which is a combination of Adapalene and Benzoyl for better compliance of the patients. But I’m not so sure of this one ‘coz I think these two would antagonize each other. Well I’ll update you when get hold of a good journal about this. You can also use non-comedogenic soaps (I tried Neutrogenia, works for me) or a very mild soap (like Dove white unscented). Of course avoid sun exposure especially after 9am or use sunblock if you can’t help it (I think Innobloc is a good brand, it’s non-sticky they say). Lastly, if you think your acne looks really severe, it is better to see a dermatologist and let them figure out what to do. In that case, you have someone to blame, I mean help you if it didn’t work out well. Everything that I wrote here is based on researches, books, and personal experiences for the perusal of those who are on low budget. So don’t blame me for anything, in the first place, I didn’t coerce you to follow me. If you have any questions, comments, corrections on my infos, just email me at sineoph@yahoo.com.