Is Accutane The Most Effective Acne Treatment?

Accutane the most effective acne treatment drug on the market, is a very potent weapon against any acne that has been failed by other forms of acne treatment.

It is generally prescribed for moderate to severe cases of acne that have not responded to other treatment, or acne that has been present for several years.

While most other acne-controlling drugs are based on antibiotics, Accutane is based on a natural derivative of vitamin A, which is itself effective against acne, as previously mentioned. Unlike vitamin A, however, the human body is capable of purging Accutane from the bloodstream relatively quickly (nine days is normally the maximum that it takes) and so it does not build up in the same potentially harmful way that vitamin A can.

Accutane is effective at ‘curing’ around half of the acne sufferers who take it, and these people will normally have to do nothing else as far as dealing with their acne problem is concerned.

However, in the first few weeks of treatment with Accutane, around one in five sufferers will initially see their condition deteriorate a little, while a very small number (around 0.2%) will see their condition get much worse before it begins to get better.

After that, the ‘normal’ patient needs treatment for around four to six months, while a very small number will need to repeat the treatment course once again after that initial period.

Having said all of this, there are side effects that come with Accutane, and the severity of these depend to a large extent on the dosage being consumed. They are broadly similar to the side effects that would be suffered if there were large amounts of vitamin A in the body, the most serious of which are birth defects suffered by babies from mothers who have taken Accutane during pregnancy.

Taking Accutane at such a time is therefore definitely not recommended.

Other than that, because Accutane works by temporarily drying up the oil producing glands of the skin, most of the most common side-effects are related to ‘dryness’. So, for example, dried and chapped lips, dry and itchy skin, a dry nose accompanied by light to moderate nosebleeds, joint and muscle pain and rashes are the most commonly suffered side effects.

However, the severity of side effects are related to the dosage of Accutane being taken and absorbed by the body, so it is normal that, if the side effects become too severe that the dosage be reduced.

It is also pertinent to mention that the side effects of Accutane are usually far less harmful (on a long term basis) or unpleasant than the side effects of long term usage of antibiotic drugs, so Accutane is normally the drug of choice for acne treatment where are all other recourses have already failed.

As established, Accutane is a drug that is extracted from a relatively natural source – it is present in the bloodstream of almost all humans in any event – but is not by any stretch of the imagination the only way that you can deal with your acne problems in a natural manner.

Is Accutane The Most Effective Acne Treatment?