Acne Oral Treatment

Sometimes acne topical treatments, like the creams you buy off the shelf, just aren’t powerful enough to cure an acne outbreak. Severe outbreaks will need treating from the inside and that is when an acne oral treatment can be used. These are most commonly antibiotics and will be prescribed by your doctor.

The way antibiotics work for acne is to kill off the bacteria that are causing the acne. By killing them off, it will reduce any inflammation and remove the infection to prevent any further outbreaks.

So let’s look at some common forms of antibiotics that your doctor might prescribe for you:

Erythromycin is a general antibiotic that is used to treat a variety of things. It will be taken in tablet form and the dosage is usually 2-3 tablets a day for about a week. Like any medication, it can cause side effects such as vomiting or a stomach upset.

Tetracycline is a very common antibiotic taken to treat acne. It also is taken in tablet form and the dosage will vary depending on the severity of the acne. This tablet will be taken on an empty stomach and not with any milk products. It can cause similar side effects as mentioned above and cannot be taken if pregnant.

The way these antibiotics work is to kill the bacteria called P. acnes. It infects the oil on the skin known as the sebum. This is how it gets into the glands where it quickly starts to multiply. This will then spread within the glands and cause inflammation. This then infects the dermis and the acne will begin.

An acne oral treatment is used to literally remove the bacteria. This can be more effective at keeping acne reduced for a long period of time but of course, antibiotics should only be taken as recommended by your doctor.