Acne is a serious skin condition affecting many facets of a person’s life and causing stress and embarrassment. Severe acne can limit person’s social life, and can have serious negative emotional impact. Severe acne can cause disfiguring, and needs years of treatment. There are mainly four types of severe acne: acne conglobata, acne fulminans, gram negative folliculitis, and nodulocystic acne.
Best Treatment for Severe Acne
Acne conglobata is a severe form of acne vulgaris and causes deep abscesses, severe damage to skin, inflammation, blackheads and scarring. Males between the age group of 18-30 years are more likely to have this condition, however the causes of this conditions are not well understood so far. The best treatment for severe acne of this type is the use of Isotretinoin. Doctors may also prescribe use of antibiotics, but several courses might be required over the period of time. Once the treatment is successfully over, the patients are still required to have regular checkups with dermatologists.
Acne fulminans is characterized by sudden onset of highly destructive inflammation. There is sudden appearance of inflammatory acne, along with fever, inflammation and aching of joints and symptoms of ulcerating acne. An effective and best treatment for severe acne is corticosteroids or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines to reduce inflammation. Acne fulminans attacks can recur, and there is a possibility of developing the acne that needs long term treatment with isotretinoin.
Nodulocystic acne is characterized by cysts, and these are several centimeters in diameters. These nodular cysts of acne can occur singly, or can be widespread over neck, face, back, scalp, shoulders and chest. These can be quite painful, and can arise from a nodular or poplar acne lesion. The pus from the cyst can be drained by a physician under sterile conditions, but do not attempt to break them yourself, as it can lead to scarring and infection. The best treatment for severe acne of this type is combination of isotretinoin and antibiotics, or intralesional corticosteroids to melt the cyst within 3-5 days. Some cysts that are very large do not respond to the medications, and require surgical excision or drainage.
Gram-negative folliculitis is follicle inflammation caused by bacterial infection, and is caused by long-term antibiotic treatment. Gram refers to the blue stain that is used to detect the microscopic organisms in the laboratories. Gram negative are the bacteria that do not stain blue. The best treatment for severe acne is use of isotretinoin and antibiotics. Severe acne scar treatment requires years, and there might be many failures. It is very important for family and friends to support the patient, and have an understanding attitude.