Topical Antibiotics
By eliminating extra skin germs, topical antibiotics help to lessen inflammation and redness. An antibiotic and retinoid may be used together for the first few months of acne treatment. The antibiotic is given in the morning, and the retinoid is applied in the evening.
Benzoyl peroxide is frequently added to antibiotics to decrease the risk of antibiotic resistance. However, in contrast to systemic antibiotics, which circulate throughout the body and enter oil glands, topical antibiotics have a limited capacity to penetrate the skin and treat more severe acne.
However, systemic antibiotics are sometimes more harmful than topicals. Although they can be used to treat severe forms of acne, there’s still the risk of antibiotic resistance in skin bacteria.
On the other hand, using benzoyl peroxide with a topical antibiotic may lessen the likelihood of acquiring antibiotic resistance. There is also oral erythromycin available, but its efficacy may be limited if patients develop a resistance to its effects.
Antibiotics may take weeks or months to clean up acne since they don’t deal with the other contributing variables. Combining antibiotics with other medications that “unclog” follicles is common. It is not advisable to take several oral antibiotics for acne while pregnant.
