Home Treatment For Acne
Home treatment for acne means managing your own acne treatment without consulting a doctor. Home treatment may involve using over-the-counter acne medicine, natural acne remedies or acne alternative treatments. In many cases it means managing acne not with proactive acne treatments, but instead using an appropriate acne skin care regime and allowing the acne time to resolve naturally.
Why is it 'Home' Treatment for Acne?
'At home acne treatment' or 'home treatment for acne' are strange phrases to use for self-managed acne, as they imply that the alternative to 'home acne treatment' is acne treatment that doesn't take place at home The alternative to 'home acne treatment' is not jetting off to some exotic acne clinic abroad - perhaps jetting off to some exotic acne clinic abroad, or being treated as a hospital inpatient on a dermatology ward. The alternative to 'at home acne treatment' is simply acne treatment overseen by a doctor. Whether or not a doctor is involved, acne treatment is almost invariably self-administered by the patient and so usually takes place at home. Indeed, very few acne patients ever have to visit hospital to consult a dermatologist (a doctor who specialises in skin diseases) and of these, only a tiny fraction actually receive their acne treatment at the hospital, either as an inpatient or an outpatient. However, 'home treatment for acne' or 'at home acne treatment' are the generally accepted terms for acne treatment without medical involvement, so we'll stick with them.
Advantages of Home Treatment for Acne
The main advantage of home treatment for acne is that the acne sufferer retains complete control over all aspects of acne management. It is the acne sufferer, not a doctor, who decides:
- Whether or not acne treatment is required, either initially or as the acne progresses;
- When to start treating the condition, how long to continue acne treatment and when to stop;
- Which is be the best acne treatment to use for his or her acne, taking into account individual circumstances and preferences;
- To avoid using acne medication, if he or she has objections to it on personal, ethical or safety grounds;
- To try an alternative treatment for acne, without provoking the scorn of a medical professional.
For many teenage acne patients, the overriding advantage of home treatment for acne will be that they don't have to see a doctor. This means avoiding a tedious, perhaps confrontational, medical consultation and possibly the added indignity of an intimate physical examination. Doctors have an amazing capacity to rub their teenage patients up the wrong way! Paradoxically, many teenage acne sufferers are much more assiduous about maintaining their acne treatment regime and monitoring their condition if they retain control over their acne management and don't involve a doctor.
Disadvantages of Home Acne Treatment
There are disadvantages to home acne treatment, some of which may force an acne sufferer to consult a doctor, even against his better judgment. Potential problems associated with home acne treatment include the following:
- Acne sufferers must be self-assured, well motivated and conscientious in order to manage their own acne treatment effectively. Some teenagers would rather not have the responsibility for taking decisions about acne treatment.
- Some acne sufferers find it difficult to monitor the state of their acne objectively, although there are usually family members or friends capable of taking on the interesting role of 'spot spotter'.
- People using home acne treatments have access only to over-the-counter acne medication. These acne solutions and creams are effective for treating mild or moderately severe acne, but some people need or prefer treatment with oral acne medication (acne pills) which are only available on prescription.
- Cases of acne may be misdiagnosed, particularly in respect of the clinical type of acne. There may also be a failure by patients with acne to recognise the need to consult a doctor if the condition is not responding to treatment, has deteriorated or complications have arisen. People who develop severe acne or cystic acne must consult a doctor and obtain prescription acne medication, in order to treat the condition effectively and reduce the risk of acne scars developing.
- Acne sufferers may be persuaded by clever marketing to try unproven acne alternative treatments at home. Whilst many of these are quite harmless and appear to work for at least a proportion of acne patients, there are a number of acne alternative treatments which are at best costly and ineffective, and at worst positively harmful to the patient.
