Medical Treatment Of Acne
The 'medical treatment of acne' refers to the use of any medically accepted form of acne treatment, regardless of whether the acne treatment is overseen or managed by a doctor. Medical treatments for acne include acne medication, natural acne treatments and conservative acne treatment, although some medical treatments for acne are prescription-only medicines, and so only available to acne sufferers who are being treated by a doctor.
What is Medical Treatment of Acne?
Any medically accepted method of treating acne can be described as 'medical treatment of acne', regardless of whether or not the acne treatment is carried out under medical direction. As a doctor, I could decide to treat acne by instructing the patient to take a morning bath in cold custard, followed by a breakfast of fruit jelly with whipped cream. This might be a trifle mean and it wouldn't constitute a medical treatment for acne. Even though the acne treatment is being administered by a doctor, and might even improve the condition, the 'custard, jelly and cream regime' is not recognised or accepted medically as a treatment for acne. In order for an acne treatment to be medically accepted, either a significant number of doctors, or a few influential acne specialists, need to conclude from the results of research trials and their own clinical experience that the treatment is an effective means of treating acne. In the case of acne medication, the safety of the treatment will also be formally evaluated before the drug is licensed to be used as a treatment for acne.
Medically Accepted Acne Treatments
Four different forms of acne treatment are recognised and accepted medically as being effective for the treatment of acne - acne medication, restriction 'acne diets', UV radiation and conservative acne treatment. Doctors recognise four forms of therapy as being effective for the treatment of acne Of these medical treatments for acne, conservative treatment, non-prescription acne medicine and a restriction acne diet are available to the home treatment of acne, whereas prescription acne medicine is only available to patients who consult a doctor about their acne treatment. UV radiation for acne, commonly known as acne light treatment, is available without medical consultation - any regular tanning salon is providing its customers with high doses of UV irradiation, and many private dermatology clinics offer light treatments for acne. To be effective as a treatment for acne, the UV radiation exposure must be measured, controlled and adjusted according to the response of the acne to the light treatment. This means that therapy needs to be overseen by someone experienced in administering light treatment for acne, preferably a doctor. DIY light treatment for acne at a tanning salons is certainly not to be recommended..
Acne Alternative Treatments
All treatments for acne which do not meet the 'medical acceptance' test must, even when administered by a doctor, be considered to be acne alternative treatments. The fact that a therapeutic regime is classed as an acne alternative treatment does not mean that treatment does not work, rather that an insufficient body of medical opinion has recognised that it is an effective treatment for acne for it to be 'medically accepted'.
Natural Acne Treatment
It is perhaps worth emphasising that the distinction between acne alternative treatments and medical treatments is not dependent on whether natural acne treatment or natural acne products are involved. Medical treatments for acne include three natural acne treatments, conservative treatment, UV radiation and restriction diets. At the same time, although the vast majority of acne alternative treatments are also natural acne treatments, some acne alternative treatments use medication which is neither recognised nor licensed for use in the treatment of acne, and so are neither medical acne treatments nor natural acne treatments.
