Antibiotics for Acne Treatment – Good or Bad?

Antibiotics are one of the options that are available for acne treatment in London. The antibiotics can be taken either as tablets or in a cream to be applied to your skin, but both kinds of treatment work in the same way. The antibiotics eliminate the bacteria that irritate your skin, which can help to eradicate your spots.

Antibiotic Creams

Antibiotic gels or creams can be particularly good at reducing inflammation around spots and they are also one of the gentlest topical treatments for acne. This means that they are less likely to cause irritation than the other creams you may be prescribed. However, while topical antibiotics can be good at dealing with inflamed spots, but they can be less effective at getting rid of whiteheads or blackheads.

Oral Antibiotics

Oral antibiotics can also be very effective. The antibiotic tablets prescribed for acne treatment in London can help with anything from mild cases to the severest acne. However, it can take up to six weeks for the treatment to start showing any results and there is a risk of side effects such as nausea, diarrhoea or stomach pain. Your skin can also become more sensitive to the sun while you are taking antibiotics.

Antibiotic Resistance

Another issue that arises with both topical and oral antibiotics is that you will only be able to use the medication for a limited time. If you take antibiotics too long, it can allow the bacteria to develop resistance to the drug. This can not only make the medication ineffective for you, but it can also spread resistance to other bacteria, making them more difficult to treat if they infect someone in the future. Topical antibiotics will only be prescribed for acne treatment in London for about four to eight weeks. Oral antibiotics can be taken longer, but they won’t usually be prescribed for more than six months in order to limit the spread of antibiotic resistance.