About Roaccutane

10 things a doctor wants you to know about the Acne Treatment:

If you're struggling with acne, chances are, you've probably heard of Roaccutane. Whilst there are plenty of anti-acne avenues to try, like making changes to your diet and switching up your skincare routine, Roaccutane is one of the few clinically-proven oral treatments for acne.

Roaccutane is a pill that's prescribed to treat severe acne. Roaccutane does have some major side effects. Here's what you might not know...

It comes from Vitamin A

It's derivative of vitamin A and part of the same family as retinol, and it can only be prescribed by specialist dermatologists. It's used in severe cases of acne when first- and second-line treatments including topical retinoids, topical and oral antibiotics, and things like the contraceptive pill have been unsuccessful."

It works by shutting down your skin's oil production

Roaccutane is an anti-inflammatory drug that attacks the sebaceous glands (the bits that make oil) in the skin and reduces their oil production. It also helps reduce the number of bacteria that live in the skin. The combined effect of reduced natural oil production, reduced number of acne- causing bacteria and reduced inflammation all help prevent acne flare-ups.

It has an 80% success rate

While it's extreme, they've got the results to back it up - It has an approximately 80% success rate when given for 4-5 months."

It's not for every kind of acne

While a spate of pimples can make you want to try just anything to get rid of them. Pimples, nodules (solid, painful lumps beneath the skin), cysts (the pus-filled lumps under the skin) and scarring all need to be appear before you can consider starting Roaccutane.

There have been mood-altering side effects

Along with the positive acne-fighting benefits of Roaccutane come some serious cautions/side effects. There have been reports of psychiatric disorders, including very low moods and depression, associated with taking isotretinoin (Roaccutane) for acne.

It's very drying on the skin

It turns out, something that's aggressively drying out your oil production can also upset other parts of your skin. Cracked lips, dermatitis, very dry skin, scaly skin, itching, a red rash and delicate, fragile skin.

You'll need regular follow ups with a doctor

Because of the possible extremity of the side effects, your doctor will want to keep checking in on you. You'll need to make regular follow up visits to monitor both the physical and possible psychological effects of taking roaccutane.

It's not suitable for everyone

As with all oral medication, there'll be some people who really need to avoid it. Of course, your doctor will talk to you about this, that Roaccutane is off-limits to anyone pregnant, breast-feeding or with impaired liver function, as well as caution needing to be exercised for anyone with diabetes, depression or impaired kidney function.

It cannot be taken whilst pregnant

Even if you're not actively trying to conceive, you need to think about the possibility that you could become pregnant when you start taking Roaccutane. You will be told that you need to start taking contraception, even if you're not currently sexually active. Roaccutane can cause serious harm to a developing foetus."

It'll make skin sensitive to the sun

We all know we should wear SPF, but that will become even more important if you're taking Roaccutane. Roaccutane makes your skin extremely photosensitive. This means you're more sensitive to sunlight and much more likely to burn. Every day you should wear an SPF as UV rays are present even if the sun isn't shining.

Might like to look at this:

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For more, please find our Acne Blog

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