I’m about to go on Accutane and I’m scared

Question

Hi, I have had severe acne for 3 years and tried everything and nothing has worked. My dermatologist put me on tretinoin 0.1% and it took about 5 months but it cleared my skin for about 2 months. I got off on it and my face burst with acne again.I visited the dermatologist and they prescribed accutane. I was willing to try anything because I was desperate to get clear skin. I said yes and did all the signing and I read the side effects and I’m terrified. I start tomorrow but I need help.

Nadir Qazi, DO · Answer

There is an effective acne laser called Accure that targets the source of acne. I have personally seen a significant reduction in acne with my own patients. From my experience, it works much more efficiently compared to other acne lasers and the treatment has virtually no recovery or downtime post-procedure. You would also be avoiding all of the potential Accutane side effects.

Accure also offers some collagen remodeling capabilities, which is great for improving the appearance of acne scars if you have any. What makes Accure really stand out is its targeted approach to oil production. It focuses on sebaceous glands which reduces overall sebum production to prevent acne from forming. It's FDA approved for mild to severe inflammatory acne vulgaris.

While Accure can be a great solution to acne, I always recommend a consultation with a board-certified practitioner to choose the best treatment based on your individual needs.

Hope this helps you find relief from your acne! Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

​Acne requires a combination approach to get long-term improvement. I recommend a combination of Cosmelan, salt facials, peels, lasers, microneedling with PRP, blue light, radiofrequency and isotretinoin. I suggest getting a formal evaluation with an expert. Best, Dr. Emer​

Nelson Lee Novick, MD · Answer

As a clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai School Of Medicine In NY who has been in practice for several decades, I am thoroughly familiar with Accutane, which is by no means a new drug., and the treatment of acne. Accutane has been around since the very early 1980s when I first started prescribing it. However, only a few years later, after I began doing so, I stopped prescribing it altogether after it became associated with many side effects, some serious, and some that were later reported to first appear even five, ten or twenty years later. I myself published a medical journal paper on a permanent bone problem related to its use.   Over the decades, I have literally treated all kinds of acne from mild to very severe and have not needed Accutane. Numerous patients have come to me during that time supposedly having seen by primary physicians, pediatricians and even dermatologists who have supposedly failed on "everything." However, upon closer investigation, it often turns out that failure was not related to what was prescribed, although that was sometimes responsible, but far more often than not, failure was due to 1) improper use of the at-home medications prescribed often because clear instructions for use were not given, 2) erroneous expectations that the medications--be they topical or oral (seldom needed)--will start to miraculously work in just a few days or a couple of weeks (typically takes just about any acne medication, including Accutane, about 8-16 weeks to really kick in), or 3) side effects, such as dryness, irritation, etc. from improper use of the topical medications. So, best, and safest approach to treating acne, even severe acne, requires the combination of a diligent and proper at-home use of topical medications to prevent new breakouts (usually a minimum of 8-16 weeks for prevention to begin), combined, in the interim, with in-office treatments to clean out  fully formed comedones, inject acne acne cysts and nodules before they eventuate in scars and the application superficial peels to unclog incipient comedones. And this combined effort by the patient at-home and the doctor in the office has been just about uniformly successful for even severe cases of acne without the need for systemic medications--like oral antibiotics, hormones, and Accutane, that essentially make the whole body pay for the sins of only the face. I hope this helps. Best of luck.

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