Most teenagers get acne. During these years, hormones cause more body hair to grow and the skin gets oilier. The skin pores (where the hairs grow out) sometimes get clogged with oil and bacteria.
You may have:
In very bad cases, you may get a cyst. A cyst is a bump that forms under the skin. It is larger than a pimple.
Your healthcare provider will check your skin for pimples, blackheads, or cysts. Your provider may ask:
Your healthcare provider may give you:
Sometimes you will need to use more than 1 medicine at a time to treat the acne.
Your provider may also inject large cysts with medicine. This will help keep you from getting scars.
For very bad cases, your provider may give you a medicine called isotretinoin. Women must be careful when taking this medicine. If you are pregnant or may become pregnant, do not take isotretinoin. It can hurt the baby if you take it while you are pregnant or even a month or 2 before you get pregnant.
With treatment you will probably stop getting whiteheads after 4 to 6 weeks. You may have to take your medicine for several months. For more serious cases, you may have to take your medicine for several years.
If you take antibiotics, after a while your healthcare provider may ask you to stop taking them. He or she may want to see how you do without them for several weeks to see if you still need them.
If you are a woman, acne may get worse each month around the time that you have your period.
Follow your healthcare provider's advice. It's also a good idea to:
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Published by RelayHealth.
This content is reviewed periodically and is subject to change as new health information becomes available. The information is intended to inform and educate and is not a replacement for medical evaluation, advice, diagnosis or treatment by a healthcare professional.
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