There’s a discouraging new skin problem that some refer to as Super Acne. Super acne is acne caused by bacteria that are no longer susceptible to antibiotics. Once this type of acne gets established it can be very difficult to treat.
To start, we need to understand how bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics in the first place. By now, most people have heard of methacillin resistant staph (MRSA). Super acne cam about in the same way.
Bacteria multiply rapidly and as they do mutations occur. Eventually, this process will lead to the occurrence of a gene that conveys antibiotic resistance.
Groups of bacteria compete for the nutrients necessary to grow and multiply. If a resistant bacterium comes up with a lot of other bacteria around it can’t multiply very rapidly. When an antibiotic kills off all the sensitive bacteria it removes that competition. This leaves the resistant bacteria to multiply rapidly and take over.
When penicillin came out it was effective against almost all bacteria. Now almost all bacteria are resistant to it. For the same reason, using antibiotics to treat acne has made the bacteria that cause acne resistant to antibiotics.
Because of this, physicians are less likely to prescribe antibiotics for acne. In the past it was relatively common for a physician to prescribe regular antibiotic use, usually tetracycline or erythromycin, for acne. That’s pretty uncommon today.
The good news is that we have good treatment programs today that don’t require antibiotics. A program that’s helped a lot of people is Acne Free In Three Days.
They may be exaggerating when they say three days in the title but the method does help people quickly. And it doesn’t call for antibiotics.
There are a lot of good sources on acne treatment available and I suggest you do some research. Best Acne Answers always seem to have reliable information. They have page on super acne you should see:The Rise Of Super Acne - Is Anyone Safe?
If at some point a physician does want to prescribe an antibiotic for acne talk about the reasons why very carefully. Antibiotics may be the right treatment for you, but should probably be used only as a last resort.
BTW – family physicians are more likely to prescribe an antibiotic for acne than dermatologists are. If your family doc recommends antibiotics, you may want to get a second opinion from a dermatologist first.
