There’s a discouraging new skin condition that some are calling Super Acne. Super acne is acne caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria. Once this type of acne gets established it can be very difficult to get rid of.
To start, we need to understand how bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics in the first place. I think we’ve all heard about methacillin resistant staph (MRSA). Frequent use of antibiotics led to the development of resistance.
Bacteria continually multiply and as they do genetic mutations can occur. Rarely, a mutation occurs that makes bacteria resistant to an antibiotic.
Groups of bacteria compete for the nutrients needed to grow and multiply. The resistant bacterium is just one of millions. When an antibiotic kills off all the sensitive bacteria it removes that competition. The resistant bacteria is then free to grow without restraint.
When penicillin came out it was effective against almost all bacteria. That’s no longer the case. For the same reason, using antibiotics to treat acne has made the bacteria that cause acne resistant to antibiotics.
Physicians are aware of this and are getting away from using antibiotics for acne. Not too long ago it was relatively common for a physician to prescribe a daily low dose of an antibiotic, often tetracycline or erythromycin, as the mainstay of their acne treatment program. That’s pretty uncommon today.
Fortunately, there are a lot of good treatment regimens today that don’t require antibiotics. One that I’ve seen help a lot of people very quickly is Acne Free In Three Days.
The three day part may be a bit of an exaggeration but the treatment program does does work. And it doesn’t call for antibiotics.
You can find a lot of good information on the prevention and treatment of acne and I suggest you look around. Best Acne Answers is a site I visit frequently. You may want to check out their page on super acne: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.
My personal opinion is that you should get a second opinion from a dermatologist before you take antibiotics for acne.
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