Dealing with acne in Singapore: How to get clearer skin

Your skin deserves to be in its best health, but persistent acne outbreaks tend to make that difficult. You might have already tried all of the traditional and non-traditional remedies, with little or no success. In this article, we will discuss the most effective treatments for acne to achieve clearer skin in Singapore.

Perhaps the most often encountered solutions consist of simple lifestyle changes. Washing your face and pillow sheets regularly, changing facial masks regularly, staying makeup free over the weekend or dietary changes can contribute to healthy skin, but do these tweaks solve the issue of acne outbreaks?

The answer is most likely not, as dermatologic hygiene should be considered a must in everyone’s lifestyle and not a solution for a medical condition.

Do Over-The-Counter Medication Work For Acne?

Pharmacies offer a wide variety of over-the-counter (OTC) or off-the-shelf treatments, many of which might include familiar acne-fighting ingredients such as salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, or tea tree oil. However, the success rates of these products are of varying effectiveness and may or may not work for all skin or acne types.

Adult acne or even some forms of teenage acne usually reside on a clinical level and require professional help to combat.

Other times, the actual problem is not in the products themselves, but in the common perception we have about managing our acne. Simply slathering on derma skincare products will not get rid of your acne unless the root problem of your acne is properly addressed.

If your acne breakouts are persistent, it is recommended to have an aesthetic doctor or dermatologist analyze your skin condition and then provide you with a proper acne treatment plan in order to see prominent and long-lasting results.

Common Types Of Acne In Singapore

To properly explore the different forms of treatment, we need to identify the most common types of acne.

Blackheads and whiteheads

Blackheads and mild acne outbreaks are on the milder side of the acne scale, as occasional encounters can commonly be treated with products such as Differin or other benzoyl peroxide-based items.

Inflammatory acne

Inflammatory acne is a more severe form, oftentimes encountered in women during adulthood.  Severe acne may also carry scarring of the skin as a symptom and usually require professional care, but minor outbreaks are often treated with azelaic acid-based remedies.

The more common pharmaceutical treatments can help to remove this type of severe acne, granting you clearer skin, if the condition is not too severe.

Are Home Remedies Effective?

Home remedies are often times effective against very mild cases, but can also become damaging in the long-run if done incautiously. Popping pimples or using toothpaste as acne treatment are not the way to go!

Ultimately, the most effective way to clear acne is with medical treatments. An aesthetic doctor will conduct an in-depth analysis of your skin and lifestyle to find the actual cause of your acne, making matters much easier to treat.

With this information, they can curate an acne treatment plan specially designed to treat and remove acne, step by step. 

While most off the shelf products may efficiently take care of temporary breakouts, a medical professional will treat the cause of the outbreak and thus, alleviate its symptoms (i.e. redness, swelling, pain). This way, not only will you be in safe hands, but the results of your treatment will last you a lifetime.

What To Expect From Your Treatments

Regardless of which strategy you adopt, give it time! Acne treatments are not magic pills which grant instantaneous results, especially when you are treating the cause of the problem, not its symptoms.

If you follow through an acne treatment plan, be patient in terms of results. It can be frustrating when results don’t show immediately, especially for severe acne, but like all skin problems, it takes time for treatments to take effect.

Acne outbreaks can be caused by a wide variety of factors, each one of these requiring individual care, until the problem is entirely solved. Hormonal instability, epidermis-level hygiene, alimentation and genetics are just a few of the common causes of acne, meaning that besides the medical treatment, certain lifestyle habits may also require changes.

It can be consoling to know that when treating acne using medical methods, you are also able to tackle accompanying skin imperfections simultaneously, such as accumulation of dead skin cells (thereby reducing future acne outbreaks), redness, or acne scars. 

How Do Acne Treatment Plans Help?

When your acne becomes too severe, or are unabated by salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide from OTC medications, seeing a dermatologist may help. Nowadays, customized acne treatment plans can provide significant results for patients who find that conventional treatments ineffective for their acne problems. 

At Illumia Medical, the signature acne treatment is Forever Clear™ Acne Program, and this is tailored according to your skin’s needs. Whether you have dry skin and experience the occasional cystic acne or suffer from an oily T-zone area with whiteheads, our board-certified aesthetic doctors have over 20 years of experience to help you find the solution that suits you best.

The Costs of Different Acne Treatments

Different forms of treatment have different prices, depending on factors such as skin type, desired goals and the severity of the situation. While certain home remedies could be free, as most of the items used are commonly found in the kitchen, other forms of treatment come at different costs.