Resistance to clindamycin

[alonzo_meatman]

Hello,

I'm 30 years old, and I have moderate acne, mostly around my mouth.  I use a 1% clindamycin solution called Clindagel.  I've been using it for about 6 months.

I'm concerned about bacterial resistance.

What is the likelihood that the bacteria on my skin will become resistant to the Clindagel?  Is inevitable?  

I asked my dermatologist about this, and she had a very "oh, don't worry about it" attitude that, of course, made me worry.  She said that resistance is rare and usually only develops after a number of years.  However, she also made a comment to the effect of, "Well, it's not like you're using an oral antibiotic, so it's not like there's nowhere to go after this."  I took that to mean that eventually, I'll have to go on an oral antibiotic.  After that, god knows what I'm supposed to do.

The Clindagel works pretty well at reducing acne, but I don't want to use it if it means that I'm going to have bigger problems in the long run.  Acne ***** and all, but I don't want to have some kind of super-acne that will make me increasingly dependent on antibiotics.  If that was the case, I'd just stop using the Clindagel and learn to live with the acne.

If resistance does develop, is there any way to recover from it?  Or has the bacteria advanced to a more 'evolved' state, from which there's no going back?

[loiloi]

Hi. Due to the possibility of building up a resistance it is not advisable to treat acne with different oral and topical antibiotics at the same time. Beyond this, you need not worry.
Ask your doctor for a topical synthetic retinoid called Differin which is more effective than topical antibiotics.
Eloise.