explosive acne accutain

My 17 year son has gone from competely clear skin to explosive acne in 3 months with lots of redness only in the beard area an no where else on body.    2 months ago, dermatoligist also diagnosed a form of impetigo on right side of face in beard area.  He has been on augmentum for a month and cleared up.  Now he is on 3rd antibiotic to try and  clear up acne and the impetigo "leisons" (lack of better word) have returned and we can't get in to doc for 3 days.  Do you think this could be a fungus. He has also been prescirbed many topical cream, etc. Nothing working as they all seem to irritate and dry out his sensitive skin.  Doctor has seen him 6 times in last 3 months. Should he try accutain?

[loiloi]

Hi. To rebalance sensitive skin irritated by topical acne remedies use a bland cleanser and moisturiser, La Roche-Posay is my favorite brand.
It is usually better to persevere with one antibiotic for a fair trial (of at least 12 weeks) rather than switch before one brand has had time to work.
Accutane is usually only prescribed for severe nodular acne which has not responded to a fair trial of oral antibiotics and topical preparations. It must be taken for between 16 and 24 weeks at a dose related to the patients weight. Accutane has many potential side effects including dry lips, red and fragile skin, muscle and joint pain, an increase or decrease in hair growth and mood changes. This must be balanced against the fact that it is the drug must likely to result in a long term remission from acne. 80% of patients have clear skin after one course lasting 16 to 24 weeks. 20% need further courses.
Eloise.

[Dakotawinks]

My son has the exact same thing. It breaks my heart because I know it makes him insecure. I was reading, and I came across something that you might want to google yourself and check out. We have sebum (an oil) that we produce. Most the time it helps our skin stay soft, but some people can make too much of this oil. Well when this happens it blocks the hair follicles and when this happens it makes the skin a breeding place for bacteria which in return causes acne. My son has really bad acne in his "beard" area just like yours. I"m thinking and I"m no doctor, but it seems as if he must produce too much of this oil and it is causes his hair follicels to clog. Ok, check this one out as well but I have my son trying this. If he can get a face wash with sulfur in it, you can get a prescription or there is a product called "On a Clear Day" which now that I'm looking for it, I can't find, a company named Philosopy or something like that makes it. Anyway, Sulfur face wash and zinc oxide cream as well as the supplements. The oxide in the cream is suppose to help give "oxygen" to the face. Anyway, I know you probably think I"m nuts, but google it, and you'll see for yourself.
Thanks and good luck
Dakota

[horse1]

My son was taking 500 mg tetracycline twice a day (along with topical retin A and Duac anti-bacterial) for about 3 mos and the acne cleared up until he stopped the tetra. The acne came back terribly.

After talking to his PPC, she told me that you cannot quit the anti-biotics "cold turkey". You must wean over a 3-4 week period but reduce the dosage say 25 mgs a day for several days, and then cut it another 25 mgs a day, and so on. It worked!!

However, the acne has since returned (son has been away at college and I suspect he's not being consistent with the treatment). You MUST continue the prescribed treatments as directed, even if there are no breakouts..

[kittyyy]

as for the impetaigo, my sister has had it and its a pretty bad skin infection. im sure you heard this from the doc but its a bacteia thats pretty contagious that gets into open wounds. aka acne is PERFECT for it (adds insult to injury right?). the less he touches it the better but its similar to staph infection in that only antibiotics will clear it up. i woldnt reccommend any acne treatment on it for now though.  also, if your son does have a beard, reccommend shaving less slash not as close to the skin. some of those "pimples" may be caused by irritation and ingrown hairs.

[Neamom]

This is Neamom.  It is a couple months down the line now.  My son continued to have outbreaks of "impetigo" and acne.  A culture was finally done first of the year and came back as MRSA.  This is the reason all the different anti-biotics were not helping.  The culture came with a sesitivity/resistant report and he was finally put on one of the few anti-biotics that work on MRSA.  They have cleared up the MRSA, however he is left with lots of red/purple marks and some scarring.  He is still on a anti-biotic and the acne is under-control.  He is having skin peels to help with red marks and scarring with ok results.  This was the first MRSA case for our derm. dr.  (We all wish we a culture had been done with first outbreak in the Fall as it would have minimized scars.)  I would suggest to everyone out there if you are diagnosed with impetigo to "demand" a skin culture be done.  Good Luck!