Acne Treatments Review

Over the years, I have tried quite a few acne treatments. So, I have decided to write a comprehensive list of everything that is available to acne treatments. I will then try to give you my opinions on how it works, estimate percentage of people that it actually works, cost, difficulties in obtaining it and all other information that I can think of. Again, I am not an medical expert on any of this. I am simply giving you my personal experiences and what I have seen with others. And I am quite observant of my surroundings.


Neutrogena (OTC) - This is one of the best OTC cosmetic / skin care brand that I absolutely trust. I have been using their products for years.

Biore pore strips (OTC) - Seems to work at first, but your blackheads will come back. Causes irritation for some people with very sensitive skin. Overall, not recommended.

Proactiv (OTC) - Only works for some, but all. Expensive treatment that uses benzoyl peroxide. You can actually buy benzoyl peroxide of different strength at the store.

Murad (OTC) - Uses salicylic acid as their main ingredient for acne treatment. Those that tend to have irritations with the use of salicylic acid should not even give this a try.

Birth control pill (prescription) - tend to work extremely well for some. Those that have acne on the cheeks and chin right before their period will benefit a lot from the right kind of Birth control pills. See my review on my experience with birth control pill.

Accutane (prescription) - extremely effective for the most difficult to treat acne. Last defense against acne and very hard for the dermatologist to give you a prescription. Last chance for those that exhausted all the options.

Antibiotics (many different kinds, prescription) - tend to work at first and with long term use, effectiveness will go down. Bacteria can develop resistance to antibiotic.

Benzoyl Peroxide (OTC) - works wonders for a lot of people that are tolerate of that stuff on the face. For those with sensitive skin, this will only irritate your skin even more.

Benzoyl Peroxide / cladmyin phosphate (prescription) - very effective combo gel, however will only benefit you when you don't have irritations with benzoyl peroxide. Most doctors can prescribe this one for you.

retin A (prescription) - Effective for a lot of person. Has to be used constantly, everyday to begin to achieve results in a week or even longer. Acne may get worse before it gets better. Your skin will be extra sensitive to the sun. So make sure you stay out of the sun and use a very good sun screen. My sunscreen is in my makeup so that I don't have to put any greasy sunscreen on my skin.

Topical antibiotics (prescription) - somewhat effective. Although, exactly how effective is hard to measure. I don't see the acne lesion getting better or worse. It just seems to be under control somewhat.

Review on birth control pills (Ortho Tri Cyclen) for acne

I wrote this entry a while ago, haven't posted it due to being busy. Here it is finally, I took the picture recently so that you can get a better understanding of this drug:


It's been exactly 28 days since I started taking Ortho Tri Cyclen for acne. I just wanted to give you guys an update on how this is for me so far. There are lots of mini reviews and experiences on people taking this for acne on acne.org. Good ones and bad ones. Do go there and check it out if you want to get a feel of this drug from real people suffering from acne.

So Ortho Tri Cyclen has four different pills, each 7 pills. The first three have different dosage of norgestimate and ethinyl estradiol. The last seven have no hormones and your period is suppose to come sometimes during those 7 days. see picture below as to what this drug looks like.

I started on Sunday 28 days ago. What I noticed most is the texture of my skin changing after 3 or 4 days of taking this. It was a lot softer and smoother to the touch which I never had before. If you have curious, you can see some of my before photos in an earlier post, post name hyperlink it. My skin was very rough and dull. I still broke out while on this drug. A little bit here and there. Nothing major and usually goes away within a day or two. My period was irregular because it came when it was suppose to right in the middle of the pills and lasted at least 14 days.

I didn't notice any symptoms such as weight gain, vomiting or upset stomach. But again I only took it for 28 days. Overall, I didn't feel any different other than the changes with my skin. I have some pictures of my skin for your reference. Again, you can find the before pictures in my other post. I will give more updates for Ortho Tri Cyclen after I finish another pack.

Visit to the Dermatologist

So, December 14th is finally here and I got to see the dermatologist. I couldn't sleep the night before I was kind of anxious and worried at the same time. What if he prescribe me Accutane? Is it going to permanently solve my acne problems? What if not? What am I suppose to do if he will not?


I went there and told him about my situation. Also, showed him my pictures at the worst time in the month where my forehead was full of red pimples. Then, he asked me to tell him my history of all the drugs/treatments I have been doing for acne. I told him all the over the counter and prescription medicines that I took; which included many face washes, different antibiotics, gels/creams and Accutane. He specifically asked me about Accutane which I told him I only took it for one month on low dose (10mg) per day. He said it's not enough to get rid of my acne. So, naturally I asked him for Acctuane. But he refused; instead gave me more gels/creams that I have used in the past. So what a waste of time!
My mom said I should not fill the prescription, which I agree. My mom suggested that I go see my primary care doctor again and see if he has anything else that will help. So we went on December 18th to see him. I waited over an hour to see him because he had so many patients. Well, it was good after all because at least he didn't say anything about it's going to go away and give me more gels/creams. He said that he thinks that birth control pill, more specifically Ortho Tri Cyclen is going to help with my problem. Come to think of it, my acne does tend to flare up significantly around the time of my period. Other times, my skin tends to heal and there are less acne. So, I got the Ortho Tri Cyclen the generic one Trinessa. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will have a beneficial effect on my skin. I will write another post on exactly how it is affecting me so far.