Brief Answer:
Treatment for Dandruff and Acne

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to healthcaremagic

I am Dr. Kakkar. I have gone through your query and I have understood it.

You have 2 main concerns :

-Dandruff
-Acne

Dandruff or seborrheic dermatitis is an important cause of scalp itching and increased hair shedding. Controlling dandruff effectively would control your hair fall problem too. Since dandruff is bound to recur, therefore rather than using a regular shampoo, people with dandruff should use an antidandruff shampoo to keep dandruff under check.

If I was your treating doctor I would have asked you to use an antidandruff lotion/shampoo. My choice is 2% ketoconazole shampoo(Scalpe lotion), thrice weekly OR even daily, for 2-4 weeks.

However sometimes a shampoo alone seems insufficient. In such a case your dermatologist might choose to prescribe you a topical steroid lotion(clobetasol or mometasone lotion e.g Topisal 3% lotion OR Elocon lotion ), to be applied once daily for 2 weeks.

The topical steroid lotion can be stopped once the dandruff is well controlled and thereafter the improvement can be sustained with just an anti-dandruff lotion/shampoo.

Regarding Acne, there is no one time solution as well. You need to be constantly taking care of your skin till at a certain when the tendency for new acne formation dies down, gradually.

Once your acne activity is under control, you need to use a maintenance gel, commonly a topical retinoid, to prevent the new lesions/comedones from developing.

-I usually start my patients of acne on topical benzoyl peroxide gel (e.g Microbenz 3.5 % gel, marketed by Sunpharma in India) OR Clindamycin gel (e.g clin 3 gel or clindac -A gel) for day time use.

-At night I as my patients to apply a topical retinoid e.g either Adapalene OR Adapalene+clindamycin combination. e.g Deriva-cms gel contains topical clindamycin along with adapalene in a gel formulation. While it is mainly used for acne, the retinoid component i.e adapalene increases the skin turnover and consequently decreases the contact time of keratinocytes with melanocytes, therefore it does has a lightening effect on post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.

-I also decide to start my patients on oral antibiotics if they have inflammatory acne e.g doxycycline 100mg once or twice daily.

-A gentle cleanser is recommended for face wash e.g cetaphil cleansing lotion rather than using a soap or face wash.

You could also opt for a few chemical peeling sessions (Salicylic acid peels) from a dermatologist for acne.

Hope this helps

Regards

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Brief Answer:
Acne and dandruff

Detailed Answer:
Hi.

Use Elocon lotion once daily at night for just 2 weeks and then stop.

Use Scalpe shampoo on alternate days for 2 weeks and thereafter twice weekly for maintenance.

For Acne, I would suggest Capsule Microdox-LBX 100 mg twice daily for 4 weeks, You can also use Epiduo gel once daily at night for 2 hours, only over acne. There are drugs available on prescription from a doctor and hence I recommend you visit a doctor before trying it.

Aziderm 20% gel over the whole affected area (acne+ acne spots), to be gently rubbed in, left overnight.

Sebamed soap is fine.

Regards

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