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How To Treat Acne?
My son starting taking docycline for acne 3 weeks ago. In the past, it has helped his acne. his face has gotten worse and really red. He lives in Arizona so is in the sun. Should he continue to take the medication?Does he need a steroid of some type?
posted on
Tue, 22 Apr 2014
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Sat, 24 May 2014
Answered on
Mon, 26 May 2014
Last reviewed on
Hello,
Welcome to healthcare magic.
I understand that your son has acne and has been put on oral doxycycline.
It generally takes 2-4 weeks for doxycycline to show results in the form of controlling acne. If it has helped him in the past, he could probably wait 2 more weeks before shifting to another drug.
However, doxycycline is associated with photosensitivity. It could make the skin prone to redness and burning on exposure to sunlight. This could be the reason for the redness of his skin. Though it is less common side effect compared to tetracycline, it is still a known side effect of the drug.
I suggest that he uses a gel based , broad spectrum sunscreen every 4 hours and avoid direct sun exposure between 10 am to 4 pm. If this does not seem to help, he could consider alternative anti-acne medications like oral Azithromycin or just topicals alone.
Steroids will not help acne and can cause acneiform eruptions. So please do not use steroids of any sort.
Hope this answers your query.
Take care.
Welcome to healthcare magic.
I understand that your son has acne and has been put on oral doxycycline.
It generally takes 2-4 weeks for doxycycline to show results in the form of controlling acne. If it has helped him in the past, he could probably wait 2 more weeks before shifting to another drug.
However, doxycycline is associated with photosensitivity. It could make the skin prone to redness and burning on exposure to sunlight. This could be the reason for the redness of his skin. Though it is less common side effect compared to tetracycline, it is still a known side effect of the drug.
I suggest that he uses a gel based , broad spectrum sunscreen every 4 hours and avoid direct sun exposure between 10 am to 4 pm. If this does not seem to help, he could consider alternative anti-acne medications like oral Azithromycin or just topicals alone.
Steroids will not help acne and can cause acneiform eruptions. So please do not use steroids of any sort.
Hope this answers your query.
Take care.
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