Do not stop Acne Treatment after a few days: It’s not something to be done in a day or a week. Acne treatment usually takes between 6-12 weeks to get the best results as the skin responds slowly to treatment and requires time to heal; so do not start worrying or changing dermatologists every now & then, but wait to see the changes in 1-3 months.
You skin might feel dry or irritated, it can even get worse before it gets better, but keep using the medicines regularly as advised by doctor.
Continue the treatment, use the same product: Stop changing & replacing treatment products like creams, lotions, oil etc so often. What people usually do is if they don’t get the expected results in a short time itself, they would try a different one and then continue that abandoning the former one. This will do no good for your skin; it might just be starting its effects on your skin and you are changing it.
If you try to treat acne all by yourself, be cautious, wrong methods or product usage can make acne lesions enlarge, more likely to pigment, and heal with spots and scars.
Do not Over-Scrub/Over-cleanse: Scrubbing once a while is good for your skin, but over-scrubbing can destroy your skin’s protective barriers resulting in itching/rashes/scars etc. Instead, gently wash with a mild, pH-balanced cleanser to lessen inflammation. It’s also important to thoroughly wash off the cleanser, because the residue can be irritating.
Stop using anything & everything for acnes that you find in market: Alkaline bar soaps, cleansers and alcohol-based products may worsen acne; always look for “non comedogenic” or “for acne-prone skin” products. Non comedogenic products don’t contain ingredients that tend to clog pores (usually found in some sunscreen lotions, cosmetics, moisturizers etc) in people with acne-prone skin.
Keep your hands off: Touching or picking pimples prolongs healing time and raises the risk of scarring. It can get infected and then spread across or get pushed further into the skin, leading to extended swelling and redness.Do not wait for the acne to start damaging your skin: Make an appointment with your dermatologist/ personal doctor the next moment your acne starts irritating you, causing rashes/ scars; lagging will result only in deep skin issues. Who knows, maybe you get it all done with some creams/lotions or even chemical peels if treated at right time.
Keep yourself motivated throughout the treatment: Use the medication as instructed. Over-usage won’t help clear the acne but causes more redness and dryness. You may feel de-moitvated or less interested after a couple of weeks; this is not advisable. Under-using the medication by spot-treating fails to prevent breakouts. Apply medication to the entire affected area that tends to break out, instead of spot treating. With spot treating, you haven’t addressed the area next to it, where another pimple could be brewing.
Acne cleared? Don’t stop your treatment yet: Taper medication usage by using it less and less (if you’ve been using it twice a day, use it once a day for a while, then once every other day, then twice a week, and then stop.) To keep skin blemish-free, most people need to continue usage with atleast one acne product.