Brief Answer:
Inflammatory Acne with PIH
Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Acne is a very common problems among young people and can occur well beyond teenage years sometimes in people well into their thirties or even fourties.
Looking at the picture, your is a case of moderate acne(grade II).
You have inflammatory papules/pustules and also post-inflammatory
hyperpigmentation (PIH).
If I were your treating doctor I would have wished to start you on one of the
oral antibiotics like Azithromycin/ Doxycycline/
Minocycline for your inflammatory acne(papules and pustules).
General measures:
>Use a mild cleanser like cetaphil twice daily
>Avoid all creams, moisturisers, sunscreens that you may be using for the time being till you are on anti acne treatment.
>Avoid taking facials.
>Avoid picking your acne.
>Use an Anti-dandruff shampoo since acne is worsened by dandruff.
Specific treatment:
Topical treatment is a valuable adjunct to any form of acne treatment. Dermatologists around the world prescribe topical gels/creams containing topical antibiotics like either
clindamycin 1%/
benzoyl peroxide 2.5%/
Nadifloxacin or combination of these during the day time and topical retinoids like Adapalene0.1%/
Tretinoin 0.025%/ Azaleic acid 10%/ Azaleic acid 20% at the night time either alone or in combination with clindamycin gel (pre-formulated combinations are available on prescription)
Topical treatment has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory effect and normally show noticable improvement by 2-4 weeks.
Topical treatment regimen especially the one which includes one of the retinoids that I mentioned above also helps to fade away the marks (post inflammatory hyperpigmentation)(PIH)
I would advice that you visit a dermatologist and get a prescription out of these drugs.
If you have any more query regarding this, you can ask me further..
take care
regards
Dr. kakkar