Super Acne – How Dangerous Is It?

There’s a discouraging new skin condition that some are calling Super Acne.  Super acne is acne caused by bacterial that are resistant to antibiotics.  Once this type of acne gets established it can be very difficult to get rid of.

To start, we need to understand how antibiotic resistance comes about in the first place.  By now, most people have heard of methacillin resistant staph  (MRSA).  Super acne cam about in the same way.

Bacteria multiply rapidly and as they do mutations occur.  Eventually, a mutation occurs that makes bacteria unaffected by to an antibiotic.

Groups of bacteria compete for the nutrients needed to grow and multiply.  If a resistant bacterium comes up with a lot of other bacteria around it can’t multiply very rapidly. When an antibiotic kills off all the sensitive bacteria it removes that competition.  This leaves the resistant bacteria to multiply rapidly and take over.

When penicillin was first developed it was effective against almost all bacteria.  Now almost all bacteria are resistant to it. By the same mechanism, using antibiotics to treat acne has made the bacteria that cause acne are becoming more resistant the more anitbiotics are used.

Because of this, physicians are less likely to prescribe antibiotics for acne.  Not too long ago doctors frequently prescribed a daily low dose of an antibiotic, often tetracycline or erythromycin, as the mainstay of their acne treatment program.  That’s pretty uncommon today.

The good news is that there are a lot of good treatment programs today that yield great skin without resorting to antibiotics.  A program that’s helped a lot of people is Acne Free In Three Days.

They may be exaggerating when they say three days in the title but the treatment program does help people quickly. And it doesn’t call for antibiotics.

There are a lot of good sources on acne treatment available and I suggest you do some research.   Best Acne Answers always seem to have reliable information.  They have  page on super acne you should see:The Rise Of Super Acne – Is Anyone Safe?

If at some point a physician does want to prescribe an antibiotic for acne talk about the reasons why very carefully.  It may be the best move for you, but should probably be used only as a last resort.

My personal opinion is that you should get a second opinion from a dermatologist before you take antibiotics for acne.