Over
counter, sometimes referred to as otc for short, products are starting to become an increasingly popular alternative to prescription medication in treatment of acne. These products are readily available as you don't need a prescription from your doctor to buy them and for people with mild to moderate forms of acne best over counter treatments will be just as effective as more expensive prescribed ones.Besides being cheaper, these products often have little, or no side effects, in comparison to some of highly publicised prescribed antibiotic drugs used by doctors.
Although there are lots of over counter acne products on sale, really there are only two kinds of treatments available - either medicated or natural. Both types utilise basically same technique by using a drying agent to exfoliate skin and to combat acne and pimples.
Usually, in case of a medicated product, this is either benzoyl peroxide, salycic acid or glycolic acid. Natural products tend to use combinations of ingredients and plant extracts like vitamin E, tea tree oil, aloe vera, witch hazel, green tea extract, cucumber etc.
There seems to be a growing number of different treatments but usually over counter products come in form of topical cleansers, soaps, washes, lotions, creams, gels or even pads and patches that are applied onto skin.
When using these kind of preparations it is important, that you cover all of area where you have acne because then you will also be treating hidden blemishes that you can’t yet see as well as acne breakouts that you can.
Expect some trials and errors as you experiment with different treatments available, it may take you a while before you find right type or combination of products that work for you. Whatever you do, don’t use more than one treatment at a time, particularly with medicated products, discontinue one before you try out another.
