When I was a teenager, I had pretty bad acne. It wasn’t social-career crippling, but it was bad enough that my freshman year in college my parents agreed to fund a course of Accutane.
It lasted about three months. I had some minor side effects (excessive shedding of dead skin), and it was a resounding success. In the 20 years since then, acne has been no sort of trouble for me at all. I’ve had maybe one small pimple a year, tops.
What I’ve always wondered is, how did it work? I can understand if Accutane suppresses the action of the glands that produce zit-related oils, but I’d think that would only be effective while I was actually taking the Accutane. I wouldn’t think the effect would linger.
Unless the Accutane caused permanent damage to those glands, but I wouldn’t think it would be a safe drug if that were the case. I’m sure I need those glands.
A dermatologist tried to convince me to try accutane, and when he did, he basically said that it worked by permanently disabling the glands that produce oil. I thought I remembered him saying that it actually destroyed those glands, which was one of the reasons I refused to take it. Also, my doctor’s office required all female patients to sign a waiver agreeing to a monthly pregnancy test, and also required all patients to sign a waiver that they wouldn’t sue if there were accutane-related problems further down the road. Scared the crap outta me, so I refused.
Anyway, here’s a link: How does accutane work? It seems that they’re not really sure how the drug works, but it reduces the size of your oil glands. It’s a retinoid medication, which I think means a really potent form of Vitamin E. I am not a doctor or medical professional, though, so someone else will probably have better info than I do.