Topical agents alone in acne. a blind assessment study
Swinyer, L.J.; Swinyer, T.A.; Britt, M.R.
JAMA 243(16): 1640-1643
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0098-7484 PMID: 6444678 Document Number: 158629
The comparative effectiveness of three comprehensive therapeutic programs was studied in 118 patients with mild to moderate acne vulgaris. A topical program of tretinoin, benzoyl peroxide, and water avoidance was found to be as effective as the more commonly employed program of systemic tetracycline therapy with topically applied tretinoin and better than a program using systemic tetracycline therapy with abradant cleansers. At 16 weeks of therapy for all groups, the degree of skin dryness correlated with lack of improvement. Skin dryness is established as an aggravating factor in both the pathogenesis and treatment of acne. The topical program was nonirritating, well accepted by patients, and less expensive than the other two regimens.