ANTIBIOTICS + DERMAL TREATMENTS

Our Senior Dermal Therapist Sarah shares her experience and thoughts on the use of anti-biotics during dermal treatments.

When it comes to antibiotics and skin treatments it is imperative for your skin therapist to fully understand the complexity of antibiotic use AND be confident in their interaction with skincare to ascertain which dermal treatments are safe and which are contraindicated. I consider this to be a basic duty of care that all dermal therapists should abide by. A recent incident with a client has prompted me to write this blog. 

A couple of weeks ago a client popped in off the street to ask for skin advice -  on meeting her and sitting down to discuss her very extensive pigmentation issues, I dove deeper in to her medical/skin history.  This is when the client made me aware that she had been taking antibiotics for the past 12 months to treat her acne. All good so far...

I was very surprised, and quite frankly disgusted, to find out that she had
been attending a skin clinic where they advised her on LED/Omnilux being
a good treatment option for her acne. The clinic was aware she was taking antibiotics, a known contraindication for LED Treatment. 

The sad reality is that this was NOT the best thing for he...or anyone in this
situation. There are MANY factors as to why you shouldn’t receive certain skin
treatments whilst on topical or oral Antibiotics and prescription Retin A: 

 Light sensitivity, meaning any minimal to extreme light exposure is
heightened 
 Skin sensitivity (skin feels raw and tender) 
 Possible rashes and redness/flushing 
 Skin irritation/itching 
 Stops your natural oil production, therefore making your skin
vulnerable to the outside elements  

This client, unbeknownst to her had been encouraging this new-
found pigment to appear, by receiving LED/Omnilux treatments during
this past year.  There is no doubt that this is the main reason to my new client’s entire face being covered by pigmentation.  She is now not only battling her original issue of acne and acne scarring, but also the aftermath of
one clinics poor advice.

Please do your research and always ask questions.