When acne needs a doctor, and when it doesn’t
Most acne does not need a doctor. That is worth saying first, because a lot of what you will read online is written by people selling something.
Ask us about your skin or read on firstAcne is inflammation, not a hygiene problem.
It happens when a follicle blocks, oil and keratin build up behind the blockage, and bacteria that live on everyone’s skin multiply in that environment. Hormones drive how much oil is produced, which is why acne clusters around adolescence and the early twenties, and why it can persist well past both. Washing more does not fix it, and scrubbing usually makes inflammation worse.
Over-the-counter care, honestly.
Products containing benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid or adapalene are genuinely useful for comedonal acne — blackheads, whiteheads, the scattered small spots. They work slowly. Six to twelve weeks of consistent use is a fair trial, and stopping early is the single most common reason people conclude that nothing works.
What they reach less well is deeper inflammatory acne: tender red lesions that sit under the surface, take weeks to settle, and leave marks behind. That is a different process, and no amount of topical care applied to the surface changes what is happening several millimetres beneath it.
Why timing matters.
Scarring is not caused by picking alone, though picking does not help. It happens when inflammation damages the collagen structure of the dermis. Deeper and longer-lasting inflammation carries more risk, and the damage is permanent in a way the acne itself is not.
Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation — the brown or red marks left after a spot settles — usually fades over months. True scarring, the kind that changes the texture of the skin, does not. Treating persistent inflammatory acne earlier reduces how much of it accumulates. Treating it later does not undo what has formed.
That is not a reason to panic about every spot. It is a reason not to spend three years cycling through products while inflammatory acne continues.
When it is worth seeing a doctor.
It is painful or deep
Lesions sit under the surface and take more than a week or two to settle.
You are already scarring
The texture of the skin is changing, not just the colour.
A real trial has failed
Three months of a consistent topical routine without meaningful change.
It is not only your face
Back, chest or shoulders are involved as well.
It flares in a pattern
Timing that suggests a hormonal driver worth investigating.
It is affecting how you live
What you do, who you see, how you feel about being looked at. That is a legitimate medical reason, not a vanity one, and you do not have to justify it.
When you probably do not need to.
If your acne is mild, mostly comedonal, not scarring, and you have not yet given a simple topical routine a proper run, a consultation will most likely end with advice to do exactly that. There is no harm in coming, but you should know that is the likely outcome.
What an assessment actually involves.
A consultation is a conversation and an examination. The doctor will ask how long it has been going on, what you have already tried and for how long, whether it runs in your family, what your cycle is like if that is relevant, what medicines you take, and how it is affecting you. Then he will look at the distribution and the type of lesions, and at whether there is scarring already.
From that, you will be told what kind of acne you have and what the reasonable options are, including doing nothing differently. Where treatment needs monitoring, that is explained before anything starts — what the schedule is, what is checked along the way, and how long it runs.
You will be told the cost of anything before it happens.
Cost, and where to find us.
Acne assessment is $38.15 including GST. Medicines and any tests are charged separately and quoted before they are dispensed or arranged.
The clinic is at Kitchener Complex, 809 French Road, #02-32, less than five minutes’ walk from Lavender MRT. You can walk in during GP hours, or message us on WhatsApp to arrange a time.
If you are under 18, a parent or guardian needs to come with you for the first visit. What parents should know →
