Aczone Review

What Is Aczone?

Aczone gel is a prescription-only topical medication used to treat acne. It contains dapsone as the active ingredient and is the only product in the US to use it. Studies have shown that dapsone 5% results in a substantial reduction of acne, both inflammatory and non-inflammatory, with side effects that could include headache, a runny nose, dryness, redness, oiliness, and peeling of the skin being treated.  Aside from all this, many experts have said that using dapsone in a topical gel is a novel, effective and safe approach to treating acne.

Ingredients

Aczone uses 5% dapsone as their active ingredient.

A Caution To Users Of Aczone

Aczone is in the FDA pregnancy category C. This means that it is not known whether it will be . harmful to an unborn baby. There are also  several other severe warnings to note before considering taking Aczone.

• When taken orally as a pill, dapsone, is known to cause hemolytic anemia. In fact, you are advised to be on alert for signs and symptoms suggestive of this type of anemia (sudden onset of: back pain, breathlessness, tiredness/weakness with daily activities, dark-brown urine, high fever, and yellow or pale skin). If you experience these signs and symptoms, stop use and call your doctor immediately.
• Do not use if you are taking oral dapsone for any other problems.
• Don’t use Aczone if you are below 12 years of age.
• If you are on anti-malaria treatment you shouldn’t take Aczone.
• For obvious reason, if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant do not take Aczone.
• Since Aczone will pass through your breast milk to your baby, if you are breastfeeding your child do not take Aczone.
• If you have a glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency do not take Aczone.
• If you have a liver disease take caution when taking Aczone.

If you fall under any of the categories listed on the bullet points above, then you may require a dosage adjustment or special monitoring, or simply you may not be able to use Aczone. Also, on their website they tell us that the use of benzoyl peroxide together with Aczone may cause your skin to temporarily turn yellow or orange at the site of application.

Our Final Word

So how does Aczone work? Well, we are not sure, and neither is the company. When asked on the official site they answer that “it’s complicated”. They also say later that how it works is unclear, but clinical study results show that it reduces acne without causing a lot of irritation.  We are not really buying it.  With so many restrictions, cautionary steps, and side affects, unless you get desperate enough, we suggest finding another solution to your acne flare-ups.