Does alcohol produce acne vulgaris worse and does alcohol affect the acne medications and treatments out there? It appears the connection concerning alcohol abuse and acne has not been described, as alcohol abuse may go undetected (as this is thought, the least of the patient's issues with alcohol abuse!) in a general clinic, unless of course specifically highlighted. Regarding acne vulgaris, alcohol has a strong impact on the disease fighting capability function and induces changes in the small blood vessels in the skin. We are all aware of the vasodilator effect (widening of blood vessels in the skin) of alcohol consumption by flushing of the face, especially the cheeks and the nose.

It is shown that alcohol has a dramatic affect on some skin condition, for instance Eczema and Psoriasis. Another indicators of alcohol abuse are acne rosacea, superficial infections and post adolescent acne vulgaris. The relevance of the effects to alcohol-related to acne is proven to be quite significant.

A medical research study, by Doctors Larsen, Held and Nielsen-Kudsk investigated the effects of alcohol on isotretinoin, the effective acne medication for extreme acne. In the presence of alcohol, 7 of 11 patients had a major weekly alcohol consumption, no changes were reported in the effectiveness of isotretinoin. Therefore, during long term isotretinoin treatment, alcohol does not influence the action of isotretinoin on acne treatment. The other four patients in the research showed no worsening of their acne with quite significant alcohol intake.

Now, this begs the question how much alcohol can be consumed before having effects on the body. Indeed, some physicians recommend quite small quantities of alcohol, to increase blood circulation, in particular in the small blood vessels supplying blood to heart muscle. So the overall scientific and medical consensus, at this time, is that firstly alcohol does not have an effect on the efficacy of a few of the acne vulgaris medications and second of all, does not make acne a whole lot worse. However, this will depend upon patients consuming small volumes of alcohol. As we all know, acne vulgaris and subsequent scarring can have serious psychological affects upon some patients which does lead to those patients consuming huge amounts of alcohol. It is these patients that require to be supervised quite closely, for these unfortunate cycle of events, to prevent the irresponsible drinking and subsequent liver problems.

Reference British Journal of Dermatology. 2009. F. G. Larsen; P. J. C. Larsen; M. E. Held and F. Nielsen-Kudsk. The metabolism and pharmacokinetics of isotretinoin in patients with acne and rosacea are not influenced by ethanol! 161, Issue 3, Pages 664 - 670

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