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Acne treatments

What is acne?

Acne is a common condition that causes spots and makes skin oily or even inflamed. It affects most people at some point in their lives.

What causes acne?

Acne is most often caused by changing hormone levels during puberty, the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. Our bodies can produce more oil than usual during these times which can block pores.

Everyone has harmless bacteria living on their skin. A build-up of oil in pores creates an ideal environment for the bacteria to multiply and cause inflammation. Oily skin care products, greasy moisturisers and hair products can also make acne worse.

The different types of acne

You may experience a combination of blackheads, whiteheads and small red bumps (papules), or white tipped spots (pustules). Some people also get large, hard lumps called nodules. You can even get cystic acne which is cysts that look more like boils and are most likely to cause scarring.

What are the symptoms?

Acne causes spots, oily skin, redness, and even skin that's painful to touch. While it’s most common on the face, you can also sometimes get acne on your back and chest. It appears as blackheads, whiteheads, small red bumps, or white tipped spots. Some people experience large, hard lumps or boil-like cysts.

How is it diagnosed?

Your GP can diagnose acne by looking at your skin for different types of spots. With a simple online consultation, one of our clinicians can also prescribe an acne treatment tailored to you.

We can find a combination that works from a wide range of acne tablets, like oral antibiotics and a contraceptive pill, to a medicated acne gel or cream. You’ll need to answer a few questions and upload a couple of images. It’s all completely confidential.

Once approved, we can deliver your acne treatment discreetly to your door. Or you can pick it up at your nearest Well Pharmacy.

Delivery and collection information



Acne FAQs