As a person who went through acne myself in younger days, I had actually gone to NSC myself as a patient.
I was started on doxycycline, and kept on it for ages as I continued to outbreak and scar.
Albeit the dermatologist was an immensely qualified one, but one whom I felt didn’t take the next step for Isotretinoin, which would have benefited me.
Fast forward – I gave up and ended up going to a GP and asking for Isotretinoin, and he kindly explained what it was useful for. Acne gone!
As for a professional front in dealing with my own patients, I had a patient who had immensely bad chest acne, who saw a highly regarded dermatologist. He was started on an insanely high Accutane dosage with no improvement.
It took me five minutes of questioning to find out he frequently waxes his chest. I instructed him to hold that off, as thermal injury and ingrown hair was the likely cause, and also dropped his Accutane to 20 percent of the initial dose. His acne is now gone, and he is happily accepting my advice on other aspects.
Basically, don’t be fixated on just the qualifications. Find someone who is willing to sit through and talk to you about your issues, and work through it. I feel that’s key. Establish the trust and all will be fine!
