Acne Medication Visit: A Record Sheet to Bring to Your Dermatologist

Prepare before the visit	Detail	Basis
What the doctor checks	Medicines you used before and how you reacted, other medicines, family history, whether you scar easily; for women, also cosmetics and how regular your cycle is	Korean Dermatological Association · institution
Information to share	The cosmetics and oral medicines you were using up to the visit	Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) · institution
When to revisit the plan	If there is no improvement after 6 to 8 weeks of steady use under a doctor’s care, the approach is changed	KDCA · institution
Adult acne patterns	Persistent acne flares around your period; late-onset acne centers on the lower jaw	Korean Dermatological Association · institution

What should you write down before the visit?

Put on one sheet when it started, where it shows up, what you have tried, and how your skin reacted. The Korean Dermatological Association, a professional society in Korea, says doctors check these points carefully before starting care.

Acne returns when you stop the medicine. Do you keep taking it?

It is not set up as the same medicine for life; your doctor splits care into a phase that calms acne down and a maintenance phase, and decides each at the visit. Under the 2025 Swiss guideline, about a 50% drop in inflammatory lesions within 3 months counts as reaching the short-term goal.

Who decides how long you take oral antibiotics, and what about resistance?

The prescribing doctor decides how long, and you do not extend or stop them on your own. Write your start date and how many pills are left in your log and check at your follow-up.

How do you cut back your skincare while using acne medicine?

The KDCA says topical medicines can cause dryness and flaking, so avoid frequent soap washing and scrubbing off flakes, and use a moisturizer after washing. Do not add new skincare; ask in the exam room which steps to drop.

Acne record sheet to bring to the exam room

Item	What to write	Example
When it started	When it first appeared, when it got worse	Since the winter of my first year at work; every exam season
Areas and counts	Counts for forehead, cheeks, chin, back, and chest; dates photos were taken	Chin 6, 3 photos
Type	Tiny bumps, red bumps, pus, painful lumps	2 painful lumps on the chin
What you tried	Drugstore products, past prescriptions, cosmetic names (exactly as on the package), how long you used them, your reaction	Used 4 weeks, stopped because it stung
What you take	Every medicine and supplement you take now	Allergy medicine, probiotics
Menstrual cycle	Start date, when it gets worse, whether it is regular	Worse the week before my period
Scars and family history	Any pitted marks, anyone in the family who had it badly	Older brother has scars
Pregnancy and plans	Pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning	No plans within a year
Questions to ask	How long to use it, when to come back, skincare to drop, cost	Follow-up date

When should you take this sheet to a dermatologist?

• If swollen, painful lumps keep coming back or pitted marks start to form, take your record sheet to a dermatologist.
• If there is no improvement after 6 to 8 weeks of steady use of what was prescribed, discuss changing the approach at your follow-up.
• If your periods are irregular and hair growth has increased, mention it at the visit and ask whether hormone tests are needed.
• If acne is bringing your mood down, bring that up with your dermatologist too.

Evidence behind this record sheet

• A 2024 Cochrane overview (PMID 39440650) pulled together 6 systematic reviews covering 40,910 acne patients and concluded that no approach had high-certainty evidence.
• In a 2024 trial of 88 people with mild to moderate acne (PMID 38102855), the group that used a dermatological skincare routine alongside prescription topicals had an irritation score of 1.6 on day 14, lower than 2.4 in the regular skincare group.
• The KDCA reports that in Korea in 2021, adults aged 20 and older made up 63.1% of patients seen for acne.