What is Oxytetracycline?
Oxytetracycline is a general, broad use antibiotic that’s used to treat a few different infections. You’ll often see it prescribed for common skin infections like acne, as well as rosacea.
Acne is a skin condition that can sometimes be caused by hormonal changes or a large amount of bacteria clogging up your pores. Rosacea is more of a long-term skin condition that goes through periods of remission and flare. If you have rosacea, you’ll get periods where the skin on your face, particularly on your cheeks, becomes red and flushed. It’s not known what causes it.
Oxytetracycline is used to treat acne caused by bacteria and works by killing off bacterial cells, by stopping them from making a self-sustaining protein. It comes as a tablet and will normally be taken once a day for up to three months.
We don’t know a lot about rosacea, but studies have shown that tetracycline antibiotics like Oxytetracycline are effective at treating it when it’s accompanied by acne.
How does Oxytetracycline work?
Acne is mostly caused by two things: hormonal imbalances, which is why it is common in teenagers going through puberty and pregnant women; and bacteria. In people with a type of rosacea called acne rosacea, they’ll usually get spots as well as the common flushing and redness across the face.
The pores in your skin produce a chemical called sebum. Sebum works to keep your hair and skin nice and healthy. When your glands overproduce sebum it can block or clog your pores and attract large amounts of bacteria. Although usually harmless, when there’s more of it than usual, this bacteria can cause spots.
Oxytetracycline works by limiting the growth of the bacteria. It does this by stopping the bacteria from making the self-sustaining proteins that it needs to survive. As a result, the bacteria is weakened and killed by your body's immune system.
What doses of Oxytetracycline are there?
Oxytetracycline 250mg is the only dose available. If you have a more severe form of acne then the prescriber might recommend you take an increased dose of 500mg. (This will just be two 250mg tablets a day instead of one.)
There are other antibiotics that might work better if Oxytetracycline doesn’t help with your acne. So if your symptoms don’t get better when you’re taking it, let your prescriber know.