Accutane is an extremely popular alternative to your average acne solution. Essentially speaking, it’s prescribed only for those who have tried everything else and have acne that is so severe that every other treatment so far has failed. By this, I mean they have tried benzoyl peroxide, different types of retinol, and possibly salicylic acid or antibiotics. At this point, thousands have turned to Accutane as the final solution.

But there is a reason why Accutane is referred to as the last resort acne treatment. It comes with an extreme amount of side effects. You would expect to suffer dry skin, because frankly speaking Accutane works by drying out the oils in the cells, which is apparently responsible for acne. But you might not expect the severe birth defects even with just one dose during pregnancy, aching joints, headaches, depression, pink eye, sensitivity to light, nosebleeds, back pain, and even suicide in some cases.

This being said, Accutane is not always the ultimate solution. There are a number of different risk groups that are not accepted into the Accutane program for health reasons in general terms. For example, obviously if you have depression, you should never take Accutane. The biggest problem is that your skin and body need oils and moisturizers. Even if it’s water, water naturally moisturizes the skin. But Accutane eliminates all of it, both good and bad.

If Accutane were to eliminate excess oils or otherwise, then it would probably do a great job. Unfortunately speaking, just like many prescription and other options, Accutane goes too far. And while eventually your skin will recover even from some other harsher external treatments, many find that they never actually recover from the side effects associated with Accutane.