Overview of Clindamycin User Reviews

This section contains all of the individual user reviews and antibiotic susceptibilty rankings for Clindamycin (Cleocin, Dalacin).

If you have used clindamycin as a treatment for acne vulgaris, please share your experience and opinions.

Type of Treatment: Rx Medication – Antibiotic (Oral and Topical) - Lincosamide Family

How It Works: Clindamycin is an antibiotic. Antibiotics can improve acne symptoms by limiting the growth of bacteria that contribute to Acne Vulgaris.

When is this medication used? Clindamycin is is used for the treatment of all types of acne, from very mild to severe (Acne Types: 1-4).  In cases of moderate to severe acne (Acne Types: 3-4), clindamycin is often combined with complementary treatments.

Frequency of clindamycin Resistant P. acnes Bacteria: Common. (What does this mean?)

Official Name: Clindamycin
Popular Brand Names: Cleocin, Dalacin, Duac (Clindamycin and Benzoyl Peroxide) and Zindaclin.
Related Medications: Lincomycin, Novobiocin, Erythromycin, Azithromycin, Clarithromycin.

Important Note: The information provided on this site is intended for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any diseases. The Science of Acne strongly encourages you to consult a qualified medical professional before making any treatment decisions. For the complete disclaimer, click here.

Overall (Composite) Ranking for Clindamycin

The COMPOSITE ranking is calculated from a combination of all of the individual rankings for this medication (EFFECTIVENESS, ADVERSE EFFECTS and ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY).

This ranking is scored on a scale of 1 (WORST) to 5 (BEST).

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Effectiveness Ranking for Clindamycin

Clindamycin is one of the most commonly used medications to treat acne vulgaris.  Clindamycin is generally well reviewed by acne patients. Clindamycin can be very effective against mild to moderate acne.  However, bacterial resistance to clindamycin is common, and increasing.  Clindamycin-resistant P. acnes bacteria are involved in many cases of acne vulgaris. Topical clindamycin is generally not completely effective as monotherapy (used alone) against moderate to severe inflammatory acne.

The EFFECTIVENESS ranking is based on patient reports of how effective this medication was at improving their acne symptoms.

This ranking is scored on a scale of 1 (NOT EFFECTIVE) to 5 (VERY EFFECTIVE).

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Adverse Effects Ranking for Clindamycin

The ADVERSE EFFECTS ranking is based on patient reports about the adverse effects and side effects that they experienced with this medication.

This ranking is scored on a scale of 1 (NO SIDE EFFECTS) to 5 (SEVERE SIDE EFFECTS).

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Antibiotic Susceptibility Ranking for Clindamycin

The ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY ranking is based on scientific research reports about the antibiotic sensitivity of Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes), which is a bacterium that is a primary cause of acne symptoms. Our antibiotic susceptibility data is generated from the combined results of over 50 independent scientific studies. For more information about which antibiotics are most effective against P. acnes bacteria, visit the Antibiotic Susceptibility of Propionibacterium acnes page.

Frequency of Clindamycin Resistant P. acnes Bacteria: Common. (What does this mean?)

This ranking is scored on a scale of 1 (NOT SUSCEPTIBLE) to 5 (VERY SUSCEPTIBLE).

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User Recommendations for Clindamycin

The USER RECOMMENDATIONS chart indicates how many reviewers recommended this medication as a treatment for Acne Vulgaris. These recommendations are only from The Science of Acne users. For additional reviews of this medication from outside sources, refer to the section below.

There are four options available for this ranking:

YES (definitely recommended)
MAYBE (conditionally recommended)
NO (not recommended)
DON’T KNOW (no opinion)

Outside Reviews of Clindamycin

The following is a list of links to pages that review or discuss the use of this medication. Note: Some of these reviews are not specific to the use of this medication in the treatment of Acne Vulgaris.

Additional Patient Reviews of Clindamycin: Acne.org, WebMD, Drugs.com, DailyStrenth.org, Everydayhealth.com, RXList.com, DrugLib.com and RateADrug.com.

Clindamycin Background

Clindamycin is a lincosamide antibiotic that is structurally and functionally similar to the macrolide family of antibiotics (eg. erythromycin, clarithromycin, azithromycin).  The antibiotic inhibits bacterial growth by preventing susceptible bacteria from synthesizing new proteins.  Clindamycin is most effective in treating infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria and anaerobic Gram-negative bacteria.  It is active against Propionibacterium acnes, as well as many forms of Streptoccocus and Staphyloccocus bacteria.

Clindamycin is available in both oral and topical formulations.  Topical clindamycin is used to treat several types of skin infection, including acne vulgaris.  Oral clindamycin is not frequently used to many bacterial infections.  Oral clindamycin is rarely used in the treatment of acne vulgaris.  Oral clindamycin is sometimes used as a treatment for malaria (caused by a protozoa).

Bacterial resistance to clindamycin (and resistance to macrolides in general) is becoming a major problem in many parts of the world, particularly in the highly developed countries of North America and Europe.  Bacteria that are resistant to clindamycin are usually resistant to most macrolide antibiotics, and vice versa.

Additional Names for Clindamycin: Acanya (Clindamycin and Benzoyl Peroxide), Acnestop, Aknezel, Basocin, BenzaClin (Clindamycin and Benzoyl Peroxide), Borophen, Chlorodeoxylincomycin, Chlorolincomycin, Cindac-A, Clidacin, Clidamacin, Clidets, Clinacnyl, Clincin, Clinda-Derm, Clinda-saar, Clindac, Clindacne, Clindacin, Clindagel, Clindahexal, Clindamicin, Clindamicina, Clindamycin Hydrochloride, Clindamycin Phosphate, Clindamycine, Clindamycini, Clindamycinum, Clindamyl, Clindasol, Clindesse, Clindoxyl (Clindamycin and Benzoyl Peroxide), Clinimycin, Cutaclin, Dalacine, Dalagis, Danatrol, Evoclin, Handaramin, Indoxyl, Klimicin, Klindamicin, Lindan, Lintacin, Midocin, Myclin, Paradis, Prolic, Sobelin, Toliken, Topicil, Velac (Clindamycin and Tretinoin), Ziana (Clindamycin and Tretinoin) and Zindacline.

Important Note: The information provided on this site is intended for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any diseases. The Science of Acne strongly encourages you to consult a qualified medical professional before making any treatment decisions. For the complete disclaimer, click here.

References and Sources

Books

PDR Staff Writers. 2011. 2011 Physicians’ Desk Reference
Gallagher. 2011. Antibiotics Simplified, Second Edition
Habif. 2009. Clinical Dermatology
Goodheart. 2006. Acne For Dummies
Bartlett. 2012. Johns Hopkins ABX Guide 2012 (Johns Hopkins Medicine)

Online Resources

PubMed Health - The National Institute of Health (US)
Clindamycin @ Wikipedia
Physician’s Inserts for Topical Clindamycin
Physician’s Inserts for oral Clindamycin

Scientific Research Articles

1. Becker, et al. 1981.  Topical clindamycin therapy for acne vulgaris. A cooperative clinical study.
2. Tucker, et al. 2006. Erythromycin 2% gel in comparison with clindamycin phosphate 1% solution in acne vulgaris.
3. Lleyden, et al. 1987. Treatment of acne with a combination clindamycin/benzoyl peroxide gel compared with clindamycin gel, benzoyl peroxide gel and vehicle gel: Combined results of two double-blind investigations.
4. Lookingbill, et al. 1997. A randomized, double-blind comparison of a clindamycin phosphate/benzoyl peroxide gel formulation and a matching clindamycin gel with respect to microbiologic activity and clinical efficacy in the topical treatment of acne vulgaris.
5.  Cunliffe, et al. 2002.  A multicentre, single-blind, randomized comparison of a fixed clindamycin phosphate/tretinoin gel formulation (Velac®) applied once daily and a clindamycin lotion formulation (Dalacin T®) applied twice daily in the topical treatment of acne vulgaris.
6. Zouboulis, et al. 2003.  Two randomized, double-blind, controlled trials of 2219 subjects to compare the combination clindamycin/tretinoin hydrogel with each agent alone and vehicle for the treatment of acne vulgaris.
7. Leyden, et al. 2005.  An aqueous gel fixed combination of clindamycin phosphate 1.2% and benzoyl peroxide 2.5% for the once-daily treatment of moderate to severe acne vulgaris: Assessment of efficacy and safety in 2813 patients.
8. Thiboutot, et al. 2008.  Efficacy of fixed low-dose isotretinoin (20 mg, alternate days) with topical clindamycin gel in moderately severe acne vulgaris.
9. Sardana, et al. 2009.  Comparison of efficacy of Azithromycin vs. Clindamycin and Erythromycin in the treatment of mild to moderate acne vulgaris.