The Problem of Acne

80% of the US population has had acne at some point in their lives and for many people it is a real problem. Not only can it be painful but it can cause a loss of self esteem. After all it is pretty disgusting to look at and it feels even worse.

Do you look at the mirror in the morning dreading what you are going to see? Although it affects a very large proportion of teenagers it can also affect adults, sometimes for decades. So whether you are a teenager, in early middle-age, or a worried parent, if you are reading this then you are probably looking for a solution to your acne problem.

The Solution for Acne - Medical Treatment or Natural Treatment?

Your first reaction to an outbreak might be to buy some over-the-counter anti-acne cream, or prescription drug to get rid of the acne. These might work in the short term but the chances are that the acne will come back. The hassles of acne can be dealt with through more natural means, home remedies for acne which can deal both with outbreaks but also help prevent it coming back again.

Acne is not something which just happens to you. It does not come from outside. It comes from within yourself. You can start dealing with it, using natural remedies for acne, by following some simple rules:

• Drink lots of water. The most important thing of all in the battle against acne. At least 10 glasses a day. Water ensure yours body is hydrated, helps get rid of toxins and helps to clear clogged pores.
• Exercise at least 3 times a week. Exercise increases your metabolic rate, which will help you lose weight, make you want to drink more water, and will improve the blood and oxygen circulation to the skin which will help fight acne.
• Wash thoroughly at least twice a day, especially after doing exercise. Clean off any cosmetics at night.
• Reduce your consumption of caffeine. Are you a six cups a day person? Caffeine increases stress hormones in the body which may increase the production of oil on the skin, leading to acne outbreaks.
• Reduce your consumption of processed sugars, saturated fats, high fat dairy products, and hydrogenised fats like margarine. Studies show that eating these types of products hugely increases the chances of acne.
• Avoid fast foods like pizzas, kebabs, French fries or burgers. You will get a load of harmful toxins from the oils which are constantly reheated to cook fast foods.
• Cut down on alcohol. Quite apart from encouraging toxins in the body, and damaging your liver, alcohol dehydrates you.
• Eat lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. A great investment is a good quality juicer in which you can juice all types of fruits and vegetable such as apples, carrots, pears, pineapples, grapefruit or beets. A good variety of these in a tasty juice will give you a multitude of the nutrients your need.
• Eat products with omega-3 fats in them or find the right omega-3 supplements. Good sources of omega-3 are salmon and trout.
• Do not pick at your spots. Popping a single pimple can cause many more and may lead to permanent scarring.

If your acne outbreak is severe or persistent it may not just be a question of reducing your consumption of some of these harmful foods and drink but avoiding them altogether.

If you would like more information on how to get rid of acne the natural way Click here

Philip Tucker is an internet marketer and writer. For more information on natural home remedies for acne see his website http://www.destroyzits.com

Acne is an inflammatory skin disease that can occur in any age but mostly in the period of puberty. This skin problem originates from the root of the hair follicles where they are associated with sebaceous glands. Such structures are called as pilosebaceous glands. When the blood circulating in these glands is impure, then it causes eruptions on the surface of the skin. These eruptions are commonly called as pimples or zits.

What are the causes of acne?

- Improper or faulty diet
- More sexual desires in adolescence
- Deficiency of vitamin A
- Menstrual problems, such as irregular or delayed periods

What should be the diet to cure acne?

- Eat green leafy vegetables. This will provide the cellulose for roughage, which takes care of proper movement of bowels
- Avoid spicy and sugary food. Keep your diet a perfect balance of foods with different tastes.
- Include fresh fruits in your diet. This will build up proper water content in your body, which will make the blood purer.
- Do not eat fatty, deep fried, high sugar content food and milk products
- Drink 8-10 glasses of water daily

Do’s and don’t for acne

- Protect the affected area from harmful rays of sun and also don’t wash your face frequently and keep your skin dry.
- Prefer using mild natural cleanser for skin cleaning to prevent acne growth.
- Try to expose your skin to fresh air and sunlight. This will help in opening the pores on the skin and lead to better circulation
- Avoid any type of stress. Stress can release more hormones, which would exacerbate the acne. Do those activities only which you like most.

Acne skin care through home recipes

- Prepare a paste of orange peels and apply on the affected area.
- Squeeze indian plum or jambola in water and this paste must be applied on the affected part. This is more effective in the pimples that appear in early youth.
- You can also prepare a mixture of nutmeg and red sandalwood in water. Apply this mixture on the face.
- Prepare a paste of either turmeric and neem leaves or turmeric and sandalwood paste also gives relief from acne
- You can also apply grated potatoes on affected area to get relief from acne pain and inflammation.
- Apply garlic paste on the affected area. It will help the acne to dry living no scars.
- You can also boil tulasi (holy basil) leaves on water. Cool it and apply on effected area with cotton, it is beneficial for acne treatment

How ayurveda helps in acne cure?

There are few herbs that are found to be beneficial in the treatment of acne. They are:

- Mint leaves (Pudina): The leaves of pudina have good cooling properties, and are commonly used as anti-inflammatory agent.
- Papaya: It has excellent properties for reducing pimples by direct application on them.
- Turmeric (Haldi): It is also commonly used for all skin ailments, including psoriasis
- Sandalwood (Chandan): It has also very cooling effects and its mild fragrance brings freshness to the affected part. It purifies the blood and prevents further outbreaks of acne.
- Aloe vera: It takes care of marks left behind by acne that have dried away. It restores the former sheen of the skin.

Disclaimer: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article. Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.

Copyright © Nick Mutt, All Rights Reserved. If you want to use this article on your website or in your ezine, make all the urls (links) active.

Read more about Home Remedies for Acne. Also know some effective Home Remedies for Cold. Visit Natural Cure Health Guide to find some easy and effective Home Remedies for common ailments.

When acne resolves, it leaves a mark on the skin. That is most commonly PIH. PIH is Post Inflammatory hyper- pigmentation. This color is due to natural healing process of the body. It fades in about a year. The color of PIH depends upon the individuals skin color. PIH is not a scar. A true scar does not fade away, but PIFH fades away. How to hasten the fading away of the PIH? Let us find out about the acne treatment that hastens this process.

Acne Treatment

Any medication or product that multiplies the skin cell turnover will remove the darkened skin in shorter time. Molecules such as Retinoids increase the turnover of skin cells. They are therefore useful in resolving PIH fast. Retinoids are derivatives of Vitamin A. Adaplene, Tazarotene and Tretinoin are common retinoids. Retinoids can cause dryness of the skin and may also cause itching in some individuals. Sun protection is a must while using retinoids because they make the skin more sensitive to sun.

AHAs and PIH

Alpha Hydroxy Acids are very useful in skin rejuvenation. AHAs remove the dead skin cells on the skin. They loosen the bonds between the skin cells and remove the dead cells. This increases the speed of growth of new cells. AHAs are also called as fruit acids. They are also found in milk. Now days, AHAs are chemically synthesized. Glycolic is one of the common AHAs and many formulations are available with Glycolic Acid. Use of these formulations will remove the dead skin cells and help resolve the PIH fast.

Sun exposure

PIH have higher density of melanin the skin color pigment. The sunrays selectively darken such spots more than the other skin. It is therefore important to protect the darkened spots from sun. A good sunscreen must be used till the color fades away.

Bleaches

Skin bleaches such as Hydroquinone, Azelaic Acid are very useful in removing the excess skin color. They should be used carefully otherwise they may lighten the spot compared to the surrounding skin.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

For more information about acne treatment to make your skin blemish-free and young, please visit acnedoctor.us This site is dedicated to help you look good. For keeping yourself acne free find out more about the acne that causes damage to our skin and how to treat acne scars

By the time you finish reading this article, you will know the essentials of vitamin B5 acne treatment:

• The medical basis of the treatment
• How to follow the treatment
• What results to expect
• What are the potential side effects
• What are the risks

The Medical Basis of Treating Acne with Vitamin B5

This is all based on a single medical study of 100 patients of Chinese descent, conducted by Dr Leung Lit Hung of Hong Kong’s Central Hospital. The work was published in 1995.

The trial was split between 45 males and 55 females. Each was given a very high dose of 10 grams per day of vitamin B5, divided into four separate doses across the day. Patients were also given a cream, consisting of 20% vitamin B5,to apply four to six times per day.

Trial results were:

• Improvement in acne after two weeks
• Complete control of moderate acne in eight weeks
• Complete control of severe acne in six months

After achieving control of acne, patients were then put on a maintenance dose of 1 to 5 grams per day of vitamin B5, with dose depending on the severity of the previous acne.

There is no other evidence of medical support for this treatment at this time.

How To Follow The Treatment

There are many people treating themselves with high dose vitamin B5, based on Dr Leung Lit Hung’s trial.

All the self treatment is based on the supplements only, presumably because they can’t find a cream with 20% vitamin B5.

The most common approach is to buy 500 milligram vitamin B5 pills.

That’s 20 pills a day!

This can add up to a whopping $180 per month!

Better than popping 20 pills a day would be to buy the vitamin B5 powder. This is available from Amazon.com. You can dissolve the powder in a glass of water.

The vitamin B5 powder can work out at a more affordable $34 per month.

Taking vitamin B5 with food is sometimes reported to reduce the severity of stomach irritation. Taking a vitamin B complex supplement may also reduce the severity of some of the side effects.

Some people find it easier to start out on a reduced dose, say 5 grams a day to begin. Once their body adjusts to this, then increase to the full dose.

What Are The Expected Results?

There are many reports of people having success with this treatment, with their acne completely cleared up.

Some people can’t tolerate the side effects and have to stop treatment. People will suffer different side effects with various degrees of severity.

What Are The Potential Side Effects?

The clinical trial reported no side effects. But internet forums do have many reported side effects from people who are treating themselves for acne with high vitamin B5 doses, without medical supervision.

Most commonly reported side effects are an increase in appetite and diarrhea. In the first few days of treatment, acne can temporarily get worse.

Other reported side effects are: hair loss, dizziness, drowsiness, insomnia, nausea, loss of memory, fluid retention, depression, dry and rough skin, cuts have difficulty healing and severe gastrointestinal problems.

Some people find their acne returns when they go on the maintenance dose of B5.

What Are The Risks With Vitamin B5 Acne Treatment?

Long term health risks of high dose vitamin B5 treatment are unknown.

It is not known if this will harm an unborn baby.

It is not known if this will harm a nursing infant.

This means you cannot assume high dose vitamin B5 treatment to be safe.

In Conclusion

So there you have it. It does work for many people. If you follow this treatment you do so at your own risk as it does have potential side effects and health risks. Of course there are better acne treatments available. Keep reading to find out about one of the best acne treatments available.

About The Author

Dennis Wilson has found the perfect solution for acne. For an acne treatment that gets results fast, visit this link for details: AcneBreakthrough.com

You think acne is teenager’s problem? Well, if you do think that way, it’s time you changed your perception for good because acne may be quite a nightmare to a teenager but can give you nearly as much trouble irrespective of how old you are.

Yes, it is true that women worry a great deal about acne while men do not. But that does not mean acne is women’s problem. It affects men every bit as much, if not more. Teenagers are always a vulnerable age group. But even if you are well past the acne-age, which is to say you are not a teenager any more but a grown up guy, you may still be an acne victim for a number of reasons.

If you are prone to acne, there are a few simple things that you can take care of to keep acne trouble at bay. One of them is washing your face twice or thrice everyday. You may use a mild cleanser for the purpose, but choose the one that is meant for your skin type. Such cleansers are made to keep a check on excess oil. However, if you already have acne, avoid rubbing them while washing because that could worsen the problem.

While shaving, use a good blade and a good quality shaving cream because it has been found that though shaving itself does not cause acne but use of bad quality blade or substandard shaving cream may become a contributing factor.

Another cause of acne is stress. Sometimes the teenagers get conscious of their looks and the presence of acne makes them feel low about themselves. Stress is a part of growing up. The teenagers are under pressure to perform well and make a life for themselves. Excessive stress causes acne, and acne problem causes stress, and this becomes a self-fuelling a process.

So, if you are a teenager boy, you need to keep yourself free of stress and pay attention to more important things. Acne problem would disappear automatically. Worrying too much about it would only make it worse.

To know more about types of acne problems and adult acne problem visit http://www.acnetalks.com/pimple/magazine/edition/Baby-Pimples.htm

The good news is that acne is truly a medical condition, not something caused by what you eat, drink, how much you wash your skin, etc. It is a medical condition that requires medical care by a dermatologist just like any other medical condition. However, you can usually treat (unfortunately acne has no cure) it on your own without the need of a medical professional saving you time, frustration and money.

1. What You Eat -
There is a very large chance that you have heard the common myth that acne can be caused by eating chocolate, soda, spicy foods, fatty foods, or greasy foods. However, if you have overactive oil glands in your skin, those can cause your acne by clogging your pores, attracting white blood cells, swelling of the area, and eventually resulting in a pimple. If you are someone who frequents fast food restaurants or works in one, you are continuously exposed to grease and oil, which can result in a man-made type of overactive oil glands. This problem will have the same result as naturally overactive oil glands - acne.

Truth -
Numerous studies have been conducted and have come to the conclusion that what you eat has absolutely nothing to do with the acne on your skin. They have no relation whatsoever.

2. Dirty Skin-
Many believe that dirty skin can cause acne to appear. For example, if you have dirt on your skin, you could get acne. You can, however, blame your parents. Many researchers have found a link in our genes that acne sufferers could run in families.

Truth -
You do not get acne by having dirty skin. You can blame it on the weather - if you are often in a hot and humid atmosphere. Hot and humid weather can cause acne to appear on your skin.

3. Stressed Out -
Many have believed that stress can cause acne.

Truth -
Stress does not cause acne. However, hormonal changes can result in acne, such as during pregnancy, puberty, menstruation, breast-feeding, and by taking any medications that change your hormones. Many of these hormone changes can be fixed by stopping your medication, asking your medical professional about other options that are less known to cause acne, etc. You can also note that if you are pregnant, breast-feeding, going through puberty, or experiencing a menstruation cycle this is temporary and will end with time. If your acne does not dissipate shortly after your hormone change, seek a dermatologist’s help and advice to help you maintain healthy acne free skin.

4. Adulthood is the Way Out -
Many people believe that once they have become an adult, acne will soon leave them and they will be free from it.

Truth -
This is not always true, as acne is a medical condition. Some people do grow out of it because of their hormone changes after puberty, while others do not.

Although there is no cure for this medical condition known as acne, there are many treatments available to you. You can live without suffering from acne.

There is much more information on a cure to acne at http://complete-acne-care.com

Consider cheaper, alternative, natural, effective treatment methods to get the best cure for your acne, zit, pimple or blackhead problem. The key to healthy, clear skin is to choose a skin care regimen that’s right for you based on the type of acne condition you have. By their mid-teens, nearly 35% of teenagers have acne severe enough to require some type of treatment from a medical professional.

Nearly 17 million people in the United States have acne. In a survey conducted in Great Britain, 95% of 16-year-old males and 83% of 16 year-old females had acne. There are several different types of acne. People of all races and ages have acne.

Understanding that hormones may have some influence on the cause of acne is still being researched. If you’ve heard that dirty skin causes acne, it doesn’t - it’s a myth. The liver gets rid of toxins from bad food, drugs and chemicals and sends them through the skin resulting in eruptions, acne, pimples and other skin disorders.

Make sure not to use hot water on your face, always use lukewarm water. Shave carefully and try both electric and safety razors to see which works best for you. The treatment plan for acne includes trying to heal the pimples, stopping new pimples from forming, preventing scarring and helping reduce embarrassment.

Try applying a thin layer of coconut oil and massaging it deep into the skin to heal and soothe the affected area. Never underestimate the healing, restorative power of a good night’s sleep. It bears repeating, you want to be good to your skin and never pop or squeeze a pimple no matter how tempting.

Too many chemicals can strip your skin of its natural oils and the skin will overproduce oil to compensate for it, blocking your pores and causing more acne. Try a diligent application of coconut oil several times a day and at bedtime to see the healing benefits. Coconut oil is one of the best, if not the best, treatments I’ve found for acne.

If you’re going to buy acne products, it’s much more worth your while to buy acne-treating products that work against current pimples and prevent the occurrence of new ones. It’s always best to seek non-invasive and natural treatment for any skin condition. Acne and its treatment is one of the most misunderstood topics there is when it comes to acne skin care.

Coconut oil is very inexpensive; it’s a good, cheap, natural home remedy. A new, non-invasive treatment using red light and blue light in combination has been extremely successful on severe acne.

When you change your diet, your lesions should start getting better within a week or two, with significant improvement the first month. People with skin disorders such as acne, rosacea, and psoriasis often suffer from constipation; if you are, make sure you’re drinking lots of water every day and add more natural fiber from raw fruits to your diet. Whether you eat a natural diet of living fruits and vegetables or eat dead junk food, what you eat may have a direct or indirect affect on the male hormones which may or may not play some part in acne.

When your liver gets overloaded with toxins it’ll send the toxins out through your skin as well as other organs of elimination. Drink lots and lots of pure, filtered water every day.

Eating foods with essential fatty acids are particularly important to people with dry skin or acne. For an easy fiber boost, mix in two tablespoons of ground up flaxseeds into raw applesauce, from two to three apples, made in your food processor. Concentrating on a diet, of mostly fruits and vegetables (preferably uncooked), and no junk food, should give you an observable improvement in your skin within 30 days.

Good clear skin is often a reflection of a good digestive system. Eat high-fiber snacks like raw nuts, raw seeds, fresh or dried fruit, such as dates, and figs.

Analyze all the acne treatments available and make the best decision for you, based on your circumstances. In any case, try not to panic about your acne and take it day by day. Acne prevention is always a better choice than having to search for the right cure.

For more information on natural treatments for acne and acne light therapy, go to http://www.Best-Skin-Solutions.com Helen Hecker R.N.’s website specializing in acne, pimples and skin disorders with tips, advice and resources for adults, teens, and babies, including information on acne scar treatments

Options for removing acne scars include the Fraxel laser, microdermabrasion and chemical peels. You may have considered the readily available and affordable supplement vitamin E for removing acne marks. For decades, people have trusted vitamin E to speed wounds healing and counteract natural aging of the skin. Yet, is this extra slathering of vitamin E justified, or is your time and money better spent on proven scar removal technologies?

Topical vitamin E for healing scars
To answer this question, researchers have tested the efficacy of vitamin E at removing scars. Surprisingly, an investigation in Dermatologic Surgery reported that applying vitamin E to healing wounds could actually hinder the skin’s repair process.

In this study, researchers gave 15 patients who underwent skin cancer removal surgeries two types of post-wound ointments. One ointment (A) contained just commons moisturizing agents, and the other ointment (B) contained the same ingredients as item A but with the addition of vitamin E.

All of the patients applied cream A to one-half of their wound and cream B to the other half of their wound twice a day for four weeks. Both the scar patients and physicians observed the cosmetic changes in the scars at week one, four and twelve after the start of the study.

Contrary to popular belief, in this study, for 90% of the patients, topical vitamin E either had no effect on, or actually worsened the cosmetic appearance of scars. Also, 33% of the study volunteers developed a contact dermatitis to the vitamin E. Based on these findings, the investigators discouraged the use of topical vitamin E for healing scars.

Consuming vitamin E to heal scars
While applying vitamin E to the skin in an effort speed the skin’s repair process may not work, enjoying a diet rich in vitamin could. For example, a report in International Journal of Experimental Pathology found that in mice, low levels of antioxidants, like vitamin E, delayed wound healing.

To make vitamin E a team player in your acne scar repair process, you need to consume sufficient amounts of this fat-soluble nutrient. The recommended dietary allowance for vitamin E is 30 International Units (IU) per day.

The tolerable upper intake level of vitamin E is 1,500 IU per day for adults. Food sources of vitamin E include almonds, sunflower seed kernels, sunflower oil wheat germ oil, and hazelnuts.

If your diet lacks sufficient vitamin E, supplements are an option. Vitamin E supplements are typically sold as alpha-tocopheryl acetate, a form of alpha-tocopherol that protects its ability to serve as an antioxidant.

You will find the synthetic vitamin E labeled “D, L” and the natural form labeled “D”. But, keep in mind that according to the National Institutes of Health, the synthetic form of vitamin E is only half as active as the natural form.

In short, in addition to buying a vitamin E cream to heal your scars faster, you can also enjoy vitamin E rich meals.

Sources:
National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Dietary supplement fact sheet: Vitamin E. January 23, 2007.

Rasik, Anamika M & Arti Shukla. Antioxidant status in delayed healing type of wounds. International Journal of Experimental Pathology; August 2000, vol 81, no 4, pp. 257-263.

Baumann LS & Md JS. The effects of topical vitamin E on the cosmetic appearance of scars. Dermatologic Surgery; April 1999, vol 25, no 4, pp 311-315.

Naweko Nicole Dial San-Joyz founded Noixia, a San Diego based research firm dedicated to helping people intelligently, safely and affordably enhance their image by offering custom skin solutions to people with acne scars on the face and body. San-Joyz She has appeared on radio stations, in newspapers and on TV shows across the United States promoting beauty through health consciousness. Anyone seeking to enhance their image and remove acne scarring can find custom, clinically proven solutions at Noixia.com

Before we consider possible treatments lets look at what causes an acne scar. An area of tissue on your skin being injured causes scars. Acne is the inflammation caused by the increase amount of sebum and bacteria that leaves the scar. There are two types of acne scars. One is caused by increased tissue formation (keloids). This is an enlargement scar. There is an excessive amount of collagen produced in response to the tissue being injured.

They can last a lifetime but some may shrink in size after time. The second type is loss of tissue scars. These types of scars are more common and are grouped in different categories. Ice-pick scars: usually found on the cheek and have very jagged edges. These scars can be hard or soft.

The soft ones are treatable but the hard ones can’t be. Atrophic macules: These are small except on the body where they are larger. They may appear blue but that is just from the blood vessels. These will become much less obvious over time. Depressed fibrotic scars: These scars are usually quite large. They are jagged and deep.

The Ice-pick scars can eventually turn into these. Soft scars: they are small and soft to touch. They usually blend in with the skin surface. Follicular macular atrophy: They are white in color so often are mistaken for whiteheads. These usually occur more often on the back or chest. They last for sometimes just months but in some cases they may last years.

There are various treatments available but a lot of them will involve a cost. Creams often do not work for any deeper scarring but can be effective with slight marking or those will probably disappear over time. Acne scar skin care starts with how you take care of your acne.

There is no way to actually prevent scarring especially for severe acne but early care does help. Treatments available to diminish or totally remove scarring include laser resurfacing, dermabrasion, chemical peels, subcision, punch techniques and augmentation which is for much deeper scarring.

No two people will react the same to treatments and some conditions can involve more than one treatment. This is something you must discuss with your doctor. Scaring is a good reason to prevent people from popping pimples can you can make the situation worse. Best idea is to leave them alone.

The author, Cass Hope, recommends a product which you can buy securely online, a natural product which has received 100’s of rave reviews. You can learn about acne scar skin care and rapid acne treatment here.

Many of the problems facing those who are trying to deal with acne are the pervasive sources of misinformation out there regarding the causes of acne. Despite the numerous valid sources of information on and about acne that are now available, these myths persist and are passed on by word-of-mouth to those unfortunate enough to suffer from the disease. Rather than finding solutions and treatments to alleviate the symptoms, problems are often compounded. Ill-advised treatments based off these myths can have less than effective results and can often do further damage in the case of severe acne.

In light of the influence that these myths can have on both understanding acne in general and the courses of treatment in particular, it would be wise to start with a quick overview of some of the more common myths that are out there, dispelling the misinformation with the truth about them. After this we can move on to the question of what the actual causes of acne might be.

Myth #1: Acne is caused by poor hygiene.

It doesn’t matter how often, how ritually, you scrub your face and other areas affected by acne; this has no bearing on either the status of current a breakout or the creation of new problems. In fact, this sort of rigorous regimen of washing and scrubbing can actually irritate skin and make the acne worse, not better. Though you may have heard so from well-meaning parents growing up or some other misinformed person, acne is not caused by poor hygiene. This doesn’t mean that hygiene isn’t important. In fact, good hygiene can help reduce the effects of acne if used in conjunction with acne treatment products. Rather than frequent, harsh washing, it is generally recommended that you wash your face twice to three times a day with mild soap and then pat it dry - don’t scrub dry.

Myth #2: Acne is caused by diet.

“Don’t eat chocolate, it will give you pimples!” “They say that eating greasy foods can give you zits.” Most of you have heard these and other similar statements before, right? What they are saying, in effect, is that what you eat can cause acne. But, what they are saying isn’t true. It is a myth, one of the more popular ones actually, about the causes of acne. Extensive scientific research has been conducted, searching for possible correlations between one’s diet and a possible cause of acne, and have not found anything conclusive.

However, each of us is different. Some people notice that breakouts are worse after eating certain foods–and the kinds of food differ with each person. For example, some people may notice breakouts after eating chocolate; while others have no effects with chocolate. Instead, they notice breakouts occurring after they drink too much coffee or caffeine. These are just examples but they might be worth heading. If there is some sort of food or drink that might be affecting your acne, then cut back and see if that helps.

Myth #3: Acne is caused by stress.

Stress is not a direct cause of acne but it is true that some types of stress can cause the body to produce a hormone called cortisol, which can irritate existing acne. Indirectly, some medication that we take to alleviate or control extreme stress or emotional problems like depression can be factors in the production of acne. In fact, some medicines have acne listed as a possible side effect.

Myth #4: Acne will go away on its own.

This is generally not true and acne needs treatment in order to be cleared up. With the selection of acne treatment products available today there is no reason not to investigate and find what has the best results for those concerned. In some cases, a dermatologist should be consulted and other forms of treatment can be pursued.

Myth #5: Tanning clears up skin.

In fact, this has the reverse effect. At first it may seem that the latest bake in the tanning bed or sunbathing has improved your complexion, but in fact the tan may only have masked or covered the acne. In reality, the sun can make the skin dry and irritated and this can lead to more breakouts. On another note, if you do tan, make sure that you are using a sunscreen that doesn’t contain oils and other chemicals that might clog up your pores and cause acne to get worse. (Look for noncomedogenic or nonacnegenic on the label.)

Myth #6: Popping Zits Will Make Them Go Away Faster

Again, though this seems true, it is another myth. Rather than speeding up the process of healing, this action actually prolongs the situation as popping the whitehead caused the bacteria inside to be pushed deeper into the skin, which allows more infection to grow, and ultimately leads to scarring.

Myth #7: Only Teenagers get acne.

The truth is that about 25% to 30% of all people between the ages 25- 44 have active acne. So the idea that acne is only a problem for teens is yet another myth.

After covering these myths, it is important to note, that these are not all of the myths that are out there, circulating in the popular health magazines and on the Internet. No, not by a long shot. There are dozens more where these came from. The reason for their inclusion in this book is to help you, the reader, understand that the topic of acne has grown more complicated as new sources of information, both good and bad, have become available and that one must be very careful about researching the topic and deciding what sources to trust.

Lisa Galloway - Skin Care Specialist - Find Out How You Can Eliminate Your Acne NOW