Information on acne

Teen acne is a disease that strikes over 85% of teenagers, yet most people have no idea exactly what causes teen acne. In many cases what most people know about teen acne is really only a number of myths. While the mechanisms of this disease aren’t clear, scientists know enough to tell what can and what can’t cause it.

Diet (myth and fact)
One of the most common beliefs about teen acne is that it is the result of an improper diet. The truth is that in most cases diet has little or no effect on teen acne. While one of the US studies shows a connection between a high-carbohydrate diet and some forms of acne, it’s not a simple cause-effect connection. The disease won’t go away just because chocolate is dropped as a snack food.

Exercise (myth)
Too much exercise is also supposed to increase teen acne. At first glance, it seems logical - the disease is connected to oily skin and you sweat a lot during physical exercises. But again, there is no connection between doing exercises and teen acne. It won’t get better if we stop running.

Dirt (myth)
Dirt was also pointed out as a cause of acne. As with exercise, at first glance it seems logical. Teen acne is the result of clogging the skin’s pores - and dirt certainly can do that! However, washing can’t cure teen acne. It won’t even help. In most cases the pores are clogged by dead skin cells, not dirt.

Sex (myth)
Another common myth is that sexual activity (or lack of it) can cause acne. While teen acne and the first sexual encounters usually start at about the same time, there is no cause-effect connection between them. They have nothing to do with each other.

Physiological reasons (fact)
The real causes of teen acne are purely physiological. During growing up process male hormones (they exist in both male and female) over-stimulate the oil-producing glands. The oil impedes the rate of dead skin cell shredding. Dead cells are stuck in the pores and they prevent oil from leaving the skin. This creates a perfect place for acne bacteria to grow and multiply. This quickly leads to inflammation and spots. As you see, teen acne comes and goes along with hormone activity during the teen years.

Now you know the facts and myths concerning teen acne.

Mark Walters fight acne from his web domain at http://www.AcneRescue.com

Tags: teen acne

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The typical modern medicine answer to outbreaks of acne include antibiotics, drying agents, skin peelers and in some cases a very toxic and strong drug Accutane TM. All of these will normally work for a short period of time, but eventually, if the original cause of the acne is not addressed and treated, the acne returns, usually stronger and more widespread than before.

Many of the common theories regarding the possible cause of acne point to the improper release of toxins. As the skin is the largest organ of the body, it helps to eliminate toxins and waste through sweating if the kidneys and liver are overburdened. When a person’s diet is unhealthy, their hormones out of balance or their skin clogged, acne is usually one of the red flag symptoms.

In using natural therapies to treat acne, the focal points of treatment are to decrease the amount of toxins that need to be excreted, balance the hormones, and in general, bring the body back into balance. All of the above can be regulated through diet, herbs and other nutritional supplements.

Vitamin and mineral therapy is a good place to start in the quest to clear up a case of acne. Crucial additions to the diet include essential fatty acids, chromium picolinate, and zinc. A variety of vitamins such as Vitamin A, B complex with extra B3, Vitamin C with bioflavonoids, Vitamin D3, and Vitamin E are also helpful in supporting the body while it works to come back into balance.

Herbal therapy includes any herb that works to detoxify the liver and kidneys. Examples include burdock root, dandelion leaves, milk thistle and red clover. Burdock root and red clover also help in cleansing the blood which is another important part of the overall therapy to decrease acne outbreaks. For hormonal balancing many claim that chaste tree berry works very effectively.

Regardless of the type of treatment you decide to use, always check with your doctor first about the natural therapies you would like to try.

Rachel Dayer runs and operates http://www.mustask.com, a health related portal.

Tags: acne, Accutane, natural therapies, fatty acids, chromium picolinate, zinc

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Your first line of defense against acne is over-the-counter medications. If they don’t seem to be helping, and after six to eight weeks you acne is getting worse… it’s time to see a doctor. You will know it’s time for medical help when

- Your acne causes you psychological distress.

- There are big, tender pimples on your face.

- You begin to see some scarring

- If you have dark skin and dark patches form where the pimples used to be.

What treatment can you expect the doctor to recommend?

First of all your family doctor may send you to a dermatologist if you have severe acne.

Acne can be treated with medications that are either applied to the skin or taken by mouth. Any treatment will be designed to attack the things that trigger acne, like….

- An increase in sebum that leads to a narrowing of the sebaceous glands and produces the bacteria that causes acne

In most cases you can continue with any home remedies that you have been using. The treatment of teenage acne usually will continue until the suffer moves into their 20s.

The first attempt at treatment often begins with lotions or creams that are applied directly to the skin’s surface.

Your doctor may initiate a treatment with azelaic acid (eg Skinoren cream) or benzoyl peroxide (eg Panoxyl, Acnecide) for mild to moderate acne. These medications help prevent the narrowing of the openings of the sebaceous glands and slow the growth of the acne bacterium.

A common treatment is a product that combines benzoyl peroxide with a topical antibiotic such as erythromycin (Benzamycin gel), or clindamycin (Duac once daily gel), or treat the outbreak with a topical antibiotic alone, eg clindamycin (Dalacin T), erythromycin (Eryacne gel), tetracycline (Topicycline).

Doctors often prescribe adapalene (Differin) for people with blackheads, whiteheads and mild inflammatory acne. Women should only use adapalene if they are using effective contraception, such as contraceptive pills. Pregnant women must not use adapalene. Topical tretinoin (Retin-A) and isotretinoin (Isotrex gel) have similar uses and exclusions.

“Systemic treatment” means medicines that are taken orally.

Strange as it may seem adult women with severe acne may benefit from treatment with contraceptive pills containing anti-androgens (Dianette).

For people with severe inflammatory acne, long-term treatment with oral antibiotics such as tetracycline or minocycline (eg Minocin), combined with one of the medications mentioned above are often effective. Tetracycline antibiotics are never given to pregnant women; women who are breastfeeding; or children under 12 years of age.

For patients with severe cystic acne that does not improve with other medications, oral isotretinoin (Roaccutane) is used as a last resort. It is very important that women should neither be pregnant, nor get pregnant, while taking isotretinoin.

Isotretinoin is not suitable for people with liver or kidney disease. The medicine has several severe side effects which is why it can only be prescribed by a dermatologist, but it also often effect an almost miracle like cure of acne.

That brings us to rule number one… don’t stress over your acne. You aren’t the only one who has ever had the problem. Just relax and get to work doing everything you can to keep it under control.

Mark Walters shares startling acne remedies and treatments from his web site http://www.acnerescue.com

Tags: acne, treatment, advice

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