What Causes Acne?

Acne origins are not very well known, but doctors believe acne results from several related factors. One important factor is an increase in hormones called androgens (male sex hormones). These increase in both boys and girls during puberty and cause the sebaceous glands to enlarge and make more sebum. Hormonal changes related to pregnancy or starting or stopping birth control pills can also cause acne.

Another cause of acne is heredity or genetics. Researchers believe that the tendency to develop acne can be inherited from parents. For example, studies have shown that many school-age boys with acne have a family history of the disorder. Certain drugs, including androgens and lithium, are known to cause acne. Greasy cosmetics may alter the cells of the follicles and make them stick together, producing a plug. Although you may hear that acne is not caused by greasy skin, greasy sking can still cause a problem.

What makes acne flare up?

* Changing hormone levels in adolescent girls and adult women 2 to 7 days before their menstrual period starts
* Oil from skin products (moisturizers or cosmetics) or grease encountered in the work environment (for example, a kitchen with fry vats)
* Pressure from sports helmets or equipment, backpacks, tight collars, or tight sports uniforms
* Environmental irritants, such as pollution and high humidity
* Squeezing or picking at blemishes
* Hard scrubbing of the skin
* Stress.

Lies about acne

There are many myths about what causes acne. Chocolate and greasy foods are often blamed, but there is little evidence that foods have much effect on the development and course of acne in most people. Another common myth is that dirty skin causes acne; however, blackheads and other acne lesions are not caused by dirt. Stress doesn’t cause acne, but research suggests that for people who have acne, stress can make it worse and sometimes can make it worse within just a few hours.

What are acne treatments?

Acne is often treated by dermatologists (doctors who specialize in skin problems). These doctors treat all kinds of acne, particularly severe cases. Doctors who are general or family practitioners, pediatricians, or internists may treat patients with milder cases of acne.

The goals of treatment are to heal existing lesions, stop new lesions from forming, prevent scarring, and minimize the psychological stress and embarrassment caused by this disease. Drug treatment1 is aimed at reducing several problems that play a part in causing acne:

* abnormal clumping of cells in the follicles
* increased oil production
* bacteria
* inflammation.

All medicines can have side effects. Some side effects may be more severe than others. You should review the package insert that comes with your medicine and ask your health care provider or pharmacist if you have any questions about the possible side effects.

Depending on the extent of the problem, the doctor may recommend one of several over-the-counter medicines and/or prescription medicines. Some of these medicines may be topical (applied to the skin), and others may be oral (taken by mouth). The doctor may suggest using more than one topical medicine or combining oral and topical medicines.

Acne no more
Take a look at your acne problems and the good ways and bad ways of fighting the underlying reasons that you have acne in the first place. Acne no more is an ebook and is likely the best acne fighting book on the market. At $39.00 this is the best acne treatment and is a great investment in curing your acne and ultimately in helping you overall health at the same time. Check it out today and let me know if you think that this ebook is the best acne treatment!

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

I took Accutane years back for a couple of cycles and it worked well on my acne. I have run into a few very scary reports on Accutane and the dangers that it poses to acne sufferers. I know that in my youth I did not care about side effects of any medication because of course I would not be a statistic but these reports are making me very nervous for the youth of today that are following the same treatments that I did.

Accutane, the final frontier…for Acne. For ages, acne sufferers had only a few treatment options available to them, many with less than stellar results. Also, they needed to go through the pain staking task of applying prescription topical medications along with taking oral medications. Even then, the more severe cases would never fully be healed. However, nowadays, for those severe acne sufferers there is a “miracle” drug that does the job and does it well. This drug of which i speak, my friends, is Accutane, the Acne Killer.

Accutane is used to treat severe cases of acne which have not been healed through conventional antibiotics and topical creams. It is used to control all of the underlying causes of acne by normalizing your follicles, decreasing sebum production, reducing inflammation and limiting the growth of bacteria. Accutane treatment typically lasts from 4 to 6 months. It is also very costly ranging from $2000 to $4000 (depending on frequency of dermatological visits, lab tests, etc.). Other names for accutane include Amnesteem, Claravis, Isotretinoin and Sotret.

But wait, there is always some sort of “bad” that comes with the “good”. Although Accutane is the most powerful acne medication to date, it has many side effects that prevent many dermatologists from prescribing it to every acne sufferer. It should only be prescribed in worst case scenarios where all other treatments have failed. Even then, the acne sufferer should be aware of it’s side effects, the worst of which is suicide!

The FDA posted an alert in 2005 that said all patients taking accutane should be closely watched for serious symptoms including depression, suicidal tendencies, sadness, short tempers, anger, loss of social interaction, psychosis, loss of motivation and changes in appetite. If any of these symptoms begin to appear, the patient is advised to stop taking accutane and to seek professional advice. In 2002, a director for the FDA told a congressional committee that they received over 3,000 reports of adverse psychiatric symptoms and over 170 reports of suicide attempts connected to the use of Accutane.

In order to decide whether this treatment is right for you; you should discuss with your doctor how severe your acne is, what other treatments you’ve tried, the possible benefits of accutane, the possible side effects of accutane and any other health related issues that may affect you while taking accutane (i.e. use of antibiotics, depression, etc.)

Acne no more
Take a look at your acne problems and the good ways and bad ways of fighting the underlying reasons that you have acne in the first place. Acne no more is an ebook and is likely the best acne fighting book on the market. At $39.00 this is the best acne treatment and is a great investment in curing your acne and ultimately in helping you overall health at the same time. Check it out today and let me know if you think that this ebook is the best acne treatment!

Since the skin is the largest organ on the body and it assists other major organs in the human body with eliminating waste, one of the best acne treatments is diet which has many home remedies for acne in the foods that we eat. If you are unhealthy inside it will be reflected in your skin.

Acne occurs when the natural oils that the skin produces clogs the pores of the skin. Normally acne is prevalent in the onset of puberty when the body starts to produce hormones, it has also been known to be a problem for women during pregnancy. Since acne is a problem for people world wide, there are many forms of acne treatments, acne products and acne medications on the market.

A natural treatment for acne is diet, which some say can be an acne cure and for many is the best acne treatment. When I was a teenager I had severe acne and tried using what were considered the best acne treatments at the time.

Retin-A was one of the most popular prescription acne medications on the market at that time. Noxzema skin cream and Clearsil were two of the most popular acne products used among my friends and I. I learned the hard way that Alcohol should not be used as a home remedy for acne and with severe acne cutting back on processed foods replacing them with a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables. I thought that diet as a natural acne treatment was going to be bad because until that point I lived junk food.

Using diet as a natural acne treatment was not as bad as I had thought it would be. There are so many foods that act naturally as a home remedy for acne and are often the best acne treatments. At first I thought that it would be easier to just remember when to use acne medication or the other acne products that I was using at the time rather than to give up on junk foods.

The internal home remedy for acne prescribed by my doctor and mother turned out to be for me the best acne treatment used along with all natural acne products like tea-tree oil. To my surprise I enjoyed this change in diet and in a short time I felt like it was an acne cure that was noticeable with in the week.
Read the rest of this entry »

I just ran across this list of active ingredients that are common to different acne treatments. Most of us are used to seeing Clearasil and Proactiv but to know what these products contain is at least as important as the ads that they have on TV

Used to treat mild, moderate and severe acne, the effectiveness of over-the-counter medications lies in the product’s active ingredients. The active ingredient benzoyl peroxide reduces acnes; whereas, salicylic acid helps correct abnormal skin shedding. To choose what to use look at what the ingredient is expected to fix. I have included common active ingredients used in over-the-counter acne medications sold in the United States. Check with your dermatologist or pharmacist before combining acne products.

Alcohol and acetone
Found together in some over-the-counter medications used to treat acne, acetone works as a degreasing agent and alcohol has mild antimicrobial properties. When used alone, acetone tends to have no effect.

Benzoyl peroxide
The mainstay of over-the-counter acne treatment, benzoyl peroxide works to clear up acne by reducing acne and removing dead cells from the skin to prevent comedones. Use of benzoyl peroxide should be continued after acne clears to prevent new lesions from forming. It was one of the first agents found to be effective in treating mild acne and has been used in acne treatment for decades. The principal side effect is excessive dryness of the skin, so be sure to follow directions and not use more than stated unless otherwise instructed by a physician. Care should also be taken when applying it to avoid the bleaching effect. Benzoyl peroxide has been known to bleach hair, sheets, towels and clothing. For this reason, an old shirt should be worn after applying benzoyl peroxide to acne on the back or chest. Benzoyl peroxide is available over-the-counter as a lotion or gel.

“Herbal,” “organic” and “natural” products
Over-the-counter products labeled “herbal,” “organic” or “natural” are marketed as acne treatments but their effectiveness has rarely been tested in clinical trials. The value of such treatments is generally unknown.

Resorcinol
A popular ingredient in over-the-counter acne medications, resorcinol controls small acne lesions and is frequently combined with sulfur in products at the drugstore.

Salicylic acid
Salicylic acid is effective in treating non-inflammatory acne lesions, salicylic acid helps correct the abnormal shedding of skin cells and unclog pores to resolve and prevent lesions. Salicylic acid does not have any effect on sebum production or P. acnes. Like benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid must be used continuously. Once stopped, pores clog and acne returns. Salicylic acid is found in many over-the-counter acne products, including lotions, creams and pads. It may be irritating to the skin.

Sulfur
Sulfur has been used for more than 50 years in combination with other agents, such as alcohol, salicylic acid and resorcinol and is found in many over-the-counter acne medications. While long used to treat acne, it is not known how sulfur works to clear acne. Due to its unpleasant odor, sulfur is not frequently used alone as an acne treatment.
Read the rest of this entry »

Acne was a big issue for me growing up. When I was about 12 or 13 I got acne for the first time and it spread over the years from my face to my shoulders, back and chest. f there is anyone that can really feel for people with acne it would be me as I had all of the physical and mental problems that others with acne had. I suffered from low self esteem, was shy and nervous around people, I had some scarring and the redness and white heads were bad as well. I tried to take car of my acne in my mid to late teens by taking care of my skin, washing my face twice or three times a day with an anti bacterial soap, used skin creams like Clearasil and took Tetracycline for many years in different dosages as well as Accutane. All of these treatments helped somewhat but none were a magic cure to my fight with acne

In my mid 20’s the acne just naturally went away for me. Now at 39 I occasionally get skin blemishes but not very often and I have not had any acne on my chest or back or shoulders for years now.

I would like to start a little guide here on what is working or not working for acne and hopefully some of the more recent acne discoveries will help people get away from the problems that I had in my late teens and twenties with acne.

Acne no more
Take a look at your acne problems and the good ways and bad ways of fighting the underlying reasons that you have acne in the first place. Acne no more is an ebook and is likely the best acne fighting book on the market. At $39.00 this is the best acne treatment and is a great investment in curing your acne and ultimately in helping you overall health at the same time. Check it out today and let me know if you think that this ebook is the best acne treatment!

I am happy that you have signed up. I will be sending messages faily often with tips and tricks to get rid of your acne as well as a few product endorsements. (don’t worry not to many. If you would like to see two products that I have reccomended in the past here are the reviews.

Are these tips all you need to prevent acne? If not you should be interested in a proven method to rid you of your acne. Then read my review of a best acne treatment. Another great product I have reviewed is Acnezine.

Thanks for the opportunity to help you out

Talk to you soon.

Bill