Almost everyone will have the occasional acne breakout during their teen years. While acne is a common problem among this age group, it is far from an attractive or desirable one. Many folks have to deal with whiteheads and blackheads well past the years of adolescence. It is not uncommon for some to greet their mid-life crisis with acne trouble as well as the newly discovered lines and wrinkles that are the natural result of the aging process.

How will one go about dealing with life challenge known as acne? Absolute good news is that there are plenty of options in acne treatments today, in fact, that you stand a high probability of finding one that will clear up your own complexion. However before you dash out to purchase an acne treatment to try, there are a few facts that you should know.

Acne occurs, when your pores get clogged and whiteheads or blackheads developing on the skin. Usually it begins most often with kids that are ten to thirteen years old, and lasts for around five years. Unfortunately, some can attest to the fact that this is a generalization, and that acne can occur for a much longer stretch of time.

Most people can control their acne breakouts with over the counter acne treatments. But, there is also a large percentage that will require a doctor’s help to clear their complexions. Doctor’s do have access to a number of prescription-strength acne treatments that can work effectively when the over the counter options don’t.

Three-Step Approach to Acne Treatment

Regardless of what acne treatment you select, most will follow the same, basic three-step approach to treating acne. Step one includes cleansing, to remove surface oil and other impurities. Gently washing the affected area is usually best, since acne-prone skin can often be easily irritated by harsh acne treatments. After cleansing is complete, it is time for medication. Usually a product that contains benzoyl peroxide is used it oxygenates the skin and keeps acne bacteria at bay.

Because this part of your acne treatment can also dry your skin out, the final step should be to add an oil-free moisturizer that will keep your skin soft and smooth. When you follow these three steps of your acne treatment plan, you are already on the road to clearer skin. Simply find the product line of acne treatments that works the best for your complexion.

Acne is a bad condition that no one wants to live with for very long. The good news is that there are plenty of good and effective acne treatments on the market today that can effectively clear you complexion and allow you to say goodbye to acne for good.



By: RAYMOND NWAMBUONWO

About the Author:

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Propionibacterium or acne bacteria is not the root cause of acne, so destroying it can, at best, help you to bring down the swelling that a ripe pimple causes. It cannot prevent acne from forming as it does not play much of a part in the creation of this condition.

The Acne Problem Lies Way Below The Skin.

Practitioners of conventional medicine describe acne as a skin inflammation. This condition is caused largely by factors on the skin surface, the principal one being an excess of sebum and keratin being produced by the oil glands.

The excessive oil blocks the pores of the hair follicle and this leads to the growth of bacteria. As the growth of bacteria increases, small pimples appear, both on the surface of the skin and directly underneath. The ones above the surface are called blackheads and the ones below the surface are called whiteheads.

In reality, the cause of acne lies way below the surface of the skin. It`s not the immediate signs that you have to tackle, not the inflamed skin, not the investigations of the skin type, not the excessive production of oil, nor the clogged hair follicles or the bacteria on your skin; none of these. Acne is formed because deep rooted factors develop an environment which is conducive to its formation and growth.

Acne is a condition, NOT a disease.

Whatever else acne might be, it is certainly not a disease, just as many of the medical conditions found in the western world are not really diseases. Acne RESULTS from a disease and the acne condition is the body`s way of telling you that all is not well. Don`t ignore this message as the balance of your body is at stake.

I wish to warn you that you should not take the words of conventional practitioners of medicine as the whole truth and start treating your acne as a skin ailment and nothing else. The problem can only be found in the deeper recesses of the body.

If you are afflicted with acne, please understand that the real cause of it is an imbalance that has occurred in your body`s system. The rashes and pimples are the outward manifestations of a much deeper problem which you MUST tackle if you want to be rid of your acne and lead a healthier life.

You will obviously wonder why doctors insist on labeling acne as a malfunction of the skin. The reason is that they can make more money by making you buy the worthless antibiotics and lotions.

The truth about acne bacteria:

Acne bacteria or propionibacterium, to give it its technical term, is something that every human being has on his skin. This bacterium is a life form which fights for survival and is beneficial for us. So the malignant organisms which conventional medicines try to eradicate are really very important for our good health and well being.

You may be surprised to know that acne bacteria, so long as it is in tune with the balance of your body, help you repel other bacteria which are way more harmful for you. It exists in all human beings, irrespective of whether they have acne or not and is the major reason for the flexibility of your skin.

The secretions from our sweat and sebaceous glands are what the acne bacteria feed itself on. This is normal for everyone whether they have acne or not.

Acne bacteria do NOT cause acne and is not contagious. Obviously, as otherwise every single individual would have contracted acne since the bacteria is in all of us. Then why is it that only some unfortunate souls land up being afflicted?

The case is the same with streptococcus bacteria which everyone has. Then why is it that everyone doesn`t get tonsillitis or a strep throat? The reason is that, like acne bacteria, it will not strike unless the conditions in the body are right and a specific environment is fashioned.

It is the environment which counts (the acne triangle of oil-toxins-bacteria).

The environment that creates acne is one where there is an overproduction of sebum oil, mainly due to an imbalance in hormones, and this excess mixes with congested toxins which come out through the skin. This mixture is dangerous as it causes bacteria to develop and grow disturbingly fast. The condition which is thus created is the standard one for an acne sufferer: pimples and nodules which are inflamed and pus-filled.

This condition, described above, where the bacteria grows in leaps and bounds because of the admixture of excess sebum oil and blood toxins, has to be prevented. Merely killing the bacteria is not sufficient because it will grow again when the above condition is recreated. So the ONLY way to stop acne permanently is to go to the root of the problem and ensure that this condition is not allowed to happen.

So antibiotics which kill acne bacteria, such as benzoyl peroxide, tetracycline or monocycline are not permanent cures because they do not tackle the root cause of the acne.

Then What Really Causes Acne?

You will, by now, realize what it is that makes acne bacteria grow so drastically and what environment brings on acne. But all this is only what happens on the surface. What we have to know in order to permanently stop acne from happening is the root cause of the hormonal imbalance and the blood toxins that cause the nexus between oil, toxins and bacteria in the first place.

This nexus is created on the surface of the skin because of a process that is affected by changes within the body. These changes are nutritional, hormonal, environmental and even psychological.

Therefore, to ensure a permanently clear skin, you will have to counteract the changes in ALL the factors mentioned above so that bacteria does not multiply but is kept at an optimal level on your skin.