There is strong scientific evidence that acne is not caused by your diet or lifestyle, rather that acne is more a function of sex, age and hormones. This implies that whatever you do, if you are going to get acne, you are going to get acne. Acne is inevitable and there is nothing you can do but put up with blackheads and whiteheads.
This is not completely true. Yes, it is true that if you are going to get acne, the conditions that create it will occur. But? and this is a very big but? it does not mean that you have to allow acne to take over your life. ? There is strong evidence that for many people, it is possible to limit or eradicate acne, before the telltale symptoms develop too badly.
Let?s go back to basics - the fundamental cause of acne is blocked pores. The symptoms of acne are there because the sebum (an oily substance secreted from the sebatious glands) continues to be deposited into these pores. This combined with infection from Acne bacteria leads to the collapse of the cell walls and passing of the infection through to other cells in the skin. The eruption on the surface appearing as blackheads and whiteheads.
Now, suppose you had a course of treatment that somehow stopped or minimised the number of blocked pores. Maybe even clearing and uncapping the blocked pores. Would this not mean that acne, as you know it, couldn?t get a grip, or would be limited in its impact upon you?
Just washing your face regularly with soap and water will help to keep your skin clean but if this was enough, we wouldn?t have acne at all would we?
A daily scrub with strong oxidising agents such as benzoyl peroxide would probably do the trick, but repeated usage of high concentrations of products like benzoyl peroxide at above 10 percent concentration are quite likely to get some sort of side effects or reaction from the rest of your skin. After all, it is burning off the dead skin and bacteria, so this must be having some impact upon the normal skin.
As with many things, it is perhaps the little and often approach that offers the best hope for prevention or minimisation of acne. There is clear evidence that the regular use of low concentrations of oxidising agents (2.5%), along with the right balance of moisturisers can very effectively limit or stop acne appearance and spread.
It is always sensible to see your Doctor for advice on how to proceed, but do not give up hope ? many, many people have beaten acne and will continue to do so.
