Acne and Breakouts: The Truth, The Myths and The Outright Lies

A s anyone with acne knows, there is a huge stigma to those who suffer from any skin disorder. And today's society in particular, place great emphasis on physical appearance. That being said, most of us, myself included, strive to have great looking skin. Great skin gives us confidence, raises our self-esteem and adds to our overall health and well being. For those who have had difficulty in maintaining clear skin, and who have tried many products, there are natural remedies to greater skin. But first, an understanding of how acne forms will guide you in the right treatment options.

Acne Vulgaris is caused by the combination of the following:

1. plugged hair follicles from dead skin cells
2. excess sebum creation from your sebaceous glands
3. change in skin lipid composition
4. inflammation caused by the p. acnes bacteria

Let's have a closer look at #1 shall we. Attached to all hair follicles are a set of sebaceous glands. Their purpose is to produce and deposit sebum onto the hair shaft to protect and waterproof the hair. It is at this hair follicle that our problems begin.

It is the combination of the natural skin shedding process combined with the excess sebum creation that plugs the hair follicle. Now the question arises, why do you have excess sebum creation? Doctors are not certain, however they suspect that the endogenous hormone androgen is the culprit as they are present in high concentrations of the blood during adolescence and puberty. Androgen hormone receptors are also present in the portion of the follicle where comedones (blackheads) form. Strangely enough, individuals with malfunctioning androgen receptors do not develop acne.

Also relating to the excess sebum creation is the dilution of your skin's natural lipid concentration. The sebum mixes with your skin's natural lipids thus changing the lipid level concentrations. Those with Acne tend to have diminished concentrations of linoleic acid in their cell membranes and this decrease in linoleic acid may be what initiates blackhead formation. Linoleic acid is an Omega-6 fatty acid and is used in making soaps and emulsifiers in the cosmetics industries.

Inflammation is the fourth perpetrator in the battle against Acne. P acnes is a micro bacteria found in all acne lesions and it incites inflammation by producing pro-inflammatory mediators that spread throughout the follicle wall.

So what can you do to combat Acne...see below for more information.

Acne medications come in all forms, from topical Over-The-Counter (OTC) exfoliants to oral antibiotics for the more severe forms of Acne. The most common ingredients found in the OTC medications are Benzoyl peroxide, Salicylic Acid and Sulfur. All three medicinal ingredients are used as a chemical exfoliants, allowing the dead skin cells to shed more easily to prohibit the clogging of the hair follicle.

Aside from the itching, burning and peeling, the problem with Benzoyl peroxide and other chemical exfoliators is that they are radical initiators. This means that they are creating free radicals and these free radicals cause cell damage and even cell death. Visit http://oolongteaforweightloss.com for more information about free radicals and their destructive nature.

Anti-androgens contribute to the hormonal therapies such such as cyproterone acetate, flutamide or spironolactone and are making headway to treat mild to moderate acne. For those who opt-in for this treatment, one of the requirements is to have functioning androgen receptors. Remember what I said about androgen receptors? Those with malfunctioning receptors don't have acne. Lucky them! Hormonal treatments work in two ways. First, they reduce the circulating androgen levels (these would be oral contraceptives) and secondly, they create an androgen receptor blockade. The blockaders would be cyproterone acetate, flutamide and spironolactone. As reported by the Department of Dermatology at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, an added bonus with combining oral contraceptives with either drospirenone or cyproterone acetate is that as well as reducing the levels of androgens, sebum production is also reduced. Patients commonly indicate that their skin has improved with these treatments.

Another popular method for treating Acne is Phototherapy, which uses Ultraviolet or Laser light to destroy the p. acnes bacteria. Patients must usually have 8-10 sessions before any decrease in inflammation is noticed. Notwithstanding the high treatment costs and recurring sessions for these procedures, the non-respondent rate is between 15-20%. That means 20 out of every 100 people will not respond to this type of treatment.

For those suffering from a more severe case of Acne, oral antibiotics such as tetracycline, doxycycline, minocycline and erythromycin are used. Unfortunately, the side-effects from these medications can be severe, from nausea and vomiting to weight gain, bloating and headaches to name a few. Another consideration when taking any oral antibiotic is that the antibiotic runs through your entire circulatory and gastrointestinal systems and subjects the entire body to the antibiotic. Yet another risk is that the p. acnes bacteria may become resistant to the antibiotic.

So what is an Acne sufferer to do, you ask? Well, the good news is that yet another Acne treatment has hit the market and is making waves (literally) in the battle against the p. acnes bacteria without any adverse side-effects. It is a small battery operated hand-held device which delivers a thermal dose of heat of approximately 121 degrees F (49.4 degrees C) to the effected area for 2-4 minutes. The heat kills the colony of p. acnes bacteria without harming the skin's cell structure. As reported by the test subjects of this device, a definite improvement to their skin's appearance was seen within a 36 hour period.

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