One of the most prevalent chronic skin conditions in the world today is acne. Millions of people all over the world suffer from this condition. It is indiscriminant, striking people from all walks of life.

Although there are many causes for acne, heredity being a major factor, some studies indicate that excess hormones in the sebaceous glands cause acne.

Acne has an overwhelming impact on those who suffer from it. With acne comes the agony of having to face people on a day-to-day basis. Acne can greatly reduce the self-esteem of sufferers. Skin experts realized this fact early on and have developed guidelines for acne prevention.

The number one rule is never trying to pick or pop the lesions that the acne causes. It is important because when you pick or pop the lesion, it can cause scarring or even spread the acne to other locations on the face or body.

Another acne prevention guideline is to wash your face with mild or sulfur soap a minimum of twice a day. It is important to remember not to scrub your face, but use a gentle circular motion and to pat your face dry with a soft towel. Arming yourself with acne prevention guidelines will assist you in controlling your acne.

Avoiding products that have an oil base will also assist in preventing an outbreak of acne. If you wear make-up, purchase the type of make up that does not clog your pores. It may be a little more expensive, but you will like the results in helping with acne prevention.

Still another acne prevention recommendation is that you avoid grease that is airborne. This type of grease is in fast food restaurants. If you or your teenager play sports, just the rubbing that occurs when wearing sports equipment can cause an onset of acne. It is recommended for acne prevention that you try to minimize any rubbing or friction while you are in your gear.

There are some experts that believe that if you give acne prevention medications time to work, they will clear up the acne. The problem with this is that it could take months even up to a year for the acne prevention medication to work. No one wants to wait that long.

There are acne prevention specialists who will recommend non-prescription medication and topical creams. Most of these contain Benzoyl Peroxide, which works as an acne prevention agent.

These types of acne prevention medications can be found in virtually all pharmacies and even in grocery stores. Benzoyl Peroxide is the active ingredient because of its antibacterial properties. It has been proven effective for reducing or eliminating acne-causing bacteria.

Salicylic acid is another ingredient to look for when trying to find an acne prevention medication. Its purpose is to reduce or eliminate shedding skin along the hairline and around the follicles.

There are so many different acne prevention medications on the market today that were developed to stop the growth of acne causing bacteria. Some are readily available, and some are so strong that they can have serious side effects.

Accutane is one of them. Acne prevention specialists will only prescribe this medication if nothing else works. They will advise the patient that side effects could include red, dry, irritated skin and in extreme cases, birth defects.

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Vanity is a natural human characteristic. It is innate in all of us. And although most people do not regard their skin as an organ, our skin is in fact the largest vital organ in our body. Skin that is clogged and unhealthy is not just a beauty problem. It can become a hindrance to your sense of vitality and wellness. Proper care of your skin is important not only to your personal sense of beauty but also to proper elimination, more graceful aging and overall health.

There are five major types of skin. Understanding your skin type is the best approach to your personal skin care.

• Normal skin-is the type of skin that we'd all love to have. This is the "healthy" type of skin. This type is the not too oily, not too dry type, characterized by few blemishes, generally firm and smooth with small pores. When you pull the skin away from the bony structure, it springs back to normal position. Lines and wrinkles are appropriate for age.



• Dry Skin-due to environmental exposure to harsh elements and very often lack of water skin may flake off and feel tight in your face. It may lack natural oils, may look rather flaky with small pores, blemishes and blackheads. Without adequate moisture, dry skin can easily become chapped. As dry skin ages, it's more likely than other types to become wrinkly.



• Oily Skin-skin may look oily and coarse, may have recurring blackheads, acne and large pores. The texture of skin is thick; the touch is often sticky. This type is usually youthful- looking due to the presence of oil on the skin. Often, individuals with oily skin have a tendency to develop acne in their teen and middle years, and overgrown oil glands, or sebaceous hyperplasia, in the middle and late years.



• Combination Skin-varies according to your skin type. This is the Jekyll and Hyde type of skin, often with split personality. This type may be characterized as oily on the T-zone (the area that stretches from the forehead down to the nose and chin), and dry to normal on the cheeks and around the eye area.



• Sensitive Skin-people with sensitive skin are the most prone to allergies, rash, sting, and burns. This type of skin gets irritated easily and can go very red and blotchy. This type will have a lot more trouble to environmental factors and tends to be very sensitive to cosmetics.

Know your skin and take care of it. It is your glory to being healthy and beautiful.

Hormonal changes are believed to be a significant contributing factor to the development of acne. Medical research projects have discovered that people who suffer from acne usually have oily skin due to high levels of androgen and testosterone hormones in the body. This observation naturally led researchers to conclude that a proper balance of androgen and estrogen hormones were required in order to maintain healthy skin that can avoid acne better.

The acne and hormones connection simply means that hormones affect acne. Hormones are most active around the ages of 19 to 24 and so they can affect young adults as well as teenagers. It is normal at this stage for people to get lesions on the lower face, mostly in the chin and the jaw line. Lesions can also appear on the chest and back, though this is a rarity and most people are affected only in facial areas.

Another strong point that affirms the acne and hormones connection is that acne has been typically observed to start affecting people once their body starts to produce androgen hormones. What the androgen hormones do is stimulate the sebaceous glands to enlarge and secret sebum. This oily secretion first attaches itself to the hair follicle and then slowly moves up the hair shaft, where it finally appears on the skin surface and makes the skin appear and feel oily and sticky. While moving up the hair shaft, sebum attracts and blends with bacteria that causes blockage in the hair follicle. These blocked follicles then become breeding grounds for more bacteria that eventually results in an infection that further develops into acne.

Hormones regulate every function of our bodies. Whether it is sleeping, growth, change in voice, hair color change, bone lengthening, etc., every major change in our bodies taking place with age progression depends on hormones. It is only logical that any imbalance in hormones can result in problems like acne. A body that has all its hormones in perfect balance would never face such problems. Unfortunately, there are no such perfectly balanced bodies, but don't worry, you don't need a perfect balance, just adequate balance that is well within reach of most people.

In teenagers, the development of acne coincides with the hormonal changes that occur at the onset of puberty. Androgens are produced in high quantities during this stage and it has already been shown how closely they are related to the formation of acne. The acne and hormones connection has been demonstrated in adults through the link between the menstrual cycle of a woman and the resulting development of acne.

One of the most common ways of treating acne is the use of retinoids. Retinoids are substances derived from Vitamin A, which attempt to cure acne by normalizing the lifecycle of follicle cells. There are two types of such substances, based on application: external (topical) and oral. The best known external retinoids are Retin-A, Differin and Tazorac, while the oral retinoids list is headed by the popular Accutane.

Retinoids are derivatives of Vitamin A and share the parent substance's effects of reducing the secretion of oil from the glands located in the skin. This primary effect is what makes retinoids so effective against acne. The long-term (4-6 months) decrease in oil secretion means that hair follicles are less likely to clog and turn into pimples and, in most cases, acne is gone for good by the end of the treatment period. However, about one quarter of the patients who used Accutane or other drugs based on isotretinoin may relapse and require additional treatment.

But the biggest drawback of retinoids is the long list of side effects, which sometimes makes retinoids look like a disease rather than a cure. Retinoids are used only under the close supervision of a dermatologist precisely because of these side effects. If a patient needs more than one treatment, the doctor will always insist on letting a few months pass between the treatments in order to give the body a chance to recover. The most common side effects are dry skin and nosebleeds. Many patients have also reported liver problems, while a few complained of depression. However, the scientific community is still split on the issue of depression. More seriously, isotretinoin is known to cause birth defects, which is why female patients have to use two separate forms of birth control or vow abstinence during the treatment. Pregnant women are not allowed to use anything but the mildest treatments.

The bottom line is that retinoids are a good idea if one can cope with the side effects. This begs the question: why not use something just as effective, but without the side effects. Acne treatment systems, such as ClearPores, are also popular because of their success in dealing with the condition, but lack the extreme side that makes retinoids a pain to use. The choice between these treatments is yours.