The Best Acne Medication Is A Healthy Diet

Pretend you're in a scary movie...

Okay, this is gonna' sound a little weird for a second, but stay with me.  I have a point I'm trying to make.

So pretend you're a character in a scary movie.  In the movie, you're the "good guy" (or "good gal"), and there are monsters out to get you.  The monsters are all related.  They're all being spit out from a little monster-making machine in the center of town.

Now what do you do?  Do you run around killing monsters, fearing for you life, hiding, and feeling like a victim while the monster-making machine spits out more monsters?

Or do you just go into the center of town, smash the little monster-making machine, and end your problems?

Well, duh!  Of course the answer is to break the machine.  After all, it's the source of your problems, right?  I mean, anybody who's ever played a video game can figure that out.

The main problem with most prescription acne medications and over-the-counter remedies is that they treat the symptoms, but not the cause of the problem.

Over the counter acne remedies treat the pimples themselves after they've already formed.  They only try to clear up the acne that's already on your face.  This doesn't do much good, because while you're trying to get rid of the pimples you already have, new ones form.  What you really want is for the acne never to appear in the first darned place.

Prescriptions do a little better.  They try to cure acne by getting rid of the inflammation and infection that cause the acne.  That's a start.  But they still don't do anything about what's causing the inflammation and infection in the first place.  In other words, they're still not removing the true root of the problem.  It never permanently gets rid of what's really causing your acne. 

So why can't doctors figure it out?

All doctors see is the pimples, not the source of the problem.  They know you're unhappy and they try to make you happy by giving you a way to clear up pimples as quickly as possible once you get them.  They're trying to help you.  But all they know about is drugs and surgery.  So that's all they can give you to help.  And unfortunately, neither drugs nor surgery will keep your acne permanently away.  The best they can do is "control it," usually with bad side effects.

How bad?  Well, frankly, I'm surprised most of them ever got FDA approval—especially Accutane.

Examples of Acne Medications and Their Side Effects

Here are 4 of the most commonly prescribed acne medications, along with a description of how useful they are and what problems they can cause.