Acne Magazine

We talked a little about how phototherapy, the cheap kind, which means you sit out in the sun for a little bit, and get a suntan on your face, can be beneficial possibly in the short term for acne. However many studies have proven time and time again that sunlight actually worsens acne long-term, due to UV ray damage and free radical damage, which also leads to premature aging.

Sure, sunning yourself may seem like it’s the easy short term fix, and it also serves to camouflage acne, but did you notice that the week after you get sun exposure on your face, your skin usually rebels and breaks out ten times worse?

That’s because you’d totally aggravated your pores, and the skin produces more sebum in protest to the free radical damage and the drying that sun does to your skin.

And that doesn’t even count the inflammation! Phototherapy for acne is actually a little different from getting UV rays from the sun. It uses a particular intense blue light which is generated by a purpose-built fluorescent lighting, dichroic light bulbs, LEDS or light emitting diodes, or lasers . When phototherapy for acne is used twice weekly, the treatment has been shown to reduce the number of acne lesions by about roughly 64%, sometimes more sometimes less, and is even more effective when it is used daily.

Problem is, it’s because of the free radicals it produces, so aren’t free radicals BAD for your skin? The free radicals apparently produced by the blue light actually kill much of the bacteria that causes acne deep below the skin’s surface. I’m going to stop there, because actually I’m not so sure I would recommend something that produces more free radicals in your skin, as this is something we’ve always been taught is a terrible aging accelerator for our skin!

Oh but before I end, I guess the phototherapy treatment works even better if used with red visible light, which results in a 76% reduction of lesions after 3 months of daily treatment with the red light laser.

Diane 35 is the hormonal control product that I was talking about in my previous posting. It is not available in the US, but there is a newer oral contraceptive containing the progestin drospirenone which is supposedly now available with fewer side effects than Diane 35 / Dianette. The Diane 35 is supposed to be very effective at reducing the negative effects of androgens, which are one of the primary precursors to acne and acne vulgaris, as well as cystic acne. It is the reason that teens get acne so bad, because their hormones are all out of whack when they are younger, and are striving to find a balance.

Take for example Vanessa Williams, a former Miss USA and actress/singer.  Look how gorgeous her skin is today.  And yet, if you get a closeup of her, you can see a very slight remnants of acne on her cheeks.  But she’s still absolutely gorgeous, and has a glow to her skin that now many women have.  Vanessa Williams is just one of several actors and entertainers who has at one point endorsed the Proactiv acne solution product (albeit for a buck I’m sure). 

The solution works ok, but to me, it stopped working after a month. Judith Licht and Vanessa were two of the first actresses to push the product, claiming that acne ruined their skin in their youth, and that they now use the Proactiv product.

Other beautiful “well knowns” that have or have had acne in the past are Cameron Diaz, Brad Pitt, and other celebs with now gorgeous skin.  So you see, you’re amongst some gorgeous people!  We all have had acne in one form or another in our lives, just some of us have it worse.

Is there such a thing as hormonal treatments for acne, that is, besides the birth control pill, for women? Apparently there are some doctors that will suggest a woman or teen go on a certain birth control pill strictly to control acne outbreaks, and control the raging hormones that are a hallmark of every teen girl’s early puberty years.

This is a little oddball bit of information, but I thought you may find it somewhat amusing. I’m amused easily, can you tell? The origins of the word “acne” actually are derived from the Greek word “acme” which when translated literally, means “skin eruption”. Fitting enough, huh? This is typical of the English language since most of the English language is of Greek or Latin origins. So I guess that acne’s been around a while, huh?

 What you are looking at is a picture of a patient with cystic acne.  Cystic acne is a very serious form of acne vulgaris, where cysts form beneath the skin.  It is usually very painful, and dermatologists with patients with cystic acne often recommend a very agressive treatment such as accutane.  Of course, you know I recommend one of the several natural acne treatments discussed in this magazine, but traditionally these patients are put on accutane.

Cystic acne is often so severe that it can become somewhat disfiguring, because it swells parts of the face up so large that parts are barely recognizable.  It also comes with it’s share of psychological effects as well.  Many people will not even leave the house when they have a bad flareup of cystic acne, for fear of ridicule.

Most often cystic acne occurs in men, believe it or not, and it is considered an adverse reaction to testosterone levels in the body.  Same goes for girls with cystic acne, they probably have a sort of imbalance of testosterone going on which causes the deep swelling and infectious cysts. 

This is a continuation of the last post I put up, on summer skin care for acne.  I really like this Clear Pores acne treatment system for summer time acne skin care, because it cleanses the pores without overdrying them, and also clears the sebum adequately so you’re not all shine all day, but you’re also not flaking allover the place or red.  See below for more on this:

We all know that summer is a time of fun and sun, beaches and sand, possibly more alchohol intake (if you’re of age of course!), and other habits that can dry out our skin and cause further irritation and inflammation, the primary cause of acne. 

If you suffer from acne you may want to take some precautions before hitting the beach or any other sunny destination like amusement parks or other leisure activities where your skin will be exposed for prolonged periods of time to the harsh sun.

A lot of people have a common misconception that the sun is actually good for their skin since it tends to “burn off” or dry up pimples, but prolonged exposure to the sun’s powerful and increasingly dangerous ultraviolet rays is not a good choice if you have acne.  Not only that, do you want to have prematurely aged skin?

The problem with sun exposure and acne is also that the sun simply burns the topmost layer of the facial skin. It doesn’t get to the heart of the cause of acne, but rather acts as a very temporary, and very damaging solution to covering up or drying up acne.  Basically, it can also increase your sebum production, which just leads to further breakouts on down the line.

Sweat is also bad news for acne and people tend to wipe the sweat also with dirty or contaminated hands or other cloths with germs on it. Sweat, since it is salty, can also serve as an acne irritant, and you may notice and increased occurrence of acne bumps on your back, chest and neck, since sweating tends to occur in these areas in the summer.

Another thing you need to be mindful of choosing is sunscreens. These UV protectant lotions and creams may contain oils and other pore cloggers,  which is just as bad for the pores as sebum.

It’s that time again. Summer skin care routines should be implemented. The sticky, hot days of summer, with their increased humidity and sun exposure can cause some serious damage to our skin, especially those of us that have acne and sensitive skin. So, what should we do to minimize our chances of sun damage, and also minimize our chances of new breakouts?

I’d like to discuss this in depth over the next posts, but unfortunately I’m running low on time right now. I’d like to especially focus on the three big no no’s of summer acne skin care :

1. Using the wrong sunscreen
2. Wearing the wrong types of moisturizers for acne prone skin
3. Overdrying our skin in an attempt to have less surface oil and shine throughout the day.

Until next time….

I had a curious conversation with a good friend tonight over dinner.  She said she asked her dermatologist about a very well known natural alternative to treat her particular skin condition, and although hundreds of people have experienced great relief using this particular skin car product, the dermatologist “poo pooed” the treatment.

This doesn’t really surprise me all that much.  I mean, if these natural treatments really did work, oh my gosh, the dermatologists might be out of a job some day.  While I’m being facetious of course, this is a good example of how the medical field will try to discredit a number of natural treatment options, on everything from cancer to skin care, without actually knowing or studying that particular natural treatment.

It’s just interesting, that’s all.  Especially when I receive emails all the time telling me how natural acne treatments have worked for people where traditional medical acne treatments have failed them.

Clean & Clear acne products have been around for ions, at least in my book they have. These cheap acne products, specifically geared toward teens with acne who do not have a lot of money to spend on acne skin care, were one of my first forrays into the world of acne skin care.