What Causes Acne?
Acne is a genetically inherited skin disorder. This time, you really do get to blame your family. When you are acne prone your body is very sensitive to certain inflammatory triggers. Your diet, your lifestyle, hormones, and your skin care products have all effect on your skin and will determine if the acne will show up on your skin or on your body.
If you have acne, your pores clog up with a combination of dead skin cells and oil. Your pores naturally shed dead skin cells on a daily basis. Normal pores shed about one layer of dead skin cells per day inside the pore. The acne-prone pore sheds up to five layers of dead skin cells per day. These excess skin cells mix with oil and create small comedones in the skin. Eventually, these clogged pores turn into black heads or closed comedones. If bacteria is present (which just loves to feed on the dead skin cells and oil), you will develop inflamed pimples or pustules.
What makes your system of acne management any more effective than what I’ve already tried?
You may have used some of the same ingredients used in the PoreInfusion products, but we use them in a very specific way that is very different from other systems.
We want to use skin care products that your skin can tolerate and have you use them in a way that your skin can adapt to easily without causing any irritation and too much dryness. We then have to make sure your skin does not over-adapt and stop responding to the home-care.
That’s why we require frequent check-ins and communication with you to make sure your program is on track. Acne is a very tricky disease and requires close monitoring. We want to provide you with all the guidance you need.
Proactiv got rid of my friends’ acne, but didn’t work for me – why?
This is one of our most frequently asked questions, and for good reason! Read on below for our answer on why Proactiv might not work for you…
There is good science behind Proactiv and that is why it works for some people. But Proactiv skin care products just are not effective enough for people with stubborn acne and they don’t’ address the root cause of your problem For most people, Proactiv seems to work nicely for a couple of weeks then the effects slowly start to fade.
The main reason why because most of the Proactive products have benzoyl peroxide in it, which will temporarily suppress inflammation on the surface of the skin but it does not address the real cause of your acne which stems from the inside.
In order to naturally eliminate your acne and be able to maintain your results, you have to take a holistic approach and follow a customized skincare routine that was created for your acne type.
Here are the most important steps to get clear:
1) Make some dietary changes
2)Take supplements that will eliminate toxins from your body
3)Use an acne safe customized skincare routine on a daily basis to support your skin
4) Wear #acnesafe makeup on a daily basis to cover your breakouts
5) Work with an acne specialist who will be there for you every step of the way to guide you through the clearing process.
The dermatologist put me on antibiotics and my acne got better, but it came back even worse. What happened?
Antibiotics work by killing the bacteria, but it doesn’t do anything to unclog your pores. Because most of the bacteria are killed by the antibiotics, your acne will subside considerably. But it will comeback because the bacteria that survive will breed a population of bacteria which is stronger and resistant to the antibiotics and your pores are still clogged, so the conditions are still right for acne to return. According to Dr. Fulton (co-inventor of Retin A and author of Acne RX) says, “The normal action of the bacteria in the pores does play a role in acne, but a relatively minor role. In truth, only a small portion of the tetracycline filters its way into the skin. That portion kills only a relatively small percentage of the bacteria. Even if some magic antibiotic could control 100 percent of the bacteria, you would have attacked only a fraction of the acne problem.” As said before, the real problem lies in the clogging of the pores of too many dead skin cells.
My acne is really bad. I’ve seen a dermatologist and he’s tried several different kinds of treatments and now wants me to try Accutane. What’s that?
Accutane is the commercial name for isotretinoin, which causes your body to shut down the production of sebum (the oil that’s found in your pores). It is a very dangerous drug which causes birth defects. Consequently, women of child bearing age must be on two forms of birth control and monitored regularly by a doctor. The FDA warns of many other potential side effects, so this should be a treatment for people with extreme nodular, cystic acne (the type that can be disfiguring); and only when all other methods of acne treatment have proven to be ineffective.
Drugwatch.com features up to date information on the drug side effects of prescription and over-the-counter medications. Accutane side effects and Yaz side effects are the most recent drug alerts.
Click here to read our blog post on Why You Should Not Take Accutane!
Why does my acne get worse sometimes?
You have natural oil in your pores called sebum which is what the acne bacteria feed on. An increase in hormonal activity and/or stress can cause an increase in sebum production. This causes your acne to get worse in two ways. It increases the number of pores that get clogged; and it creates a bigger food source for the bacteria. Some foods, especially foods high in iodides, i.e. salty foods, sushi, some seafood can actually irritate the follicle walls and make acne worse.
What if my skin is very sensitive?
We have lots of clients with very sensitive skin. We will only give you treatments and skin care products that you can tolerate. If we’re not sure, we’ll do a little patch test to make sure your skin can tolerate what we’ve chosen for you.
Will my acne ever go away?
You will probably have to continue to treat your acne to keep it under control for awhile. It’s different for everyone, but some people need to continue treatment for years. Eventually, your pores will burn out, not produce as much sebum and will no longer have a habit of getting clogged, but no-one knows when that happens.
Sometimes I get big, pus-filled pimples. Is it OK to pop the pimple?
No!!! Every time you pick or squeeze at your skin you are taking a chance on spreading the bacteria, infecting the lesion and creating a permanent future scar. So it is much more likely that instead of making it go away quicker, you will actually make it worse and last longer. When you break the skin and it forms a scab, that will cause a red mark that can last for months. Lasers, surgical dermabrasion, and deep chemical peels can only help improve the appearance of these types of acne scars, and they only do so in about 50% of cases. Nothing can get rid of those scars. So please, don’t pop the pimples! Instead of picking at your acne lesions, rub ice on them for a minute.
See an acne specialist and get on a good acne clearing program so you won’t have to pop pimples anymore.