The nightmare of every teenager. Destroyer of self-confidence. A bullseye on your face. Scar makers. Complex creators. A massive expense.
Acne.
For those who read this, and never suffered from it, know this: Acne vulgaris is a disease. Yes, a disease. It's not a matter of choice, it has nothing to do with personal hygiene and diet, it has nothing to do with sexual activity. Illness. Do not mock anyone about it.
Let's get started.
HOW DOES ACNE OCCUR?
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You must know that the skin has a lot of sebaceous glands.
You can also assume that these sebaceous glands have their canals that go to the surface of the skin. In most people, the sebum of the glands is released easily through the canals to the surface in normal amounts.
However, the situation is not always normal.
Sometimes the hormones go wild and cause the glands to start with hyperproduction of the sebum.
Sometimes, there is damage to the skin, so that the canals become clogged.
Sometimes the bacteria slam into the canals and clog them.
To make a long story short, things aren't always normal.
In such "abnormal" cases, the outlet channels are clogged, and the sebaceous glands continue to produce sebum. And what happens then? Then you wake up and see the red acne on your forehead.
Too much sebum has started to push the surrounding cells and now our immune system sees this pressure as a dangerous situation. The defensive forces of our skin are activated very quickly and inflammation is created around the clogged gland causing a painful redness.
It's not very complicated, is it?
WHAT CAUSES ACNE?
It's incredible that the real cause of acne is not known.
We do know that there are factors that influence the occurrence of acne.
These factors are increased hormonal activity (which occurs in puberty and during the menstrual cycle), the use of certain substances that contain chlorine and other halogen elements (barbiturates, androgens, lithium, some antidepressants) and the use of anabolic steroids.
Hormonal imbalance (puberty and menstrual cycle) is the most important factor, and the treatment of acne is mainly based on the regulation of hormonal activity.
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We repeat once again that diet, sexual activity, and inadequate personal hygiene are not the causes of acne but a delusion.
HOW TO TREAT ACNE?
Before we begin with the explanation, please bear in mind that some of these drugs are not particularly safe and you must not use them without the supervision of a doctor. Next to such drugs, I will put an explicit note. If, in addition to acne, you are suffering from some other pathological condition, please consult your doctor before using any of these drugs.
ORAL RETINOIDS
ONLY WITH THE HEALTH SUPERVISOR
These compounds are closely related to vitamin A. Their ingestion leads to a decrease in the secretion of the loin (sebum) and therefore the appearance of acne. They are very effective, although in the first month of use they often lead to a transient deterioration.
However, these are strong drugs that often damage the liver. In addition, people planning children (3 months after discontinuation of retinoid therapy) MUST NOT TAKE THESE MEDICINES.
These medicines can lead to damage to spermatozoids, egg cells, embryonic and fetal cells (can lead to anomalies of the fetus).
Use them only with supervision and with the recommendation of a doctor.
RETINOIDS FOR EXTERNAL APPLICATION
Although far weaker than oral retinoids, the products for the external application have good efficiency with drastically higher safety. They reduce the secretion of the sebum and alleviate the process of hyperkeratinization, which is also a very important factor in the development of acne.
ANTIBIOTICS
ONLY WITH THE HEALTH SUPERVISOR
Propionibacterium acnes is a type of bacteria found on everyone's skin. In some people, this bacteria can be pulled into the pore of the ducts and form a canal cap and inflammation of the skin and the appearance of acne.
Therefore, the use of antibiotics and bactericides (either external or oral preparations) can give excellent results. However, it is necessary to consult a doctor before taking these preparations as they are very powerful.
HORMONAL TREATMENT
ONLY WITH THE HEALTH SUPERVISOR
Do you have a friend whose skin has been cleaned after she began to drink oral contraceptives?
Here's the reason.
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Oral contraception or "the pill" is actually a mixture of hormones. One of the indications for giving contraception is acne. These drugs establish a hormonal balance in women and thus reduce the occurrence of acne.
Again, as these are very, very, very serious medicines, do not resort to using them without consulting your doctor.
PHOTOTHERAPY
There are indications that short-term light exposure of a certain wavelength can lead to an improvement in skin condition. However, although the results are promising, such methods are in the testing process.
NATURAL REMEDIES
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People are turning to natural and less potent drugs and are getting great results.
Azaleic acid, zinc, wild hazelnut extract, tea tree oil as well as vitamin B3 are substances that exhibit extraordinary anti-acne activity with minimal risk.
However, keep in mind that these are medicines, and do not take them for granted. If you are already on any kind of therapy, you should not use these medicines without consulting your doctor.
If you find this post valuable, please upvote. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.
I like your suggested natural remedies. It does seem to be something that has be be attacked from both inside and outside. If I were dealing with acne I would use a high silver concentration cream that soaks into the skin. Also, a teaspoon of real colloidal silver would be taken once a day after a meal.
This is not medical advice. I'm not a medical practitioner. this is simply what I would do for myself which you might find interesting. The FDA has not approved silver to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, regardless of its history of being widely used as such prior to the introduction of antibiotics (source).
Thank you for the upvote and thank you for your opinion.
I am a medical practitioner.
Silver has been used prior to the introduction of antibiotics, however, if it had better performances, antibiotics wouldn't push the silver into history. Certain salts of silver are used to treat, cure prevent and diagnose diseases. I am not sure if it's approved by the FDA, but you can find official drugs with silver in European Pharmacopeia. Silver definitely has bactericidal properties and has a medical purpose, but there are better remedies than silver.
Once again, thank you for the upvote and for expresing your opinion.
A source was added in the original comment which you may find interesting.
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