Myths and Misinformation About Acne

Myth: If You Leave Your Acne Alone, Youll Outgrow It

This is absolutely untrue. If you acne outbreak, it is important to treat it as early as possible. Leaving it alone can often make matter worse. And if it does get worse, it can create permanent scars which not just affect your physical look but also your emotion feeling about yourself.

Myth: Acne Is Caused by Eating Oily Food, Chocolate or Caffeine

There is no strong medical evident that certain type of food or diet result in acne. However if you notice that certain kind of food consistently cause you to suffer from acne outbreak, it is best that you avoid them. For example, some people are very sensitive to food with high iodine content such as shellfish, dried fish and seaweed which result in flare-up. There are some studies theorize that hormones in chicken, beef and dairy products may cause early adolescent acne but that has yet to be proven. However if you have concerned, then you may want to substitute other sources of protein and calcium for these products or try hormone-free organic version of them.

Myth: Acne Is Seasonal

Acne is not a seasonal skin problem. You can suffer from acne outbreak during any time of the year. However temperature and humidity may increase the oil production of your skin and hence result in acne.

Myth: Sunscreen Causes Acne

A heavy and occlusive sunscreen can attract and hold on to heat in your follicles which can result in skin inflammation and causing numerous small red bumps to form. However this reaction is not true acne but a condition known as miliaria. A good non-comedogenic sunscreen will not result in acne.

Sun screen is a very important prevention measure against skin cancer. Hence we will never advice you not to use it. In fact, you should always apply sunscreen to your skin when you need to go under the sun. For people will acne-prone skin, well recommend that they use oil-free non-comodegenic sunscreen.

One important thing to note - Acne medicine such as benzoyl peroxide Rein-A and salicylic acid may increase your skin sensitivity to the sunlight. Hence if you use these medicines, it is very important that you apply sunscreen before you leave the house.

Myth: Drinking Lots of Water Will Wash Away Acne

Although drinking 6 to 8 glasses of water each day is essential for a healthy body, there is no evidence that drinking water alone will wash away acne. While water alone will not eliminate acne, it will greatly assist your skin in remaining healthy and that will be one portion of the pie in fighting acne.

Myth: Sun Exposure Help To Heal Your Acne

With the increasing use of blue light by some dermatologist in treating acne, some people start to believe that sun exposure helps to heal their acne. A small amount of sunlight may appear to help your acne initially as breakout temporary dry up and your new tan help to cover up the red blemishes. However prolonged sun exposure will increase the plugging of your pores, producing blackheads and whiteheads and not forgetting the increase in risk of skin cancer.

Myth: Acne Is Caused By Not Washing Your Face Regularly Acne is not caused by dirt or uncleanliness. In fact, if you wash your face too often or rub it with alcohol to help you get rid of excess oil and to feel clean, that in fact will stimulate more oil production. Washing your face twice a day is usually good enough to get rid of dirt and bacteria on your skin.

Myth: Blue Light Therapy Can Cure Acne

Many dermatologist are using blue light wave in treating acne today. Blue light works by sterilizing the skin for a short period of time, removing acne bacteria and temporary improve acne when used with traditional topical acne medication.

However it is still too early at the moment to tell whether blue light therapy is in fact helpful and whether its long term benefit out weigh the expenses and frequently visits for the therapy. Will have to wait and see as studies on it effectiveness as studies are still on going.

Alvin Poh shares more ideas and articles like this on the very popular website "Ask About Acne" at http://www.askaboutacne.com

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 7:04 pm and is filed under Acne Skin Care . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.