The most common conventional acne treatments recommended by doctors and dermatologists are Proactive, Benzoyl Peroxide, B5 Mega Dose, Antibiotics and Accutane. While these acne treatments may significantly alleviate the symptoms of acne, topical or oral treatments regardless of how powerful they may be, only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. You also have to keep on using these treatments to maintain the little results they provide (if any at all) but fail to cure your acne completely and permanently. This explains why skin care is a multi-billion dollar industry. They have millions of repeat customers worldwide.
Topical Treatments
Topical Treatments
There are countless different topical acne treatment brands but all of them contain the same active ingredients known as Salicylic Acid or Benzoyl Peroxide, which attempts to dry out the skin pore to kill bacteria and open the blocked pore. However, a dry skin eventually triggers the sebaceous (oil) glands in the skin to produce more sebum (oil) to combat the dryness, resulting in more blocked pores, hence more acne. Skin bacteria known as Propionibacterium Acnes is not the cause of a blocked pore in the first place since these bacteria naturally live in everyone's skin pores. It is the environment that was created which caused them to get trapped (see The Root Cause Of Acne). Once they get trapped they only aggravate the condition by triggering the immune system to respond and fight them with white blood cells, resulting in pus, the white substance that comes out when you pop a pimple. However, a pimple can still form without trapped bacteria. This is known as a papule (small bump) or nodule (big bump). Nothing comes out when you try to squeeze them because they are not filled with pus, although they may go on to fill with pus later on and become a pustule or a cyst (if bacteria do eventually get trapped in the pore). The point is that because bacteria is not the root cause of a pimple, any solution that only address them will ultimately fail.
Oral Treatments
Accutane is a pill taken orally and contains the active ingredient Isotretinoin, which is derived from pure vitamin A. Accutane is considered by the medial industry as the world's number one treatment for acne inflicted skin. And for good reason, since nearly 95% of acne sufferers clear their acne after completing the course. Accutane works by literally reducing the size of the skin's sebaceous glands, thus reducing sebum (oil) production. The problem with Accutane is that it can take from 6 - 8 months to see results and nearly 40% of people experience acne breakouts within a month after completing the course. Sometimes worse than before using Accutane. It's also a known fact that Accutane comes with so many damaging side effects that are experienced during the treatment but can also linger long after the treatment. At least Accutane treats the environment that cause acne and not just bacteria but unfortunately does not treat the root cause of that environment.
Antibiotics like Tetracycline attempts to kill bacteria, but in doing so also kills the good (beneficial) bacteria. A lack of sufficient beneficial bacteria in the intestinal track promotes a yeast overgrowth known as Candidiasis, a condition that has devastating effects on the body and skin. Read more about Candidiasis in Weak Immune System and Acne.
Antibiotics like Tetracycline attempts to kill bacteria, but in doing so also kills the good (beneficial) bacteria. A lack of sufficient beneficial bacteria in the intestinal track promotes a yeast overgrowth known as Candidiasis, a condition that has devastating effects on the body and skin. Read more about Candidiasis in Weak Immune System and Acne.
Conclusion
Acne is not an external problem with your skin but an external manifestation of a deep internal problem. In other words, acne is a symptom of an internal disorder that manifests externally as acne.
Curing acne can never be achieved by addressing only one of the many factors responsible for acne. If you've ever tried to cure your acne using a one-dimensional treatment you most likely failed because you only addressed one factor of the disease.
There is no point using antibacterial products to treat acne if you don’t treat the underlying causes. These anti-bacterial creams and lotions can’t do anything against the root cause of a blocked pore, which is why your acne persists or keeps coming back.
The only way to clear your acne completely and permanently, regardless of the type of acne you have or the level of severity, is by treating the root cause responsible for the formation and persistence of acne.
