To understand how adult acne develops, we need to go deeper into the actual biology of the skin. There are three layers that a course in physiology would define as "skin". First, the very top layer is called the epidermis. The epidermis is the thinnest of the three components of skin. At the bottom of the layer are the cells that produce the pigments for skin color. Next layer down is the dermis, which is the thickest layer of the system - it comprises approximately 2/3 of the total. As relates to our story on adult acne, it is important because the functional glands of the skin system actually reside in the dermis.

Myth: Acne is related to diet

Reality: After years of studies, no correlation between diet and adult acne has been found. There is no evidence that chocolate, sugar, oil, milk, seafood, or any other food causes acne. Some people absolutely insist that a certain food causes acne for them. In summary, changing your diet will most likely not affect your adult acne, and avoiding foods in order to clear up acne is probably a waste of your time.

The typical medical response to adult acne, after the fact, is to treat conditions with antibiotics, acids, and benzoyl peroxide. In cases of deep acne, typically the infections require weeks or months of strong antibiotics such as tetracycline and topical creams such as benzoyl peroxide. These remedies typically improve the situation but do not eliminate it entirely. All-natural progesterone cream does, however, seem to have significant success in stopping, curing, and alleviating acne in teenage and young women around the menstrual cycle. If the usual antibiotics and creams are not successful, a strong drug called Isotretinoin (taken as a pill) is sometimes prescribed. These drugs, however, all have side effects and other implications such as yeast infections are not uncommon.

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