The problem of acne (also called acne vulgaris), spots and pimples is something that pretty much all of you had to endure at some stage in your life. For most of you it was during your teenage years (some of you might be at that stage right now). As a matter of fact more than 85% of teenagers suffer from acne problems. For others acne and similar skin disorders follow on into your adult life. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself exactly what's causing your acne or how it might be treated?



Acne is normally seen as a very common thing with easily identifiable causes and cures. This isn't really the case and acne is a more complicated matter than many of you reading this may think. The problem starts with skin pores becoming blocked with dead skin cells and your skin secreting more oil (called sebum) than it actually needs. The blocked skin pores are the perfect growing environment for certain types of bacteria. This type of bacterial infection then causes your skin to become inflammed and sore. Other skins pores become infected and within a few days you can have a total acne outbreak.

Most people think that acne is caused by excessive oil and grease from the skin clogging up the pores and this then causes zits, pimples and blackheads. The odd thing is that the oil (sebum) trapped in the pore actually moves through the blockage and onto the surface of the skin which gives you the double problem of acne and oily skin. The oil itself, however, is not the cause of the acne.

So what is at the heart of your acne problem? There isn't one single cause for acne itself - there are several. What may surprise you is that the ones you expect to find here aren't the ones you may expect. Hormonal activity (puberty and the menstrual cycle for examples), family history, poor skin care, steroids and stress are amongst the most common causes of zits, blackheads and pimples. You may have noticed that junk food wasn't included and that's simply because there's no proven link between junk food and acne.

The appearance of spots and blackheads isn't the only thing to be concerned about if you suffer from acne. If you leave acne untreated and to spread all over your face or body it can have longterm consequences in the form of scarring. Just ignoring it and pretending it will go away on its own isn't an answer. Those scars can be there for life so why not take steps to prevent them right now?

What acne treatments are available to you? Fortunately the treatments for acne are many and varied. You can start with basics of skin care which is exfoliation. Then you can start looking at natural treatments like taking lots of Vitamin A. Next we have the topical and oral antibiotics, Retinoic Acid (also called Retin-A), laser therapy and light therapy. Last (and by no means least) is the simple option of following a healthy lifestyle, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, drink lots of clean water and get a fairly reasonable amount of exercise. This puts your body in balance and allows it to function properly and prevent skin conditions like acne.

Acne isn't life threatening but is an embarrassing skin problem but it is one you can cure. Get stared on treating your acne today. Your skin will thank you in the years to come.