Acne Treatments and Products: The Truth

It is no secret that there are thousands of acne treatments available all over the world.  And while I emphasise in my posts that the key is to target the underlying cause, I must also advise that treatments are still effective in fighting the symptoms themselves.

Allow me to clarify. Cleansing your body of toxins and maintaining a healthy pH balance is the only way to entirely prevent acne symptoms from occuring and will also eliminate infected blemishes.  However, in the time from starting your diet change until the healthy level is reached (and even on an ongoing basis), acne treatments can help minimise your acne symptoms, and in some cases are good for your skin anyway.

For example, I recommend always using an exfoliating facial scrub and a loufa for showers to remove the dead skin.  Not only does this unclog pores but it also cleans the outer layer of skin and gives a much more vibrant look. This should be a regular skin maintenance technique for everyone (not just acne sufferers).

On the other hand, chemical and alcoholic treatments should be avoided at all costs.  The more natural the better because when you stop using a chemical treatment you will often face a rebound effect (meaning that you will get severe symptoms for a short period when stopping).  You should always look at the ingredients of anything that you put on your skin and be extremely diligent about the effects it has.

Medication is also a huge no-no.  Doctor’s will often prescribe an anti-biotic as an effective treatment for acne.  While in some cases this does work, anti-biotics will only reduce the infections, will not eliminate the underlying cause, and in general should be avoided unless extremely sick.  A healthy body produces enough anti-biotics to protect against infection and a simple change in diet will immediately eliminate any minor infections in the body.  Also, excessive use of any anti-biotic will extremely reduce the strength of your body’s immune system and will cause your body to build a tolerance to it.  If one day you become very ill, anti-biotics will have a much lower effect.

Toners are a common treatment advertised and used for acne but I must emphasise that it should be applied in moderation and again should be alcohol-free.  The purpose of a toner is to keep the pores unclogged for longer periods of time.  Many users often overapply toners and it can cause exceedingly dry skin which is extremely vulnerable to adverse effects (like sunburn).

And just to let you know pores never close, they are always open.  They just become clogged as I have described in my previous post “What Causes Acne? The Science”.  Any treatment advertising that it will “open” pores is most likely an amateurish treatment from someone that has not done proper research.

By far the best treatment you can look for is one that is all natural.  I have tried facial Masques and natural creams but I have discovered a treatment that is almost universally not associated with acne.  In my research I came across an acne sufferer that used this treatment for egzema and discovered its affects on acne.  The product is Himilayan Crystal Salt and can be bought online from numerous locations.  I found that eBay was the best.

It is extremely inexpensive, 100% natural and the most effective treatment I have used.  I will go into more detail on this treatment in my next post.

And before I go, let me just remind you that all treatments are for the symptoms of acne ONLY.  They will not address the cause.  The only way to officially target the cause of acne is with a healthy pH balance.