Acne Causes, Symptoms, Treatments with Canadian Health and Care Mall
While acne is, without a doubt, the most common skin disorder, its wide prevalence is of little consolation to those who suffer from it – especially adults. According to statistics, up to 20% of adult women have acne (and 3% of men). Acne, while harmless, can seriously reduce one’s ability to enjoy life and damage one’s self-confidence. Unsurprisingly, acne treatment has become a huge market, surrounded by many myths and misconceptions. We have spoken to Jerry Xu – a senior customer care specialist at Canadian Health Care Mall www.canadahealthcaremall.com, a large online pharmacy – about acne’s true causes and effective treatments that can be recommended to teenagers and adults alike.
The true immediate cause of acne
First of all, we asked Mr. Xu if it is true that blackheads and pimples appear because of an accumulation of dirt in the pores, and if washing your face more often with special soap or not using cosmetics can have a serious effect. Here is what he says:
“There is a very common opinion that acne, including blackheads and pimples, appears because of ‘dirt’ – that’s why mothers tell their kids not to touch their faces as to avoid getting pimples. However, the real cause of acne has nothing to do with dirt! It is the oil glands that are the issue. Every hair follicle on your skin sits inside an oil (sebum) gland. Whenever the gland starts producing too much sebum, the opening of the gland gets clogged – a whitehead appears. When a whitehead is exposed to the air, the sebum oxydizes, resulting in a blackhead. If bacteria starts to multiply inside the clogged gland, you get a pimple.”
As you see, it is not true that you can get acne because of dirt on your face, and it is equally not true that you can cure it by using some special soap. And even if you were to clear the excess sebum out of your pores (as some sticky facial masks help to do), your glands would quickly produce new sebum – and new blackheads. Cosmetics has nothing to with it, either: no facial cream can really clog the pores. But why does skin produce too much oil?
Is it about the food?
After dirt and cosmetics, the main presumed culprits are chocolate and dairy products. There are lots of websites out there that will tell you that you absolutely must give up chocolate and especially milk and dairy, since they contain cow growth hormones. However, these claims are not based on any sound research: indeed, one study has shown a correlation between the consumption of skimmed milk and acne, but there was no link between blackheads and pimples and full-fat milk. On the other hand, the concentrations of growth hormones in milk are so tiny that they really shouldn’t have any effect on your skin oil production.
However, your diet in general, especially overeating and consuming a lot of simple carbs, can make your acne worse. When you eat much bread, pasta, and pastries, your insulin levels spike, in turn causing an increase in the production of sebum. For this reason, acne is more common among overweight people. Try to stick to a diet rich in lean proteins, healthy fats (such as olive oil), whole grans, vegetables, and fruit.
Hormones are to blame
Most acne sufferers are teenagers, whose hormones are all over the place. According to a large body of research, it is hormonal dysbalances that cause an increased production of skin oil. That is also the reason why most people’s acne goes away forever once they reach adulthood. For those with adult acne, however, it would make sense to get their hormonal levels evaluated – perhaps what they really need are not anti-acne facial masks but rather hormonal pills! By the way, many women who start taking birth control pills notice that their acne becomes much less pronounced.
Try retinol
It’s long been known that vitamin A – a strong anti-oxidant – can do wonders for your skin, especially when it is oily. It rejuvenates and exfoliates, smoothes out wrinkles and unclogs the pores. While vitamin A cannot by itself regulate how much sebum your oil glands produce, it can significantly reduce the symptoms of acne. When starting to use products based on retinol (which is just a synthetic version of vitamin A), however, you should keep in mind that at first your skin may react rather violently, becoming red and dry, and your acne may even seem worse. This is completely normal: after a week or so, these side effects will go away. However, make sure not to use retinol-based products during the day, applying them only at night. During daytime, by contrast, you need to keep your skin properly hydrated and protected. Check retinol (or Retin-a) and other offers for acne treatment on Canadian Health Care Mall main page.
Jerry Xu continues:
“At our online Canadian pharmacy, we recommend people with severe acne Retin-A – a stronger retinol-based compound that is usually prescribed to those whose acne is bad enough to create serious issues with self-confidence or romantic relationships. We get lots of positive reviews from people who use such vitamin A meds – I’d say it’s presently the best treatment available. However, you should keep in mind that if the cause for your acne is hormonal, you may need additional treatment – definitely see a doctor about this.”
Acne may not harm your health in the long run, but it doesn’t mean that you should just give up and wait for it to go away on its own or keep covering it up with concealers. Effective treatment options exist, and if you persist, pimples will go away. Just make sure to find out the real cause for your blackheads and don’t trust those who say that you have to give up chocolate!