Blame Biology for Your Acne

I’ve been seeing this commercial a lot lately for this acne treatment cream called Epiduo. I don’t know too much of anything about it, or how well it works, but I did want to point out it’s standpoint on acne. The commercial is all about growing up and maturing into an adult (puberty basically). It shows how it can bring good things, like giving you boobs if you’re a girl, and if you’re a dude you’ll get muscles and so on. But one thing that comes with all of the good is acne, so the whole point of the commercial is don’t blame yourself for your acne “blame biology”! So for most people no matter what they do are just going to have some sort of acne during the puberty/growth period. Some people might get mad when they hear these because it makes them feel hopeless. Others might feel relieved as they can eat or do whatever they want and know that although acne sucks it will go away soon. Now, although your acne is caused because your growing doesn’t mean there isn’t anything you can do to minimize outbreaks and keep your skin healthy! Today we know more than ever about things and treatments that work the best to fight and try and cure acne. So if your acne bothers you to the point where it affects your daily life and how you act I strongly recommend seeing a dermatologist. Who knows maybe you’ll get put on Epiduo!

-jc

With Raging Hormones Comes Raging Zits!

Throughout the years I’ve read plenty of articles and things on acne, but the two most important things I learned are:

1. There is no definite cure for acne.
2. It is not for surely known what cause acne.

Now, if you did not know this and feel like screaming that is okay, but know that it only explains why anything in the past you’ve tried didn’t work. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t theories on the matter, I for one have heard of many like… Eating fast food, eating pizza, eating red meats, and eating too many carbs can all contribute to acne. People also believe that acne is caused because of genetics, and also changing hormone levels found especially in people who are going through puberty.

So after reading and understanding all of these things I came up with my own theory on my acne. I believe that my main acne contributor is the thing that you hear most associated with puberty… the “raging hormones”! The constant changing levels of hormones during that time causes the bodies oil glands to produce more sebum thus causing the pores to become clogged, and form a pimple. Although not everyone gets acne when they go through puberty, so I also believe another contributor is my genetics as some of my family members had acne during this time as well. Lastly I believe my final contributor is my diet because I do eat plenty of greasy junk food. I have started a new diet, and cut out all fast-foods, sweets, red meats, and the amount of carbohydrates I eat. It has only been a couple of weeks, but I’m thinking by doing this my body will produce a healthier, better quality sebum that won’t clog my pores. With this experiment I’m hoping that I will no longer break-out from clogged pores, and that my skin will be able to heal. In the meantime though try to think of all the possible things that could be contributing to your acne, and see if there is anything that can be done to help!

- JPC