There is a lot of information distributed about acne and its causes and that information tends to be a mixture of both fact and fiction. Thus, let us take a look at a few of those things that are being said and see if we can sort out the fiction from the fact.

Diet

There is no direct connection between eating greasy hamburgers and chocolate or drinking excessive soft drinks and developing acne spots. What is true is that diet plays an important role in all the body's systems and therefore it does have a minor role to play in whether acne is more or less likely.

For instance, greasy foods do not directly convert into increased oil production from the sebaceous glands that contributes to acne, although foods that do cause a rise in oil production would of course have an effect. However, iodized salt is as yet the only food that has been demonstrated to have any measurable effect and it just worsens existing acne but does not cause it.

Hygiene

The odds of developing a spot are increased when a pore becomes plugged and bacteria are trapped inside. This means that hygiene habits that work to close the pores can play a role. However this effect is only minimal and the bacteria and dead cell skins that get trapped and are unable to work their way out of the pore to the surface are influenced only to a small degree by an absence of regular face washing.

Nevertheless, once acne occurs good skin hygiene is particularly important and mild cleansing twice a day with soap and water will help in treating acne and encouraging healthy skin in general. Cleanliness is a good idea for a number of reasons although it is most helpful in treating acne because it provides a good surface for medications to work most effectively.

Spots are strongly influenced by excess sebum (skin oil) production that is triggered in the main by hormones and harsh cleansers that are applied roughly do not only clear away this excess oil but also affects the skin's ability to deal with it.

Stress

As stress tends to weaken the body's immune system and impact its hormone levels it could be thought that stress would play a role in the onset of acne. However, there is no evidence to suggest that stress leads to acne, but there is evidence to suggest that it might play a minor role once acne has developed.

One of the difficulties with assessing the role played by stress is that people who are suffering from chronic stress also also suffer from additional health problems that complicate the picture. Remember also that here we are talking about clinical stress and not simply the worries that we all have as part of the trials and tribulations of everyday living.

Medication

Many individuals are tempted to increase the dosage of over-the-counter medications believing that if a little does a little bit of good a lot will do a lot of good. Unhappily, this is not so and it is both a waste of medicine and could actually damage the skin. You should always stick to the instructions on any medicine and if any medicine is not showing signs of working within two or three weeks then it is a good idea to consult your dermatologist.

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