Some Facts about Acne

Acne is not related to diet. It's a myth that chocolates and oily foods cause acne. Acne is an infection and the inflammation of the sebaceous glands and the sebum, which is being produced, gets infected. The production of sebum has nothing to do with what we eat.

Acne is not contagious. It is because of an individual’s susceptibility due to genetic and environmental influences that you get acne. You cannot transmit it to other person even by sharing towels and combs. But acne aggravation is seasonal. In hot and humid climate a sweat film is formed, which dissolves with the oily layer of our skin, causing irritation, and hence new lesions appear.

One should use oil free moisturisers, sunscreens in their gel form and in the spray form, and you should use water-based foundations.

Adult Acne is a term used for acne appearing in post-teenage years. It can be continuation of acne from teenage years to your twenties or it can be maturity onset acne, which can occur from 20’s to 50's. Most maturity-onset acne people, that is, those who have adult acne have first-degree relatives who have adult acne. Second, it happens to people who are working in a hot and humid climate and to those who have an oily skin and use a lot of cosmetics.

Steroids can suppress your acne but do not cure it.

Mostly steroids, either in the local form or the oral form, can cause acne. Anti-tuberculosis treatment leads to acne and lesions. And anti-epileptic treatment drugs and oral contraceptives lead to acne. Withdrawal from these sees a spontaneous recovery from acne due to these drugs. But if the medication is important, you cannot withdraw it. You should take anti-acne treatment simultaneously with your medication.

Home remedies aim at cleansing the skin; cleansers like cucumber juice in milk or rose water can be used. The aim is to remove the oil from the skin. There are other things like scrubs like oatmeal scrub made in apricot and honey, applied as a layer removes the dead layer of the skin. Home remedies are more useful if you have occasional or mild acne.