Acne: the myths
There are a great many myths about acne."People with acne are dirty"
Not true - the blackheads are caused by dried oxidised plugs of oil mixed with dead skin cells. Washing continually doesn't affect this, and stripping off all the necessary oil may make things worse as the skin overcompensates by producing more."It is caused by eating chocolate and fatty foods"
Not true. The overproduction of oil is not affected by these foods. But see below:Diet does not affect acne.
A difficult one. Your doctor might tell you that there is no link between diet and acne. However the experiments this was based on are old and poorly-designed. Many people have written to me about diet changes, and have had positive results by modifying their diet. Diets I have tried are: non-dairy (see Dr Danby's page) - this seemed to have little effect on me, others have reported improvements; a quasi-Paleo diet (raw wholefoods, like our hunter-gatherer ancestors used to eat) definitely had an effect but got boring quickly; junk food and beer diet - made my spots worse but blotted out large periods of time I would have spend worrying about them :-). There is something to be said for trying a new diet for a four week period and seeing the results. Changing your diet is cheap!"Acne is harmless: after all, you're not going to die from it"
Actually, not true either: confidential surveys have shown that many young people with acne show substantial psychological damage caused by low self-esteem. This makes it imperative to go to your doctor and get treatment as soon as possible.
