It is amazing that in this day and age with the way information travels around the world in milliseconds that an affliction that affects over 50 percent of young people would still be so shrouded in half truths and no truths. But, alas, that is the current state of the world of acne care. Everything from home made cures to quack causes still abound and if you were to ask the average teenager what causes acne, well, you would probably be in for quite a laugh. Let’s take a look at some of the other causes and pseudo-causes of acne right now.


While a good number of folks believe that acne as a whole can be prevented if they go on a diet of carrot juice and Oxy 10 treatments, you have a whole other group that feels that acne is simply God’s will and there isn’t anything at all that can be done about it. While preventing outbreaks can seem like an impossible task, treating pimples you already have is possible and the right treatment can really reduce the number of scars you end up with once everything is said and done.

You can try any of the over the counter remedies, but the best results usually come from medications that you can only get with a doctor’s prescription. And don’t let your parents tell you that acne isn’t a big deal. Studies have shown that no other condition that teens suffer from is more traumatic or more upsetting than acne. There are even reported cases of teenagers killing themselves over acne and acne scars. Don’t be afraid to go to the doctor if you need help with your acne.

One of the more harmless myths that is still in wide circulation is that pimples are only the domain of the teenager and that the day you turn 20, all of your pimples will magically disappear. Of course, this is silly as anyone with more than three brain cells can tell you. Even babies can get acne and so can the elderly. It is truly a condition that can affect anyone at any time, the key to fighting it is finding your trigger and trying to stay away from it. Although, if your trigger is genetics, than acne management would be your goal more than acne prevention.

You’ve probably heard that the best way to get rid of a pimple once you have one is popping it. While popping a pimple may be the quickest way to make the obvious signs of it disappear, it is also a good way to damage the skin cells around the pimple and increase the chances that you’ll end up with a bad acne scar. Sometimes, depending on the size of the pimple, popping it can make the situation even worse because the traditional popping motion forces some of the pimple’s contents up through the skin so it can be wiped away, but it also forces some of the contents down further into your pore. This can cause a deep infection and make matters significantly worse.

Other people have reported that if you put two fingers on either side of a pimple and pull the skin away instead of pushing your fingers together it reduces the chance of the pimple’s contents being forced further down into the pore. While this is true, it can still damage the skin and lead to scarring. The best thing to do is to use a hot compress, like a hot wash cloth, over the pimple and allow the contents to come up naturally. Touching or popping it will only make it worse.

Finally, our big burning friend in the sky has been linked to making acne worse and with making acne better. The sun has been determined to be a trigger in many people, but in others, sunlight can cause a current outbreak to stop dead in its tracks. This one is a toss up. You will have to see what your own particular trigger is but be warned, if you are currently taking acne medication, you should use sun block if you are planning on being out for more than 20 minutes. There are ingredients in many common acne medications that can make your skin super sensitive to sunlight and this can lead to burns that make acne much more painful.