Acne myths

· Acne is related to diet

After years of studies, no correlation between diet and acne has been found. Chocolate does not cause acne, neither does sugar, oil, milk, seafood, or anything else for that matter. Some people absolutely insist that a certain food causes acne for them. In this case, doctors sometimes recommend that they avoid that food. The bottom line is that changing your diet will not affect your acne, and jumping on someone else's diet routine to clear your acne is most likely a waste of your time.

· Washing your face more often will help clear up acne

Acne is not caused by dirt. Frequent washing can actually irritate your skin. Excess irritation will make acne worse. A washcloth can aggravate this situation further. Use bare hands to wash and only wash twice a day unless you play some sort of sport which requires the use of a face mask during the day. In that case, a third washing and application of medication may be appropriate. Sweat from exercise itself, however, does not aggravate acne and should not be met with excess washing.

· Stress causes acne

Stress is not a very important factor in acne despite what you may have heard. Drugs that treat severe stress may have acne as a side effect, but stress itself is no big deal. Better to spend your time determining the right course of treatment rather than feeling guilt about stress.

· The sun is good for acne

The sun might work in the short-term to tighten pores and redden your entire face, thus blending your skin tone with red acne marks, however a sun tan is actually skin damage. Sun exposure causes irritation, which can make acne worse. The sun is a short-term Band-Aid which will bite back with more acne in the weeks following exposure.

Source: Acne.org

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