I recently read an article with the title “Have Acne? Best Medication Is Clean Hygiene.” This made me wonder how many other people think acne is a hygiene problem. Probably a great many, I concluded. Why else do people sometimes scrub their faces raw to try and get rid of it?
The truth is, acne is not related to hygiene. Although it is important to wash your face once or twice a day if you have acne, it has nothing to do with dirt.
The problem has more to do with the accumulation of sebum, the substance secreted from sebaceous glands of the skin. The plain English definition would be oils secreted by the skin. And yes, this material does need to be controlled, preferably with regular, gentle cleansing of the skin. It has nothing to do with a lack of cleanliness.
The sebum is the guilty party in that it clogs the pores, usually on the face. This blocks the skin from being able to shed the dead or dying cellular material that is released through the pores and hair follicles. The resulting problem is a back up of dead material, which becomes infected at times, and an accumulation of bacteria.
So, if you have ever had someone suggest to you that you have the problem of acne, ignore it. You have this situation with excessive oil production which may have to do with a bit of an imbalance of the male or female hormones.
Generally, if you will do the daily gentle cleansing and use an inexpensive over the counter type medication, you can most likely control your acne.
If for some reason this routine does not work, there are, of course, prescription alternatives. But, the point of this article really was to impress upon anyone reading it that acne is not a hygiene issue. It is a natural phenomenon that can be treated.