Acne

When I was a teenager I had terrible acne, and the zits had a negative effect on my social life and self esteem. And I'm certainly not the only one who ever had to deal with pimples.

I just did a google search for the word, acne, and got 129,000,000 hits.

Lots of the sites gave information about the influence of hormones, stress, and suggested treatments. One page I visited said about 3/4 of all teens have the problem and adults often have it, too.

My acne continued well into my 20s when I discovered something only mentioned on a few of the websites. While hormones and stress did play a part, my acne was primarily caused by food allergies.

Surprisingly, that's not unusual.

Food allergies don't always show up on skin tests and it can take several days for people to react to things they eat or drink, so many people are allergic to foods but don't know it.

If anyone who has acne also has a family history of allergies, and especially if they are allergic to anything themselves, it might be a good idea for them to investigate the possibility that their pimples are an allergic reaction to something they eat or drink.

While a complete elimination diet is extremely difficult, results can sometimes be found by avoiding all the foods someone frequently eats for a week, then adding one of those foods back every five days. Keeping a diary of what is eaten and when reactions occur can show a pattern. (I'm not a medical practitioner and only speak from personal experience.)

Yes, doing all that is a bit of a nuisance, but it's worth the effort to get rid of the acne. It worked for me.

Zits, etc.

I just got another ad for something to treat acne. Luckily, I'm far to old to worry about that problem, but lots of teenagers get pimples.

People of all ages are prone to get dandruff, and we're constantly bombarded with ads for things to treat that, too.

Unfortunately, the products that supposedly cure those conditions often make them worse. (Maybe that's how the manufacturers and advertisers stay in business.)

Both conditions can be caused or aggravated by sensitivities to the chemicals in the soaps, shampoos, creams, etc. intended to treat them. Makeup that's used to conceal zits can make them worse for the same reasons. Sulfur and related chemicals and fragrances are frequent offenders, but others can be a problem for some people.

And serious acne in anyone with a tendency to have allergies can often be a result of eating certain foods. That's probably why long ago people thought chocolate caused acne; in people allergic to chocolate it actually does.

For anyone with dandruff or acne it's a good idea to read labels and try switching to fragrance free personal care products with as few chemicals as possible. And I hope anyone with serious acne and a family history of allergies of any sort will talk to a health practitioner about an elimination diet, which can reveal foods causing that reaction.