Have you ever tried to stop your chosen treatment of acne? Don't you see that the condition which seemed to improve with the treatment, now worsened and may be aggravated?
It is the basic concept behind almost all acne treatments that is responsible for that. This concept that makes you skinned every day to have a new skin. Removal of the old skin removes the old sebum, yet the new formed skin should have its own sebum, and it quickly produces it.
Don't you read.. "Use a face wash or scrub at least once daily to remove excess oil and dead skin cells from the skin.. Use a toner to remove even more oil.. Once a week, apply this mask or that mask on your affected areas?" ..
Don't you also read that.. "these techniques take only a few minutes a day and should be done REGULARLY?". Isn't that regimen that you follow now?..
It is this basic concept that makes acne treatment never stops:
"Remove the old oil marinated skin and get a new one and it will have less oil.. don't let your body stop making new skin and new sebum all the time"...
Mind you, formation of new skin and new sebum requires synthesis of a great amount of fat like glycerides, phosopholipids, cholesterol, wax, squalene.. etc and this puts an additive burden on fat metabolism.
This is why many people find their acne is worsened and aggravated if they stop their regular regimens.. They now have a higher set up point of fat metabolism, where only fat synthesis is accelerated due to activation of its concerned battery of enzymes.
Nobody thinks to overcome a temporary metabolic condition that caused oil over-secretion in the first place, to dry-up oil from inside out.. Instead, they start a process of skin removal that never ends. You are skinned every day and forever!
Looking at what you regularly use now to treat acne will make the picture more clear..
- Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs):
AHAs are a group of organic carboxylic compounds. AHAs most commonly used in cosmetic applications are typically derived from food products including..
Glycolic acid (from sugar cane), Lactic acid (from sour milk), Malic acid (from apples), Citric acid (from citrus fruits) and Tartaric acid (from grape wine).
AHAs have a profound effect on keratinization; which is clinically detectable by the formation of a new superficial cornified epidermal layer.
It appears that AHAs accelerate this formation through diminished cellular cohesion between cornified cells, and their basement membrane.
In low concentrations that are sold to consumers (5 - 10%) , they remove the top layers of dead skin cells by reducing cell adhesion in this layer. This action promotes exfoliation of the outermost layer of the skin.
The skin produces new cells to replace the removed layers of cells. Fat synthesis is activated to build cell membrane lipids.
They are better used for treating skin wrinkled and aged by sunlight.
- Beta Hydroxy Acids:
The only known beta hydroxy acid is Salicylic acid which is used in concentrations from 0.5 to 2%. There is only one difference between alpha and beta hydroxy acids, the former is water soluble while the later is lipid soluble.
This means that beta hydroxy acid is able to penetrate into the pore which contains sebum and remove the dead skin cells that are built up inside the pore. This is why Salicylic acid is commonly used for oily skin.
It removes more layers of your skin and this why it increases sun sensitivity by 50%, it makes the skin more susceptible to sun UV rays.
Fat synthesis is activated to build fat membrane lipids, needed for formation of new cells in place of the removed ones.
- Benzoyl Peroxide:
Benzoyl peroxide is available as cream, gel, lotion and wash at concentrations of 2.5 %, 5 % and 10 %. It has an antiseptic, oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects.
Dryness, irritation and contact dermatitis are the major drawbacks of using Benzoyl Peroxide on the skin, although some of the symptoms like burning, itching, peeling and possibly swelling are very rare.
Benzoyl Peroxide dissociates Oxygen radicals which reacts with the aero-intolerant Propinibacterium acnes bacteria, removing them all.
It is these radicals that may change the cellular environment (Redox potential), allowing some molecules to react non-enzymically and deprive the cells from some metabolites, that they need to proceed normally.
Can you stop using Benzoyl Peroxide?
Hormone Therapy:
Oral contraceptive that contain derivatives of estrogens and progesterone that are present normally in women's bodies, are sometimes used to control acne lesions in women.
They increase the amount of a protein that binds sex hormones including testosterone, which is known to stimulate the production of sebum in both males and females, thus decreasing its free amount in the blood.
Estrogens increase both epinephrine and insulin, and both can cause accumulation of fat in sebaceous glands
(refer to chapter 4).
The initial reduction in free testosterone may reduce sebum secretion, yet the long run use of hormones has many other effects, including effects on hormones and enzymes that affect lipids, set aside systemic side effects.
- Retinoids:
The Retinoids are a class of chemical compounds that are related chemically to vitamin A. Retinoids are used in medicine, primarily due to the way they regulate epithelial cell growth.
Common skin conditions treated by Retinoids include acne and psoriasis. Isotretinoin is considered the only known possible cure of acne in some patients.
Chronic overdose causes an increased liability of biological membranes and of the outer layer of the skin to peel. Use of Retinoids induces a change in the way epithelial cells proceed normally.
In conclusion, most of the commonly used acne treatments now either, accelerates renewal of skin cells or changes the way the skin cells behave, both deprive them from crucial tools they need to fight acne.
This is why you observe improvement during the first few days of implementing a new treatment, and then you observe worsening of the condition accompanied with even new symptoms you did not recognize before.
The new treatment made your skin more hungry for the proper tools to fight acne.
Read More to Know How Can You Stop Treatment of Acne after Its Elimination
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