Acne is course the bane of most teenagers’ lives at some point, but it can also be a lifelong condition, often not developing until a person is well into adulthood. Ranging from simple but unsightly blackheads to large red, puss filled lesions that leave terrible scars; the search for a good facial acne treatment is paramount among the health and cosmetic concerns of many people, young or old.

Acne is caused by a number of different things, although modern medicine has discovered that eating chocolate and cheese have nothing to do with the development of facial acne, despite old wives tales to the contrary that have abounded for years.

Stress, changing hormones, badly formulated cosmetics and the use of birth control pills can all trigger an acne breakout.

Acne usually begins as blackheads. These are not specks of trapped dirt, although that is indeed what they often look like. Instead they are “plugs” of oil and dead cells trapped in an individual pore. Exposure to the air causes the black appearance. The reddish pimples develop when one of these facial blackheads becomes infected and inflamed, and further infection causes the whiteheads and pustules that leave permanent scarring if burst.

There are any number of acne treatments, cleansing lotions and creams on the market and some people will try dozens of different ones before they find one that actually helps with their facial acne problem, which can be extremely frustrating and definitely very expensive.

A gritty facial scrub may not always be the best answer. People tend to rub these into their skin too hard, which only serves to aggravate the inflammation. A gentler scrub can be effective though, if used on a regular basis bit it may not address the problem entirely.

There are a number of “acne systems” on the market that are a combination of several different products packaged and sold together to clear acne. They vary in quality, and those with very dry skin may want to avoid some of the treatments that rely on benzoyl peroxide to work, as that is a chemical that dries the skin even further, which can lead to a whole new set of facial problems.

There are many professional cosmetologists working in salons everywhere who specialize in the treatment of acne. Some develop special cleansing techniques and others have begun using small electronic devices that impart heat into a pimple, supposedly killing the bacteria and speeding healing. That may sound rather farfetched but recent clinical trials have actually shown them to be somewhat effective for those with mild to moderate acne.

The most stubborn and serious forms of acne may only be cured with the help of a dermatologist and various anti acne medications. One of the most commonly prescribed is Accutane, which is quite effective but rarely covered under a health insurance plan and is rather expensive. It should never be prescribed to a woman who is pregnant, or trying to become pregnant because serious birth defects have occurred in babies whose mothers were taking the drug during gestation.