This review article — comparing several commonly-prescribed treatments for acne — ends up close to what I figured out as a graduate student via self-experimentation: that benzoyl peroxide works much better than antibiotics.
I like to think that in 100 years people will look back on current treatments for acne (and a hundred other things) as medieval, like leeches. If Weston Price had been a dermatologist, we would now have evidence, I’m sure, that certain traditional lifestyles produce very low rates of acne. Examination of those lifestyles would provide good clues about what aspects of our way of life cause acne. That would be a good starting point for experiments to zero in on what matters. Once we knew the environmental causes of acne, such as caffeine or soap, they could simply be avoided; no need for powerful dangerous expensive medicines. At the moment, however, determination of what aspects of modern life cause acne isn’t even close to being studied. You might think it is better to study safe cheap cures than dangerous expensive ones but you’d be wrong. At least now.
I’ve often wondered about that. I used to study classics (Latin and Greek). To my knowledge, in the ancient authors there was never a mention of acne being a common phenomenon. I would think that if it had been a problem, it would be mentioned somewhere (whether to joke about it or whatever). Ask your colleagues from other departments who study traditional cultures (living or dead) if there is any mention of acne in the texts or representations of it in visual arts. If it was problem associated with adolescence in those cultures, it would surely show up in the texts.
The only character from literature I can think of is Bardolph in Shakespeare’s Henry IV part I. Not sure if that was acne, but he had some kind of boils on his face.
Safe cheap cures are generally not patentable.
Ginger, incidentally, has worked twice as well as dramamine against motion sickness, in double-blind trials. Such trials are conceivable (but not inevitable, or immediate) only since the patent on dramamine expired.
Actually, Loren Cordain (author of The Paleo Diet) showed that a paleolithic diet/lifestyle eliminate acne.
I read a book by a dermatologist about 15 years ago who experimented on his patients. He found that partially hydrogenated sat fats were the worst, although all sat fats were bad. His theory was that any fat that was a liquid at room temperature (like butter) is bad for you and would clog up the pores, and that liquid fats like olive oil are good for skin. Many Asians believe this, and attribute acne to things like chocolate. The dermatologist found that a diet that totally eliminated saturated fats and caffeine would eliminate acne. Very high doses of niacin were also effective, the theory being that niacin affected skin temperature. I don’t remember the title of the book. I bounced his ideas off a dermatologist. He was dismissive and offended that I would question his authority.
*sigh* I absolutely hate prescription acne treatments. In my opinion its all just a psychological issue, with prescription placebos to advance your thinking..
try a natural acne cure for once. at least the detox diets actually work. check out this link to see what im talking about:
https://noacnenow.com/top-five-acne-treatments/
I got acne at a very early age (fourth grade) and had it bad until high school, when it started going away. I was on everything from oral and topical antibiotics to Retin-A to Accutane.
The Accutane was horrible. It gave me chapped lips so bad the middle of my bottom lip would occasionally split open and bleed.
The only thing I found that worked was products with salicylic acid. I still occasionally crush up an aspirin and put it on the rare zit.