Cara Ho

Acne is an oil problem right? not entirely true. If you’ve ever suffered from acne and wondered why you seem to have an oil problem yet your skin feels dry? I pose this question to you – what makes fat float? Water!

Your skin is lacking the water to help push that sebum out and make it nice and thin which makes up your acid mantle (the top thin film on your skin which acts as a barrier). Although this is not the sole reason for acne, it is an approach that helps revising the skin condition by helping to repair the barrier function which offers a better platform for your dermal clinician or skin therapist to begin tackling the acne.

So many acne treatments rely on the use of Salicylic acid, reason being is that this beta hydroxy acid is oil loving. It acts like a toilet brush in the hair follicle and plunges the oil. While this is very advantageous to help control the so called ‘oil problem’ a side effect is that it is considerably drying to the skin. Because the body operates on a negative feedback loop the sebocyte produces more oil to compensate for the skin being surface dry. Approaching the skin is like a house, repair the roof before internal renovations begin, because if the roof remains impaired the inside is sure to get damaged again.

The causes of acne are multifaceted if you suffer from acne and would like a different approach to treating the condition please contact us for a consultation.