Shocking but true.  Your dermatologist is likely making your acne worse in the long-run.  Find out what typical acne treatments are really doing to your body…

Has this happened to you?

Your dermatologist prescribes you an acne medication.  You start taking it.  You notice results right away.  You get excited.  But soon your hopes are dashed. 

Why? 

Because to your shock and horror the medications starts to work less and less.  And eventually stops working altogether.

Now your acne is back… this time worse then ever.  Almost like it’s punishing you for trying to get rid of it.

Back to the dermatologist you go to find out what the hell happened.

Their response…

“Well that didn’t work, lets try something else.”

So they gave you a new medication.  You start taking it with a renewed hope.  But a few weeks later the same thing happens.  Your acne is back, worse then before. 

And the cycle repeats until now nothing seems to work…

But the crime of it all is not only are you out loads of cash, but now your acne is worse than ever.  Not to mention, your hopeful spirit is broken.

Well, there was a reason those medications made acne worse long-term.  In this lesson will cover the most common ones.  And what they are really doing to your body.  (Don’t let it happen to you.)

What typical acne medications are really doing to you

Before we get to the details, let me make something completely clear again…

…I’m not a doctor. 

…Nor do I have any degree of any kind. 

The following comes from my own experience and extensive research.  And is my passionate, biased opinion against these nasty drugs.  If you knew what I knew, and have been through what I have been through you would understand my passion. 

Hopefully this lesson will make you aware of a few things that have been kept from you.

Okay, so now you know where I’m coming from, lets get to the specifics of what those acne medications are really doing to you.  Lets start with…

Acne antibiotics

Broad-spectrum antibiotics like Tetracycline are prescribed to kill acne bacteria in the hopes that doing so will reduce the inflammation.  Which they do quite effectively… for the short term.  Long term it will always make acne worse.  And here’s why…

Two reasons really…

First…

Did you realize the broad spectrum acne antibiotic your dermatologist prescribed you actually caused acne bacteria to mutate into super-strain acne bacteria?

Shocking as it sounds, it’s true!

You see, what actually happens is acne antibiotic treatment kills off the acne bacteria in your system initially.

Sound pretty good so far huh?

Not so fast…

The problem is your skin still contains the perfect environment for acne bacteria to flourish.  (Because the antibiotic never fixed the real cause of acne).

Anyway, because acne bacteria are EVERYWHERE they eventually re-infect your skin…but this time they get smarter.

In fact, they actually mutate so they can resist the acne antibiotic.  They get tougher, meaner, and harder to kill.  Now it’s going to take even more of the acne antibiotic to kill them. 

But they always come back… even meaner and tougher.  Eventually, no amount of antibiotics will work.  The bacteria has become what’s known in medical circles as “antibiotic resistant”. 

Ask you dermatologist about it…even they will tell you tetracycline or any other acne antibiotic can only work short-term.  And now you now why.

But that’s not even the half of the problem (wish it was)… 

Antibiotics are actually causing serious internal damage.  But not just any damage, they are damaging the very internal systems that keep your hormones in balance and your blood clean. 

That is why your acne returned… but now worse then ever.

Not only do they kill acne bacteria (which isn’t the real cause anyway) but they kill ALL bacteria in your system.

Sounds good so far right?

Wrong!

See, your body actually needs friendly bacteria to work properly.  Now before you think I should check in to a funny farm, please hear me out…

In fact, you have several POUNDS of this friendly bacteria in your body right now…REALLY! (That is if you’re healthy.)

It mostly lives in your digestive tract. 

They have names like acidophilus, bifidobacteria, bacillus substilis…stuff like that.  But the names don’t matter.  What matters is what they do…

These friendly bacteria actually pre-digest food so you can absorb it.  Not only that, they kill bad bacteria that may enter your system.

And if that’s not enough, they coat your digestive tract with a protective layer so parasites and bad bacteria can’t take hold or damage it.

And they eat away any “gunk“ that may build up in your digestive tract from bad food or undigested food.

Needless to say they are VITAL for every level of health.

Without them you can’t really absorb nutrition very well.  Without them bad bacteria, yeast, and molds take over…actually overgrowing in your system.

And without them “garbage“ builds up in your digestive tract just as if you stopped taking out the garbage in your house.

But, what does this have to do acne?

Well, good question…

And acne antibiotics mess up your G.I. tract like nothing else.  They wipe out all the friendly bacteria that are protecting your G.I. tract.

After the acne antibiotic has killed the friendly bacteria, unfriendly bacteria quickly grow like crazy.

Think of the friendly bacteria as little warriors defending the fort.  And the unfriendly bacteria as blood-thirsty mongrels who want to take the fort.

They are constantly battling each other.  But the good news is, unless you kill off your friendly bacteria army they can easily fight off the bad bacteria.

But let’s say the bad bacteria “take the fort“.  They take over your G.I. tract.  So friendly bacteria that do get to your G.I. tract are quickly killed by the blood-thirsty bad bacteria.

In fact, it takes LOTS of work to re-implant friendly bacteria once bad bacteria and yeast has taken over.

But what does all this have to do with acne….?

More then you could ever possibly realize!

You see these bad bacteria and yeast are very ill-mannered.  They have absolutely no regard for your G.I. tract.  In fact, they drill holes in it.  Really they do!

See, when things get bad enough, the yeast and bacteria themselves actually grow into what’s called rhizomes (don’t worry about the big fancy pants name okay).  Anyway, the roots of these rhizomes drill literal holes through your digestive tract.  Making your gut “leaky”. 

Through these holes pass undigested food particles.  Because they are not fully digested your immune system attacks them.  Now every time you eat that food your immune is still wired to attacking that food (even if you heal those holes later on).  Another name for this irrational immune system response is food allergies or sensitivities. 

What was once a life-giving food is now making you sick.

But it gets even worse…

Once those nasties have drilled through your digestive tract they spread in your blood and then eventually throughout your whole body.

And if that isn’t insulting enough, they run riot through your system.  Eating anything they can.  And then pooping out particularly nasty waste products known as mycotoxins.

Now these mycotoxins (bad bacteria and yeast poop) weaken your liver function like nothing else.  Yet, your liver is the MOST important organ for healthy, acne-free skin. 

If it’s not doing its job clearing excess hormones from your system you’re going to get acne (no way around it).

The bottom line is you need a healthy liver and digestive tract to enjoy healthy, acne-free skin (more about that later).

Whew…pretty nasty chain of events huh?

It is my total conviction that antibiotics should only be used in cases of severe, life-threatening bacterial infection.  Never for minor infections.  And sure as hell never chronically to treat acne.  The damage they do can take years (and I do mean years) of focused effort to fix.

I don’t care what your dermatologist tells you, they only make your acne worse in the long-run.

Pure stupidity… sorry, but I call it like I see it… and its just pure stupidity to treat acne this way.

Glad to get that off my chest.  I feel so much lighter now I’ll try to keep the next few drugs a little more brief okay. 

Next will cover…

Acne Steroids

Acne steroids are used to reduce the inflammatory response in your skin.  And for out while they actually do just that.

But here’s the problem…

Steroids put a heavy burden on your liver and organs of elimination.  Your liver is also what clears hormones from your blood.  (Not to mention blood congesting toxins associated with acne.)

If you’re suffering from acne, this aspect of liver function is, well,..  it’s messed up.  (Sorry to tell you that).

Well, steroids add yet more stress to an already weakened liver (in this particular aspect)… which only makes the problem worse.

The bottom line…

While acne steroids are artificially reducing inflammation they are doing nothing to fix the actual cause of acne.  And only stressing an already stressed liver.

You don’t suffer acne because of a steroid deficiency.

Accutane

Oh, God… don’t get me started on this atrocity.

This drug is probably the most damaging of all typical acne medications.

Why do I say that? 

Because the detrimental effects sometimes take years to show up (years after you stop taking it).  And the damage is very often irreversible.

Accutane has a direct effect on your skin’s sebum glands.  It reduces their ability to make sebum.  And no doubt about it, doing that will reduce acne symptoms

But, at what cost?

What else is it doing?

Well here’s just a few side effects…

The minor ones…

• Chapped lips
• Dandruff
• Dry skin and itching
• Dryness of the nose and nose bleeding
• Irritation of the eyelids and persistent feeling of dryness of the eyes
• Rash
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Blurred vision
• Mood changes
• Severe stomach pain
• Diarrhea
• Rectal bleeding
• Yellowing of the skin
• Joint and muscle pains
• Delay in wound healing
• Permanent Hair loss (often showing up years after the drug is discontinued)
• Decreased ability to adapt to sunlight
• Decreased night vision

The more serious ones…

• Depression and thoughts of suicide.
• May increase the level of blood fats, sometimes to risky levels.
• Hideous birth defects.  And these have been associated with pregnancies long after the drug was discontinued.
• Permanent loss of vision.  Accutane can cause the retina to become “rough“ leading to blurred vision.  This is very often permanent.
• In high enough doses this drug will cause the growth plates to fuse…stopping growth.
• And it has been linked to crippling arthritis.

All of these side effects are admitted by the manufacture.

If you don’t believe me, just do a few internet searches on accutane and read the horror stories yourself.

Is potentially crippling arthritis, permanent loss of vision, fused growth plates, or permanent hair loss worth it?

“Yes” you say!  “Anything is better than acne.”

Okay I hear you.  I don’t blame you for feeling this way.  But stop.  Think for a moment.  Think about 10, 15, 20 years down the line.  Will it be worth it then?  These side-effects can take years to show up after discontinuing the drug.

Here’s the reality…

Accutane is poisoning you.  Accutane is tremendously toxic to the liver.  This is why close monitoring of liver enzymes are done while on the drug.

The bottom line…

Accutane is simply treating the symptoms of acne (excess sebum).  Does nothing to fix the core cause of acne.  And often will make acne worse when the drug wears off (because of the liver stress it causes).

Accutane is poison.  Plain and simple as that.

“What about Differin?” you ask…

Differin

Differin is nothing more than topical Accutane.  (The active ingredients are the same.)

Your skin is highly absorbent.  What you put on your skin ends up in your blood for many substances (including Differin).  Causing the same problems as accutane.

Differin is not a safe alternative to Accutane.

“What about other topical acne treatments?”  you ask..

Topical acne creams, gels, and washes

Most topical acne treatments contain benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid.  The idea behind them is to dry out the excess oil and kill acne bacteria.  Which is fine, if they work for you.

But…

Do they do anything to fix the internal cause of acne?

Hell no!

They are just a Band-Aid covering up external symptoms.

Listen, if your car was burning oil, do you think that putting a filter on your exhaust pipe to filter out the smoke is the solution?  No, no, the solution is to stop the burning oil where it originates, in the car engine.

Well, that’s what topical acne products do.  They simply treat the external symptoms of acne.  Not the true origin.

Use them if they help you cope with the symptoms of acne.  But understand the origins of acne are internal.  Acne is only external symptoms to an internal problem.  Fix the internal problem and the external symptoms disappear.

What about “natural” acne treatment options? 

Natural acne treatments

Sigh… how do I say this?

Having been to all kinds of healers, NPs, therapists, chiropractors, energy workers, hydrotherapists, and on and on I can tell you, natural acne treatments options are a labyrinth of confusion…. waiting to suck you in and get lost running in circles (maybe for years).

The problem I ran into again and again with natural practitioners is they all had their area of training.  They all had their specialty.  And most were passionate about their particular health system or ideology.

And therein lies the problem…

They could only see the acne problem through the lens of their specialized training or ideology.  They were unconsciously filtering out most of what was really causing acne. 

To an herbalist they answer is herbs or herbal combinations.  To a hydrotherapist the answer is cleansing/detoxing.  To a chiropractor the cause of everything is subluxation in the spine or cranium… or something blocking nerve flow.  And the answer, is chiropractic adjustments (theirs of course).  To an acupuncturist the problem is energetic imbalances in the acupuncture meridians of the body.  And on and on…

And you know what, IF the disease you’re suffering is fully, and completely addressed by the treatment (all factors resolved) then the results can be magic.  Add to that the belief or expectancy in the treatment and some can truly be miracles.  However, I never once worked with a natural healer that really understood the WHOLE acne problem. 

Why? 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m deeply grateful to the few gifted natural healers who helped me (out of many I tried).  Without them I don’t think I could have pieced the whole acne puzzle together.  But in the end no single one had the whole picture.

"So what is the answer?  Surely acne is solvable?  Right?"

Yep, the good news is it is solvable.  No one has to suffer from acne.  To solve it though its important to ACCURATELY understand the origins of acne.  And heal those origins where acne really starts.  That’s what the next lesson is all about.  Lets get to it. Continue->>