what exactly causes acne?

[ramacher]

I have had really bad acne on my back and shoulders whether im on gear or not or eating clean or not. So what exactly causes acne and what more preventive measures can I take to stop it? Doxycycline seems not to be working as well.

[auslifta]

Bacteria on the skin reacts with oil and dead skin cells to cause infection in the pores. Proactiv works for me, but the extreme action would be accutane, and it's pretty much a guarantee way that will stop it for life.

[DanB]

geentics, test/estrogen levels, excessive oil, lactose intollerance (according to dermatologist), simple carbs, alcohol, high fat foods, this is what i have personally found to cause it for me, you sound similar to me with sympthoms etc and the only thing that works is accutane, but it also comes back after a year or so or when on cycle and need to run accutane on cycle also, i was on oxytetracycline which is very similar to doxycycline, like test with different esters, and it done absolutely nothing for me, panoxyl cream also does nothing except dry skin out and cause redness/flaky skin,massive dose of b5 also done nothing, i find that plenty of water 3+ litres a day and a good quality face/body scrub twice daily helps slightly but accutane is only solution for me and a temporary one at that

[Tigershark]

No one knows exactly why we get acne, but the way we get it is very intricate. Hormones, diet, stress and evilutionary biology. When a pore collapses on itself it blocks the sebum oil from escaping and this causes an inflation and therefore a pimple. Why this process takes place with one sebaceous gland over another science has not figured out yet. I use the Blade acne shower gel from CVS Pharmacy and it works wonders.

[Iamdetermined]

sebum... reduce sebum in your skin = clear face or back

I use to have light acne on my face and I would avoid wearing moistruizer as I thought it would make it worst, anyways...

If you have dry skin make sure you moistruize as your skin will produce more sebum to make your skin more oiler... and more sebum = more clogged pores = breakouts

another good product to use a gycolic cleanser it untraps clogged pores .. and use benzyl peroxide...

this is just through my experience

but yeah what type of acne is it, whats your skin texture like ? post a picture or something I am very knowledgeable in this area and it's something you can fix, so let the fixing begin !! (:

[Sc0rch]

DHT stimulates small pores just under the skin to secrete an excess of sebum. As a hair attempts to push up through a follicle the excess sebum, bacteria, and dead skin cells combine to clog the follicle.