Do you ever feel like you know a topic really well, and when someone tries to throw misinformation out there, you get angry. You get angry because you know the real truth and you are sure of it! This is one of those instances – since most acne information on the web is useless, there is a lot of misinformation out there which are leading sufferers to make the wrong decisions in treating and curing their acne. Let’s go over all of them, and keep on adding more as they come along.
-
Acne is caused by genetics – Acne is not caused by genetics. The health of your parents is passed on to you when you are conceived. Their dietary habits influence what you eat when you are growing up as a child.
-
Acne is caused by dirt on your skin – Acne comes from within your body. The things you put on the outer layer of your skin may aggravate, but do not cause acne.
-
Acne is a result of hormones during your period – Hormones play a role in acne but they aren’t a true cause. Poor dietary habits cause an imbalance of hormones which result in acne.
-
Benzoyl Peroxide or Salilycylic Acid can cure acne – BP and SA only treat the superficial symptoms of acne and do not treat the true cause.
-
Acne is the result of your hormones during teen years – Not everyone in their teens have acne, obviously.
-
Visiting the dermatologist can cure your acne – The dermatologist is only in business to treat the superficial symptoms. e.g. Topicals to treat symptoms on the skin, antibiotics to treat symptoms of overgrowth of bacteria.
-
Acne is caused by stress – Stress plays a role in acne but isn’t the main cause. Stress can cause an imbalance of hormones and poor digestion but a healthy human being’s immune system is strong enough to handle these stressors.
-
Acne will cure itself when I get older – You got acne in the first place for a very specific reason. Unless you make the correct adjustments to your dietary habits, your acne will persist wether you like it or not.
-
Oily foods cause acne – Some foods which are cooked in unhealthy oils such as oxidized vegetable oil will cause acne but this does using proper oils in cooking will actually heal your acne.
-
Accutane is the most effective treatment of acne – Accutane is dangerous! It will treat superfluous sebum production but will also destroy your immune system in the process!
-
Antibiotics is an effective treatment of acne – Antiobiotics are damaging to your body. It will treat bacteria overgrowth in your body but will also destroy friendly microorganisms that are part of a healthy immune system
-
Eating vegetables and fruits can cure your acne – Vegetables are healthy if properly cooked otherwise difficult for someone with a weak immune system to digest. Fruits contain too many sugars which is unhealthy and will cause acne.
-
Sweating causes acne – Sweating will release toxins that were in the layers of your skin in the first place. This may aggravate acne but a healthy human being does not have toxins ready to be released through sweat.
-
Weight lifting causes acne – Weight lifting in strenuous amounts will put a halt to the healing process but it does not have a role in causing the acne in the first place.
-
If I stop worrying about acne, it will go away – This is ignoring the reason your acne manifested itself in the first place. You need to take proper action to cure your acne.
Have anymore acne myths? Please comment on them and I will add them to the list.
Is there a direct relationship between your diet and acne? Yes. Does Google know? Lets do a little research and figure out what Google really thinks about ‘Diet and Acne’
A proper search in Google should include the correct keywords – you don’t need superflous words like ‘and,’ ‘or,’ ‘with,’ etc. Google should be showing us the most relevant results when it comes to diet and acne when we query ‘acne diet.’ Now let’s dissect the results.
Result # 1 : EveryDiet.com
From the get go, this website is trying to claim that saturated fats from animal products can contribute to oily skin. Wrong. Saturated fats from animals (pork fat, e.g.) contain many necessary nutrients for health – our ancestors have been consuming these fats for thousands of years. In fact, the fat of the animals was considered sacred, and the most healthy part of the animal along with animal organs. The prevailing theme of this website has it completely wrong – lets scrap this one and move on.
Result # 2 – FreeAcneBook.com
The overall theme of this site scares me from the start. The domain name screams ‘i’m selling something!’ despite it claiming to be free. But maybe this free eBook is useful, let’s read their first statement:
Acne is caused by high sebum production. It’s true that acne is caused by superfluous sebum production but this isn’t the main cause. This site is implying that this is the true cause, which is wrong. This cause is only one step on the ladder of causes. They go on to talk about pinched off sebum canals – i’m not sure what they are trying to get at here (Accutane, perhaps?) but it’s obvious they are not getting at any true cause. Pinched off sebum canals are not natural. Our skin plays many natural functions – one of which is to create sebum to promote supple skin. Pinching off these canals is like saying, if your having erectile dysfunction, pinching your pee hole will solve all your problems! It isn’t natural.
Result # 3 – About.com
OK, we finally have a self touted authority in information. They have to know what’s up, right?
They start off by citing some references to studies showing some correlation between diet and acne. Good! But then I see what you see above: ‘is diet alone going to clear your acne? Probably not.’ Probably not? It’s a yes or no question. We aren’t politicians here trying to dance on a fence to make sure we don’t upset anyone. We want hard cold answers – and we want it now. We are suffering everyday! ‘Probably not.’ does not answer our questions. Here is your answer: Yes, your acne has everything to do with your diet, and diet alone will clear and cure your acne.
Result # 4 – Care2.com
Hmm, this seems interesting. They start with a question, ‘Why is it that teens in New Guinea and Paraguay have on acne?’ – I used to wonder this myself. Then they state ‘a seminal study…reported that there was not one single case.’ – Can’t argue with hard cold facts, right? Lasty they state ‘What do these two cultures have in common? They were eating the diet of our hunter-gatherer ancestors.’
Let’s take a moment to step up from our computer chairs and give a round of applause. Bravo care2.com. You have it right! Our ancestors did not have acne because they were not plagued by the ill effects of processed foods. So you have the reasoning right, the only thing left is to figure out exactly what was the diet of our ancestors and what parts of their diet correlate to our skins health. NaturAcne answers that question in extreme detail.
Result # 5 – Acne.com
Sponsored by ProActiv? I wonder how much they paid to acquire such a straight forward domain name. This just goes to show that acne is a business. It’s not even worth our time to read the propaganda on this website.
All in all, i’m actually quite happy to have found at least one result out of the so called ‘top 5′ that has the true cause of acne correct. Now try to search some common terms such as ‘acne,’ ‘acne treatments,’ ‘acne medications,’ – you’ll be hard pressed to find any in the top 100 which can show anything promising. The fact is, most acne information on the web is useless.
One concept we try to embed into your brains here at naturacne.com is that foods which are damaging to our health are also damaging to our skin. The concept of unhealthy eating goes far and beyond the scope of our blog. If you are in tune with the relationship between diet and acne, it will only be natural to want to know more about what healthy eating really is – the following resources should shed some more light on this concept.
- What Passes for Food In America by Cheeselave talks about how she recently traveled with her family to discover the turmoils of eating healthy while traveling. It’s tough not to be able to cook your own food using the ingredients of your choice. Maybe you’ve noticed your skin get worse even when you eat at someone else’s house – or when traveling to another country. Processed foods are everywhere you go – white flour, high fructose corn syrup, eggs which come from chickens cooped up in factories, etc. The strongest concept of this article which you should grasp is ‘there is no such thing as cheap food.’
 Yes, I said it. The same antibiotics that your drug pushing dermatologist prescribes you to ‘fix’ your acne indeed does cause acne! Let me explain. Antibiotics work by destroying micro-organisms, such as bacteria, in your body. A pretty simple concept. The problem is, our bodies have both healthy microorganisms and unhealthy ones. What the antibiotics are doing so effectively is destroying ALL microorganisms, good and bad. This is extremely unhealthy for our bodies and consequently for our skin!
Now if you’ve ever taken antibiotics, maybe you’ve noticed that things got better at first – this is because all that bad bacteria has been destroyed. It’s a known fact that superfluous bacteria on your skin leads to acne. However, this is only destroying a symptom of a true cause – that is a weak immune system. A weak immune system allows this bad bacteria to overgrow in the first place. Overgrowth of bacteria is only one step on the ladder of causes. The only way to keep a good ratio of healthy and unhealthy bacteria in your body is to practice healthy eating habits.
Antibiotics causing acne to become worse is a very common issue. A simple search on the acne.org forums show dozens of these cases:
Tetracycline (Antibiotics) Reviews – Acne.org Reviews
I was on tetracycline for about a year before i had to come off it because it made me lose so much weight and I was becoming resistant to antibiotics in general. It’s great for a temporary solution, but unfortunately when I came off of it again after a few months my acne went from being mild/moderate to severe when I went away to college and practically impossible to control since.
after a month all of the zits came back even in places on my face i never had them before
You have to keep using it, once you stop they come back. I have been on them for years. Everytime I think I should stop using them I break out all over again!!!
I stopped taking the pills for about two months and decided to start taking them again. I found that my acne had worsened. My cheeks are red and they feel/look almost like I have a rash. I’m not sure what to do. I’m frustrated.
later..after i was taking it for over a year, it entirely quite working and my acne got very very very bad. way way way worse than when i started a year earlier. this happened to be right when i started college.. really made it easy meeting ppl
Is it possible for antibiotics to make it worse? – Acne.org Forums
I have been on lymecycline before and it worked very well.
I stopped taking it for 6 months to see how it went and it wasnt good.
Ive just started again 3 weeks ago and my acne is worse than ever.
and she changed my minocycline to lymecyline, saying she couldn’t see any reason why it would get any worse, and it might improve things, and keeping me on dianette. now my skin is TERRIBLE
Antiobiotics make you worse? – Acne.org Forums
I was on Mino for around 8 months and I was the clearest I’ve ever been. Then a few months after I stopped taking the antibiotic twice a day, my mild acne came back and turned much much worse.
Taking antibiotics have a three step process in dealing with acne:
- Both healthy and harmful bacteria is destroyed, acne gets better temporarily
- Bacteria becomes resistant or patient goes off of the drug, immune system is compromised and bacteria overgrows
- Acne gets worse
What’s even scarier is the fact that once the antibiotics cause your skin to get worse, unhappy patients go back to their dermatologist (the very same dermatologists that made their problem worse in the first place) and the derm prescribes them more antibiotics! Here are a few quotes from those same threads which show just a few people’s experiences.
My doctor put me on mino again but I’m seeing another doctor soon to see if I can get Accutane, because I don’t trust the mino.
I dont think Ill ever do Antibiotics again. Its all my one derm EVER wanted to give me. Its not good for you I dont think.
The fact is, dermatologists prescribing acne sufferers with antibiotics is an effort in futility. It will do nothing to cure your acne and in most cases will make things worse. Not to mention all the other health implications that antibiotics can cause. (See Another Antibiotic Hits the Dust & New “Ramp” Antibiotics May Be Fatal)
Antibiotics Fact Sheet:
- Doctors over prescribe antibiotics in almost all cases. In turn, antibiotics are widely available and overused. (See Free Antibiotics: Wrong Prescription For Cold And Flu Season, Experts Say)
- Antibiotics are never a risk correct treatment for acne. Acne can always be cured naturally without the risk of it coming back much more persistently in the future. Antibiotics prescribed before or after major surgery would be one example of risk correct usage.
- Many natural treatments are much more effective and safer than medical antibiotics including coconut oil, garlic, oil of oregano, cloves and clove oil.
An inherint problem of acne is that sufferers are desperate. Everyday they have acne is a day other people will see it. Sufferers want to it gone ASAP (I know I did!) The problem with this is that it took many years of unhealthy eating to become sick enough to get acne in the first place. Antibiotics and the Dermatologists that prescribe them throw out the notion that your acne can be cured within a month or less with a prescription drug. It doesn’t work that way! To cure your acne, you must do it naturally, and it takes time and dedication. If you can grasp and understand this concept, you’ve already come half the way to curing your acne.
References
-
Tetracycline (Antibiotic) Reviews, http://www.acne.org/tetracycline-antibiotic-reviews/20/page6.html
-
Is it possible for antibiotics to make it worse?, http://www.acne.org/messageboard/antibiotics-worse-t116580.html
-
Antibiotics make you worse?, http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Antibiotics-worse-after-t132906.html
-
“Another Antibiotic Hits the Dust,” http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/05/27/another-antibiotic-exits-the-consumer-marketplace.aspx
-
“New ‘Ramp’ Antibiotics May Be Fatal,” http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/07/05/ramp-antibiotics.aspx
-
“Free Antibiotics: Wrong Prescription For Cold And Flu Season, Experts Say”, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090116111137.htm
There is an eBook out on the net which says you can be ‘acne free in 3 days.’ You’ve got to be joking me. I don’t think i’ve ever seen such BS in my life. It’s clear proof that acne is a business. If you don’t know what i’m talking about, maybe you’ll recognize this picture:
 I'm So Happy to Be Photoshopped! Ah, now you remember. Whether or not this picture was photoshopped is not important. What’s important is realizing that acne is not something you can just destroy with an atom bomb. If you are 17, it’s taken 17 years of being unhealthy for the toxins in your body to manifest themselves as acne. To cure your acne (and when I say cure, I mean permanently), it takes 1 month of natural healing for every year you’ve had it – you need to take things slow.
Honestly, i’m not surprised why so many people have bought this book. For one, it’s marketed well. It reaches the search engines and when the common acne sufferer searches for ways to cure themselves quickly for the prom next week, they find this shitty ebook. Secondly, it’s inherent that any product or service dealing with acne will sell well, because lets face it, we are desperate. We’d do everything in our power, empty our bank account if we had to, just to get rid of this stupid disease.
I’ve used it all, and the quickest way to ‘get rid of’ your acne would be antibiotics. But this is very temporary, very unhealthy, and it will come back worse then when it started. I don’t advise you ever take antibiotics for any reason whatsoever, but there’s my honest opinion on the matter. Antibiotics will work, the very first time you take them – only they will do more harm then good. It’s just not worth it, there are better options.
A more correct and better sales pitch would be, ‘heal your acne naturally by eating the right foods!’ – now that doesn’t sound as fun, or as easy – but shit, if it works, it works right? It does work. So please don’t buy into most of all this useless information on the web, and do things the right way – you will be forever thankful. I know I was.
It took thousands of years of evolution to create the cells and organs that make up our bodies today. Every organ in your body was created for a reason and every cell that constitutes the organs, blood, etc. play a very specific role. The cells that constitute your skin have a specific role, too. Simply put, your skin is a protective barrier to both release and absorb. It releases sebum to keep your skin supple and moist. It releases heat (in the form of sweat) to keep your body cool. It absorbs sunlight to produce Vitamin D , a very important hormone with a multitude of it’s own functions. [1]
Companies like Neutrogena, L’oreal(see L’Oreal accused of using banned chemicals) and pharmaceutical companies create and market these topicals for two reasons. To treat a specific symptom which may be one cause of your acne and to make as much money as they can doing so.
Inneffective – topicals don’t treat the true cause
One example of a prescription topical pharmaceutical companies have created in a lab is Benzamycin. Let’s take a look at the active ingredients in Benzamycin:
- Benzoyl Peroxide, hydrous, equivalent to benzoyl peroxide 5%
- Erythromycin 3%
Erythromycin inhibits lipase production whilst benzoyl peroxide reduces the comedone count and has antibacterial action.[2]
In theory, this should stop acne from forming, thus curing your acne. WRONG. If you’ve read, ‘The Ladder of Causes‘ you’ll know that this effort is futile. Benzamycin may help curbing your acne initially, but what happens when you stop? Your acne comes back. Acne sufferers are lead to believe that if their symptoms are temporary alleviated, then it is an effective treatment. WRONG. Effective means your acne is gone and will never come back. There is only one effective treatment of acne, and topicals aren’t it. The true cause of acne deals specifically with your diet and nutrition and healing comes within.
Dangerous – Active and inactive ingredients are absorbed into our bloodstream and change homeostasis
We partially absorb everything we put on our skin. That foundation with a million different chemicals is absorbed by our skin. Those chemicals in that commercial shampoo you are using is absorbed by the skin, too. The same goes with Benzamycin and any other topical to treat acne.
In vivo, the higher the concentration of benzoyl peroxide applied, the greater the amount absorbed, as indicated by the urinary excretion of 14C-benzoic acid. [3]
Absorption is not specific to active ingredients. Inactive ingredients are absorbed as well. Let’s take a look at the inactive ingredients in Benzamycin.
- Carbomer 980
- Sodium Hydroxide
- SD Alcohol
- Lemon Fragrance Oil
- Methyl Salicylate
- Docusate Sodium 75% Solution
- Purified Water
- Ethanol 70 HSE*
* Added by the pharmacist during reconstitution.
Pharmaceutical and OTC Companies don’t take into account the accumulative harmful effects of absorbing these ingredients into our bloodstream. They are probably aware of said effects, but don’t bring it to attention with their greed and money on their minds. Check out just a few chemicals in common topicals that are harmful to our body when you apply them topically. If you are really interested in this concept, I suggest you read ‘Dying To Look Good‘ by Christine Hoza Farlow, D.C.
Absorption of these ingredients has a two prong effect[4]:
- Localized accumulation of toxic residues with the need for homeostasis.
- Accumulation of toxic residues circulated through the blood stream with the need for excretion
It is very common for acne sufferers to incur new or increased skin symptoms after using strong topicals. This is due to the concept of homeostasis.
Homeostasis is the property of a system, either open or closed, that regulates its internal environment and tends to maintain a stable, constant condition. – Walter Bradford Cannon
Many will find that once applying a topical, their skin will become red and inflamed right after application. They may also find that it causes their skin to become dry. This is an acute reaction from toxic ingredients that is dangerous, no matter what other people might believe. After consistent application, toxic residues build up localized to the skins layers, and the body naturally will find a way to get rid of these toxins back out through the skin. Your body will effectively find a new level of homeostasis where an acute reaction doesn’t occur every application. This produces the symptoms classified as chronic, such as rosacea, consistent dryness, poor healing, etc. Every time you use these topicals with harmful ingredients, you are taking one more step to making your problems chronically worse. Here are a few excerpts from sufferers with these experiences.
On Ziana Gel, a prescription topical medication used to treat acne.
Pros Helps clear up already existing pimples quickly and is easy to use.
Cons It is expensive, it didn’t prevent my acne from forming and caused me to have break outs worse then before. [5]
Cortisone Gel, a prescription topical steroid that has been cited to cause permanent redness on the face, whether it helps acne minimally or not.
I think you’ll be okay if you’ve just started using it – I’m really just saying not to use cortisone on your face long term, no matter how tempting it is. I did a) because it’s what my dermatologist prescribed, so I thought it would be safe, and b) it really was the ONLY thing that seemed to control my sebderm. I kind of got used to the fact that the skin on my face always looked pink, because that was such a vast improvement from when my face was covered in nasty sebderm blotches – lesser of two evils if you like. People always used to say “do you have sunburn on your face?” – in winter [6]
Many will feel the desperation to use topical acne medications even if it were to cause other symptoms, simply because they want their acne gone under whatever circumstances. There is a much better, healthier, and effective way to curing your acne. That is through diet and nutrition and it will help anyone and everyone. Simple rule, don’t put anything on your skin that you wouldn’t want to eat. A great topical to use is coconut oil.
References
[1] Borradale D, Kimlin M, Australian Sun and Health Research Laboratory, Vitamin D in health and disease: an insight into traditional functions and new roles for the ’sunshine vitamin’, 2009
[2] EMC Medicines, Benzamycin Gel – Summary of Product Characteristics, 2007
[3] David Yeung M.S., Vick Toiletry Research Division, Richardson-VicksInc., Shelton, CT, and the Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, Benzoyl peroxide: Percutaneous penetration and metabolic disposition. II. Effect of concentration, 2008
[4] Ottmar Stubler, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology How Do Drugs Absorb Into The Skin (Percutaneous Absorption),
[5] Acne.org, Ziana Gel Reviews, 2010
[6] Acne.org, Cortisone Lotion Getting Rid of Redness, 2010
I’m sure you have tried a million and one things to treat your acne, only to fail in the end. Perhaps it worked temporarily, but the effects weren’t permanent. The acne comes back, one way or another. This is because you aren’t treating the main cause of acne. You are simply treating a symptom of the cause. Please let my wonderful MSPaint skills show you in this diagram.
The fact is, if you spend your time on battling just one of these components (other then diet) – you will not win in the end. Maybe you’ve tried:
Some of these may work better then others. That’s because the higher up the ladder you go, the more symptoms you can possibly cover. But it’s useless, and in most cases, more harmful then good – the most efficient way to heal your acne is to practice healthy eating habits, period.
This question is asked often and no one can give a definitive answer. Some people say the only thing that helps red marks is time. While this is partly true, it doesn’t offer a solution. Waiting around for your teen years to end so hopefully your hormones stop fluctuating is not the proper way to go about healing your redmarks.
Our body has trained itself through thousands and thousands of years to heal itself. This is great news, because it means acne, and red marks will heal if you allow your immune system to become strong enough to do so.
The reason Jonny takes 3 months for his red marks to heal, and Marissa takes 9 months, is because of your bodies health. Your immune system can only deal with so many things at once. If you’ve gotten to the point of having persistent acne, it means your body is already dealing with enough as it is. The most important thing your immune system wants to protect is your vital inner organs. If you continue to damage your body with unhealthy foods, your body will continually work on protecting them. It doesn’t have time to bother with healing something as superficial as your skin. I’m sure many of you out there wish they could tell their immune system, ‘Fuck my liver! Heal these damn redmarks instead!’ Generally speaking, unless you’re very, very unhealthy – your body will always do what’s best for it. Like i’ve said, it’s taken thousands of years for humans to evolve and build this system of handling toxins.
As you start eating healthy and progress on the acne cure program you will see a two fold effect. Firstly, you won’t be getting cysts anymore. We all know that the bigger the acne, the longer the red mark it leaves takes to heal. You will also notice that your acne won’t leave such persistent red marks either. This is because as you become more healthy, your immune system won’t need to worry about the vital inner organs as much and will take time to heal your pimples properly – hence less red marks.
Another tip that may work for some is beach water. I don’t like to give this recommendation because if you suffer from acne, your skin is not ready to stay out in the sun[1]. Sea Salt is part of the acne cure – and remember that I say ‘don’t put anything on your skin that you wouldn’t want to eat.’ It works both ways, since sea salt is healthy to consume, it’s also great for your skin.
[1] Please note that the sun is healthy, it produces Vitamin D – plus has the added effect of giving you a nice tan to cover up your existing red marks. But if you are at the point where you haven’t been eating healthy for at least a few months, your skin is not healthy enough to take kindly to the sun.
Scars are a totally different issue, one which needs its own article to address.
The cure to acne is quite simple. Eat healthy foods and avoid damaging foods and your skin will improve. For the people who are convinced of this fact might want to get more into detail about exactly what they should do to help with themselves. For that reason, i’ve devised a program which tells you exactly what you should be eating, exactly which vitamins and minerals you should be consuming (and how much of each), and exactly which foods you will never eat again. It’s the most efficient way to get a hold of your life and never have to deal with a stupid pimple again.
Please read the following articles to get you started:
It’s inherent that acne products, and all economy, stems from the desire for money. The effect on the consumers health comes secondary to this fact.
Acne is a business, and business is flourishing.
There are thousands upon thousands of acne products, both prescription and over the counter, that cycle in and out of drugstore shelves. At any given time, there are hundreds of different products that are available to the acne sufferer. They all have similar formulas with the same major ingredients. There are only a few active ingredients ’shown in studies’ to be effective in ‘managing’ acne – those are Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic acid. In essence, mostly all OTC acne products are the same thing with a few different inactive ingredients. Figuring out which one is best is overwhelming for the common acne sufferer. The fact is, none of them are effective at curing your acne.
Greed, misconception, and its relationship with acne
To understand the acne business model, you must first understand that humans are greedy, and greed in the ecosystem of today’s society directly effects health in many ways.
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed. – Mahatma Gandhi
In a system where people are rewarded through the accumulation of money, the health of the unsuspecting results. Enron is a classic example of humans greed to accumulate money at the expense of others. The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries are no different.
Every year, a dozen new acne companies are created. According to the American Acadaemy of Dermatology, 40-50 million people suffer from acne. and each year 85% of teenagers will have acne. [1] This creates a huge market with lots of opportunities for business men to make money.
Common sense will tell us that most of these business men don’t understand the true nature of acne – hell, most dermatologists don’t even understand it’s true nature. Their beliefs are based off of misconception.
The #1 Misconception: Acne is not curable, but treatable and manageable.
This is because the roots from which all acne treatments stems from is an effort in futility. All acne products treat the symptom (acne) and do not treat the true cause (health and nutrition). [3] (see Ladder of Causes)
The fact that the acne market today is based off an effort in futility happens to be very good for business. Understand the cycle of events that take place in an average acne sufferer consumer:
Big acne business and the many unknowns
The pinnacle of business in terms of the acne product market came at the advent of ProActiv, a sister company of Gunthy Renker Corporation, a direct-response marketer known primarily for selling products in the United States via infomercials. [4]
Right now, we own acne. – Greg Renker, a chief executive of Guthy-Renker
The idea was quite genius, in business terms. Bring together the marketing powerhouse abilities of Gunthy Renker with the preconceived expertise of Dr. Katie P. Rodan and Dr. Kathy A. Fields, the two dermatologists who founded ProActiv. Now you have an image with the capability to market it effectively. From this point, there is no need to put more money into improving product effectiveness.
We are told very little about how these two dermatologists created their products. The FDA will tell us that topical products should be built and tested in a lab by capable human beings doing their due diligence, who understand the function of each and every chemical used. Where is the line between dermatologist and chemist drawn? Bottom line, it isn’t – the consumer has no idea how these products were created and who they were created by. How are we able to surmise the effectiveness of a product we cannot understand completely? Are we to blatantly believe what we see on television infomercials and obliviously consume and apply drugs that are supposedly helpful for us?
Built in Consumer Advertising vs. Commercial Advertising
In most business models, built in consumer advertising is a huge part of the success of an advertising campaign. For instance, when someone buys a Honda Civic, and is happy with their purchase, they will tell their friends and family that they are having a good experience. Another example would be Apple. When someone is on the bus using their new iPhone, the apple logo stands out on the other side. Someone else who randomly looks sees this logo and is effectively advertised by the consumer.
The acne business model is inherently different. When someone is able to effectively improve their acne, it isn’t common for the sufferer to tell his friends and family that ‘Hey, this Murad acne cream is working pretty well!’ No one can see what type of acne medication/treatment you are using at the time. Acne is a sensitive subject that isn’t talked about publicly. Therefore, built in consumer advertising is not an important cornerstone of the acne advertising model.
What’s far more important is commercial advertising. Getting the idea out there that the product they are selling actually works and convince the consumer that it is proven to work. Jessica Simpson was paid six figures alone to appear in Pro Activ commercials to help convince the consumer. The company spends about $125 million a year buying time for its infomercials on channels like VH1 and MTV as well as Web sites like Facebook. [2]
Millions of dollars are put into lobbying the government and FDA for approval of acne products.
The money doesn’t end in advertising. Most over the counter products and all prescription products must go through the FDA if companies want to access this multi-billion dollar industry. The FDA, or Food and Drug Administration, is a federal agency in the Department of Health and Human Services established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products. [5]
Wherever there is a billion dollar industry, there will be corruption. The acne market is no different. Every year, health care, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic companies alike put millions of dollars into lobbying the government for ‘ease of passage.’ This means, making the flow from lab to drugstore shelf as seamless and easy as possible. Despite the obvious fact that this goes against the very reason why the FDA exists in the first place, it just goes to show how important money is in the overall scheme of things as compared to the actual effectiveness of the product and whether it helps people or not.
Drawing conclusions from the fundamental concepts of the acne business model
ABM Concept #1: Acne is not curable, create products that succeed in managing acne as a disease.
The whole acne product scam is based off the misconception that acne is not curable but only manageable, yet they want to give the impression that there is a possibility of a cure with their products. The fact is, there is a cure for acne, and that is through health and nutrition, which is devoid of any need for any specific acne treatments.
ABM Concept # 2: Money spent on commercial advertising is much more important then drug effectiveness.
As stated earlier, commercial advertising yields far higher returns then would be product effectiveness, because built in consumer advertising does not exist with the acne business model.
ABM Concept #3: Health of sufferers comes secondary to product effectiveness and profit margins. The FDA is more of an obstacle then a safety.
Understand that acne drugs, whether it be Accutane, or topical acne treatments, are not healthy and can severely impair your health in many cases. This doesn’t matter to acne companies, as long as the product passes FDA regulations and the superficial symptoms are treated. This falls within the business model because acne sufferers are so desperate at fixing their skin that they are blinded by the ramifications of consuming man made drugs and applying man made topicals made from unnatural chemicals.
Understanding the greed and business model of acne products on the market today can open your eyes to many things. Be wary of any acne products or drugs on the market because they were not created with your health in mind.
References:
[1] http://www.aad.org/public/publications/pamphlets/common_acne.html
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/fashion/18skin.html
[3] http://focusacne.com/ladder-of-causes/
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guthy-Renker
[5] http://wordnet.princeton.edu/
|
|
