Natural Acne Treatment vs Scientific Acne Treatment

Posted by John

April 22, 2010

Which is better, a natural acne treatment or a scientific acne treatment?

As with many medical issues there are modern scientific treatments that have been designed to treat the condition which are, for the most part, effective. However, there are often natural treatments that the patient can use instead. Acne is no different and as well as the two most popular scientific treatments (Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic Acid) there are many natural acne treatments that can work as well, so in this article we discuss which is the better road to take for the acne sufferer.

Acne is caused by the over production of sebum (oil) in the sebaceous gland which gets blocked. It is in these oil rich blockages that bacteria find an ideal breeding ground. When the body tries to combat these bacteria it can cause swelling around the gland causing spots or pimples that are the symptoms of acne. This means that to stop these symptoms occurring, a scientific treatment has to work in three ways to be effective. Firstly, it needs to clear the oil from inside the skin. Secondly, should lessen the chances of blockages and finally kill the bacteria within the skin. Both Salicylic Acid and Benzoyl Peroxide work differently to achieve these three challenges (we won’t go into how they do this in this post but if you would like more information you can see our posts of Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic Acid).

So, if these scientific treatments work to eliminate the causes so effectively, is there any reason to introduce the power of nature on top of this? Well, some of the most popular acne treatments (that you have probably seen on TV) ignore the natural ingredients and therefore only rely on scientific treatments. We at Acne Treatment Advice feel that this oversight reduces the potential effectiveness of their treatments. They might still work but do they work as well as they could?

Here is an example that will illustrate why we think natural acne treatments should be used. In a study done on the different concentrations of Benzoyl Peroxide they found that the difference between the effectiveness of this ingredient at 5% was not that different to that at 2.5%. So, if you can’t increase the concentration to improve the effectiveness, how do you make the treatment more powerful? Well, in a separate study done on Tea Tree Oil (a great natural ingredient) they found that at the same concentration of 5% Tea Tree Oil was as effective at clearing the symptoms of acne (although Tea Tree Oil took that bit longer for the results to come). So from this we can see that there is merit in not increasing the concentration of the scientific ingredient if it will have little difference but instead introducing a natural acne treatment that will increase the effectiveness.

There are hundreds of natural products that work to do the same job as the scientific ingredients and some are really effective but there are also some that help in ways that the scientific don’t. For example, Witch Hazel is a natural anti-inflammatory. This means that when the infection of a spot or pimple has already taken place and it is now inflamed, Witch Hazel will help reduce that inflammation meaning that it will lessen the appearance of the spot and thus reducing the chances of scars. Or Honey that will absorb the impurities away from the skin making it healthier and better equipped at fighting acne

In conclusion, we at Acne Treatment Advice believe that for a treatment to be at its most effective it should harness the power from both science and nature as they can compliment each other and work in different ways to get the same goal achieve (that goal being your clear skin). That is why all our acne treatments have natural products in them and you can go to the full review section of each treatment to see what natural ingredients they have and what they do.

See all our acne treatment and why they are the best by visiting our Acne Treatment Reviews page

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