Fighting acne breakouts is an everyday battle. To help with the fight I wanted to cover some “remedies” that are masquerading as cures but are actually big no-no’s in the fight against breakouts.

This is my wife’s favorite remedy but it is also a huge mistake, picking at acne. Picking at a pimple only agitates the acne and will worsen the outbreak, prolonging breakouts.

This will also lead to scarring which can be permanent.  Admittedly there are a few cases of severe acne that should be removed but that is determined and performed by a dermatologist.

Another harmful remedy that is used to prevent acne is a facial scrub. I have even been guilty of doing this and my reasoning was if my pores are getting clogged because of unclean skin then it makes sense to use a scrub to get the skin as clean as possible.

My theory was wrong; facial scrubs agitate the skin and can cause more breakouts. Skin produces oil when it is scrubbed to protect itself so in effect all I was doing was creating more oil on my already oily skin.

These are just a tiny sample of the remedy myths that we all buy into on a daily basis. Before you start a new program consult your dermatologist to see if it will actually help your acne or if it is just a case of mistaken identity.