* Preventative: Creams, lotions etc. to help cleanse and tone the skin

* Those available at a drugstore or over-the-counter

* Prescription: Dermatologist or Doctor, specialist cream or ointment

Those that fall into the preventative category are based around general skin conditioning to help stop acne from forming; for example, special toners and skin cleansers. In the real sense, these products are just those that should be part of your daily routine; there use is not just confined to individuals who are suffer with the complaint. Other acne skin care products, like skin cleansers for instance, are more specific about their job; they ensure the facial pores (and other areas) remain free of oil. These types of products are reducing the chance of oil staying in the pores and aiding the growth of harmful bacteria which assists the formation of the skin condition.

Other skin care treatments can help exfoliate the skin; there is now a variety of this type of product available over the counter. Dead skin cells and other atmospheric pollutants are removed cleaning the pores which reduce the chance of any bacterial growth. There are specialized acne skin care products available over-the-counter, they do not require the need of a prescription. A bacterium that aids the formation of acne is stopped by creams and cleansers that contain benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid; these include products which extract the unwanted oil from the skin.

It is often a good idea to start with a product that has lower concentration of benzoyl peroxide (e.g. 5 percent) to see how the skin responds; if a reaction occurs, a cleaner or cream containing alpha hydroxy acid should be safe. It might just be a case of trial and error to find an acne skin care product that works; if finding something that works is proving difficult, your dermatologist should be able to help. If you do need to see your doctor or skin care specialist then he may give you a prescription for antibiotics or special ointments.

Under certain circumstances, having the infected material removed from the pores under a local anesthetic may be suggested by your dermatologist; although this is a minor procedure, if it were performed by the person themselves it could result in skin damage. Your doctor may even suggest a course of hormone therapy as a skin care treatment; hormone changes are known to be one cause of acne. Positive research means that a sufferer does not have to put up with this condition anymore.

Cleaning and feeding nutrition to the skin and being able to remove dead skin effectively, allows acne sufferers to develop a healthier complexion. Diet change is also a very effective way of banishing acne alongside an overall healthy lifestyle.

One area that does not very often get addressed when dealing with the causes of acne is the physiological level. Often these physical eruptions are the boy’s way of expressing unexpressed emotions – such as anger, frustration and a general lack of self confidence.

When these are taken into account and deal with positively, many have found that the facial condition subsides markedly.

One of the greatest gifts that anyone who is suffering from acne can give themselves is to recognize this side of it and address it positively with out blaming themselves or anyone else.

So with natural skin care and positive action to deal with one’s emotional make-up, banishment is nigh.

Using Web-based technologies could be one way of keeping a lid on medical costs, which have been rising as the population in Western countries ages and the demand for referrals to costly specialists increases.

The study appears in the May issue of the Archives of Dermatology.

“Telemedicine using e-mail or Web sites holds promise for enhancing communication, especially in the area of dermatology, which is visual in nature,” said Nina Eminovic of the University of Amsterdam.

Eminovic and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial of teledermatologic consultations involving 605 patients who saw general practitioners at 35 medical practices in the Netherlands.

Half of the practices were randomly assigned to participate in the Web-based intervention, in which clinicians took four digital images of the skin problem of 312 patients and attached the photos to a form completed on a secure Web site.

A dermatologist reviewed the form and provided feedback within 48 hours about recommended treatment.

Half of the practices continued to refer patients to dermatologists according to their usual practices. One month later, all patients were seen by one of five dermatologists participating in the study.

The dermatologist then rated whether the consultation was preventable, either because the patient had recovered or the general practitioner could have treated the condition without a specialist’s assistance.

The dermatologists determined that 39 percent of the in-person consultations were preventable in the teledermatology group compared with 18.3 percent of the control patients, which was a difference of 20.7 percent.

At the one-month visit, 20 percent of patients who received teledermatologic consultations had recovered compared with 4.1 percent of control patients.

Patients from both groups were asked to complete a satisfaction questionnaire following the study. They reported no differences in general satisfaction with the care received.

“Teledermatologic consultation successfully enables general practitioners to treat patients they would otherwise refer to a dermatologist,” the authors conclude. “Further research conducted with more specific patient groups as well as about patient satisfaction should be encouraged.”

“They are saying that compounds on the skin react to the ozone and cause more irritation to the skin,” explained one expert, Rajat Sethi, an assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Texas A&M Health Science Center’s Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy in Kingsville. “They have identified those compounds.”

But the findings are not cause for major concern yet, according to the study, which is published in the Aug. 17 issue of Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

“I would say this is not very alarming at this point,” said study co-lead author Charles J. Weschler, an adjunct professor at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey in Piscataway. “This chemistry has been going on since the dawn of man. As long as humans have existed, they’ve existed with ozone, and this chemistry has been occurring,” said Weschler, who is also a member of the faculty of the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen. He wrote the paper with Armin Wisthaler of Leopold-Franzens University, Innsbruck, Austria.

While copious amounts of research have pointed to the negative health effects of outdoor ozone, little is known about indoor ozone or ground-level ozone, especially about its effects on humans.

“We’re talking about ozone that people breathe, that people come in contact with, as opposed to ozone up in the stratosphere that protects us from the sun,” Weschler explained.

Ozone can travel indoors through ventilation systems and open windows, or it can sweat off of office equipment, such as poorly working photocopiers or laser printers.

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has claimed that indoor ozone exposure may be 100 times more than outdoor exposure,” noted Sethi, who presented a paper at a recent American Heart Association meeting that linked outdoor ozone with an increased risk of ischemic attack and angina.

In their study, Weschler and Wisthaler used “proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry” to analyze compounds released into the air by the interaction of human skin oil and ozone.

When squalene, the most common fat and antioxidant found on the human skin, from just one person interacted with ozone, this could reduce ozone concentrations in a small room by 10 to 25 percent, the team found.

Byproducts of this skin-ozone interaction are later released back into the environment.

“Some of these products are benign, something like acetone or fingernail-polish remover. Some of these compounds have not been identified before in terms of this chemistry, but we don’t expect them to pose much of a health concern simply because of their structure,” Weschler said. On the other hand, “some of these compounds may be a health concern, but toxicity studies have yet to be done,” he added.

Besides the skin, reactions occur on objects where squalene was left by a person’s touch, such as furniture or computer equipment.

The research also revealed that squalene and not vitamin E, as was previously thought, is the main antioxidant protecting the skin from ozone. “Squalene has been doing the heavy lifting when it comes to protecting us from the ozone,” Wechsler said.

“Some of these products [resulting from the interaction] we inhale and some stay on our skin,” he added. “Toxicologists will be looking more closely at what some of the potential health effects are.”

One expert noted that the latest research sheds more light on ozone’s harmful effects.

“Ozone by itself is harmful straight out, and we’ve known for some time that ozone indoors reacts with a variety of things,” said Janice Nolen, assistant vice president of national policy and advocacy at the American Lung Association. This study “tells us more about how ozone can affect us and reinforces why we don’t want ozone indoors,” she said.

Nolen advised against using products that produce ozone, such as air-purifying devices. “If it’s a mechanism with a filter of some kind, then you’re not going to be producing ozone,” she said. “If you’re using something that uses electric static or a chemical process, the odds are that you’re going to be producing ozone.”

But even filtering, she added, “is limited in its ability to help clean up indoor air.”