The use of Benzoyl Peroxide for the treatment of acne should in my opinion be made a criminal offence. Unbelievably we see that Benzoyl Peroxide is included in the World Health Organisations list of essential medicines!
When you ask any physician or pharmacist about how this drug works, they will often tell you words to this effect "Benzoyl peroxide works as a peeling agent, increasing skin turnover and clearing pores, thereby reducing bacteria as well as acting directly as an antimicrobial"
Whilst the above statement is certainly true, what they fail to tell you is that this drug although touted as the miracle cure for acne, is in fact absolutely useless. Having used this drug myself in the earlier years of my own acne treatment and having spoken to hundreds of other sufferers I would have no reservations in saying that this drug will actually cause both physical and psychological damage with long term use.
Let me tell you a little bit about my own experience and that of others so that you can judge for yourself why this drug is so evil and yet it is prevalent in almost every pharmacy in the world.
I started suffering from mild acne at the age of 16 which started out on my face but very slowly spread to my back. I tried a number of remedies including scrubs, cleansers, changing my diet and drinking countless glasses of water. It seemed my acne just wouldn't go away.
I finally came across a pharmacist who recommended Benzoyl Peroxide 1% cream so thought why not? I was pretty excited to get started on the so called Benzoyl Peroxide treatment programme which promised results in 3 months or less.
I had a few scars on my face having used my previous technique of squashing zits in order to let the dirt out and allow my skin to heal. I thought right, no more crushing pimples and no more scars.
So every night I would wash my face, follow the instructions on the packet and apply the cream as directed. Each time a pimple would appear I would use a little bit extra on the pimple itself and immediately noticed that the inflation went down.
I thought Benzoyl Peroxide was a God send as I'd never used anything that actually reduced the size of my zits within literally an hour.
What I soon realised was that there was a price to pay for the reduction in inflammation. Yes the size of the zit had gone down considerably but what it had done was actually trap the dirt and bacteria deep inside the skin by reducing the size of the pimple.
All my acne followed the same pattern, they would appear and then the Benzoyl Peroxide would shrink them but then I would still have a painful and visible lump under my skin. Anyone who suffers with acne knows the temptation of wanting to pick at a spot and having waited weeks for the lumps to disappear I decided to pick at a few to see if I could release the dirt.
This was a seriously bad mistake as the pimple would not break and instead I was lift with cuts and scars all over my face. I then decided that I wouldn't pick the spots anymore and patiently wait the three months for the acne to disappear by itself.
I religiously used Benzoyl Peroxide for 3 months and still kept getting spots. It had basically done nothing to reduce my acne. The worst thing was that the constant peeling effect of the drug made my skin sore and sensitive. The lumps under my skin felt like tiny golf balls that were painful to touch.
I had put so much hope in Benzoyl Peroxide that I was not prepared to give up without a fight. I went out and purchased Benzoyl Peroxide 5% then moved onto the 10% maximum strength cream.
Once again I had the same miserable results but this time the side effects were 10 times worse. I continued using Benzoyl Peroxide 10% cream for a further six months before I realised that I had wasted not only my money but a long period of my life hoping for this drug to cure my acne.
I felt confused, angry and soon fell into depression knowing I had failed to bring my acne under control. My face looked bright red like a burns victim and my acne was worse than I had started out.
I immediately stopped using this rubbish and began to look for cures elsewhere. After countless hours reading and researching I decided to go to my doctor and beg him to refer me to a dermatologist. He refused and offered me antibiotics instead.
Having done my research I knew that no amount of antibiotics or topical anti microbial agents like Benzoyl Peroxide could ever treat my acne. The answer was pretty simple and the best way to describe it is in what I call the Acne Equation: Bacteria + Excess Oil = Acne
No amount of ritual cleaning or use of the above medications will ever completely get rid of all surface bacteria so therefore the answer must be in the excess oil part of the equation.
I had to pay for a private consultation with a dermatologist who soon prescribed me Roaccutane. This is an oral drug which quite simple put cures acne for life. The drug goes to work directly on the oil producing sebaceous glands and immediately reduces the amount of oil on the surface of the skin.
The result of this reduction in sebum oil means that no amount of bacteria on my face, back or chest ever caused me acne again.
So if Benzoyl Peroxide is so useless why is it marketed under so many different brands? The answer is simple; the skin care industry and the pharmaceutical industry make billions every year by pedalling these poisons. If no one purchased these products, how would they make money?
Making profit at the expense of acne sufferers is a despicable practice but will never cease until we educate ourselves and seek proper treatment.
I hope by reading this article you can save yourself years of suffering and misery by avoiding the use of Benzoyl Peroxide for the treatment of acne.
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