10 myths of skin care: someone's lying to you about how to avoid acne, wrinkles and skin cancer. We set the record straight - Health - Brief Article

Men's Fitness, August, 2002 by R. Daniel Foster

Bad things happen to good skin, but not always for the reasons you suspect. In addition to battling blackheads, ingrown hairs, fissures and scars, your body's largest organ has to cope with a host of skin-care fables. To help you achieve a clearer, healthier epidermis, MEN'S FITNESS goes face-to-face with your own skin-deep misperceptions:

MYTH #1 "CHOCOLATE MAKES ME BREAK OUT."

Nothing you eat causes acne. "Some people think that they absorb the oils from greasy or rich foods and somehow secrete them out of their skin glands," says Audrey Kunin, M.D., associate clinical instructor of dermatology at the University of Kansas Medical School. "Acne is caused when a gland sheds cells that stick together, plug the gland, hack up the oil and blow up the skin. Bacteria on your face have a field day with this."

What leads to acne?

* High levels of stress--which can make people gravitate to fast and fatty cheeseburgers and milkshakes, hence the connection--and high levels of the same stuff that makes you manly: testosterone.

* Taking steroids or using cheap face creams that block your pores.

MYTH #2 "I GET BLACKHEADS WHEN I FORGET TO WASH MY FACE."

Blackheads are not caused by a buildup of dirt. Rather, pores become dilated and cellular debris builds up. "When air hits the cells, they oxidize and turn black," says Kunin.

* A good exfoliator can help extract the debris from pores: Try Nivea for Men Exfoliating Face Scrub or Anthony Logistics for Men Facial Scrub. Rub some on your skin, but don't use elbow grease. The granular particles in such products are designed to do the work for you.

* Moisturizers that include salicylic acid (such as Nautica's Daily Moisture Face Protection), glycolic acid or alpha-hydroxy acid will induce a chemical exfoliation and may also help keep skin clear. For more-resistant conditions, a doctor may prescribe Retin-A or Tazorac cream to remove dead layers of skin.

MYTH #3 "DOING FACIAL EXERCISES WILL TONE MY MUSCLES AND MAKE ME LOOK YOUNGER."

Have you been reading your girlfriend's Cosmo? "If you do facial exercises, you'll just pull the skin more and probably enhance lines," says Joshua Wieder, M.D., assistant clinical professor at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine. The face is your only body part in which muscles attach directly to the skin without the aid of ligaments and tissue; the direct pull of muscles on skin, in fact, is what enables myriad subtle facial expressions. Add gravity to the constant tug and you produce lines, furrows and sagging. Daily facial maneuvers will only turn you into your crow's--footed, double-chinned father that much faster. So stop mugging in the mirror.

Oh, and don't bother with those "seen on TV" gadgets that deliver electromagnetic stimulation and penetrating photon energy probes to promote deep intercellular repair. If you want to spend money on science fiction, go see Attack of the Clones again.

MYTH #4 "A CLOSE SHAVE REDUCES MY RISK OF INGROWN HAIRS."

The opposite is more likely true. You may be cutting your beard so close that the stubble turns in on itself, drilling into the pore it from and inflaming the skin. Men with wayward, curly hair are especially plagued.

* Changing shave creams may aid your face. Neutrogena Men makes a version that minimizes razor bumps and ingrown hairs.

* Try switching to an electric razor, or grow a light, well-trimmed beard that allows facial hair to grow out more fully.

* Never forcibly dig or yank out ingrown hairs by the roots--you'll only make things worse. Instead, use a sterile needle or forceps to gently tease out and unfold the hair.

* To avoid ingrown hairs, shave in the direction your beard grows.

* Apply an antibiotic to broken, inflamed skin.

MYTH #5 "A GOOD TAN WILL HELP CLEAR UP MY ACNE."

You're more apt to do serious damage to your skin. The benefits of ultraviolet rays on acne are theoretical, based on hunches that cite UV light's ability to decrease bacteria. And does the sun's intense light and heat flush out sebum to clear acne, or does it produce more oil to clog pores? The jury's still out.

Of course, you can always burn your skin to camouflage acne, if you don't mind setting yourself up to become one of the one in five Americans to get skin cancer, a rapidly growing and sometimes deadly problem. (For more on preventing and identifying skin cancer, see the June 2002 Health Update.)

Even if you're a tanner, you're still risking cancer, premature skin aging and your own constellation of sunspots. "Tanning can turn acne's red spots a permanent shade of brown, causing pigmentary scarring, especially among people with darker skin," says Daniel McKenzie, M.D., a dermatologist with Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills, Calif.

MYTH #6 "GETTING A `BASE COAT' AT THE TANNING SALON WILL PROTECT ME BEFORE I HEAD TO MAUI."

While your body's melanin helps prevent sun damage, a "good tan" is not the same as having ample natural melanin in the skin. "Having more melanin is a genetic adaptation found in darker-skinned people who live in warmer climates," says Kunin.