Acne is a commonly misunderstood condition. Many people seek to treat it by applying facial creams, antibiotics, and other things that, quite frankly, don't really work at all. Annoyingly enough, doctors like to prescribe these things all the time, which makes people believe even more that acne is not really curable. Luckily, that's not the case.

Most of the acne treatment methods available now merely treat the symptoms of acne, instead of actually dealing with its underlying causes.

Take, for example, topical antibiotics. You're applying something on the top of your skin. However, when you get a pimple, you generally get a couple of days warning (in terms of a nice mark on your face). That seems to indicate that acne comes from below the surface of your skin, not from clogged pores or any of that nonsense.

What is acne, then? Think of it just like you would a bruise. Bruises don't form because the skin is injured, they form because something beneath the skin is damaged. Pimples work in much the same way, which is why topical creams and masks will never really cure acne, they'll just cover up the problem for a little while.

Even things that seem to work aren't really a long-term solution, sadly, because you'd have to keep up with them for the rest of your life to contain the acne problem, and that isn't what you want to do. More importantly, that probably isn't really what your wallet wants you to do, considering how expensive some of those things can be.