The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    Acne and touching your face

    For the average American kid — you know the one: has caring parents, lives in a nice place, with no wants or needs — acne is likely to be the first event that can not be easily controlled to their satisfaction.

    It’s God’s way of saying, “Look, there are going to be things in your life that you just have to make the best of. Get used to it. You can practice on acne.”

    And like most things in life, there are lots of people willing to give advice — but too few interested enough to do the hard work of proving validity. For example, almost every article and website on acne treatment includes the caveat to avoid touching your face. Whenever you read this you will know that the author was probably more interested in writing the article than making sound, well documented recommendations.

    Acne.org has a related discussion with recommendations on face touching, and 43Things.com lists other recommendations. I like the brown bag approach best. The duct tape one is also good.

    But seriously, folks, as logical as it may seem, there are no published clinical studies showing improvement in acne by not touching or rubbing your face during the course of the day. Furthermore, reputable medical sites here, here, and here don’t make this recommendation.

    7/21/06 14:06 JR

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