[flimflamgirl]

To add one small thing to all the excellent and much better-informed advice others have offered, I want to mention Ayurvedic medicine. If you live in a place with any Indian people at all, there surely must be some licensed, trained Ayurvedic practitioners. I've been doing it for about a year, not for acne but for other issues, both specific and general, and I have seen dramatic improvements across the board in my physical and emotional health. Treatment consists of a combination of dietary advice specific to you and your consitution, and herbal formulations. They deal with inflammation-related problems very well, as well as hormonal issues. I want to stress that this is not meant to replace other treatment modalities like medications and topical stuff - it augments allopathic medicine quite well.

I would think that skin problems, whether acute or chronic, are related to things going on internally, both physically and emotionally, and that the right combination of holistic and allopathic treatments could really help.

I hate it when doctors say stuff like "Diet doesn't affect skin". Here's another good one: "It doesn't matter what foods you get your calories from". Umm....so that daily caloric requirement could just come from candy bars and gummy rats, and it'll be equal in health and energy to vegetables and grains? Wow! I guess I've been eating wrong all my life!

One thing I learned from Ayurveda was that our bodies are exquisitely sensitive to food and everything else we put in them, whether we are awake to it or not. And we all have different physiologies, and need different things. Good luck! Please tell us if you find that magic combination you need.

- Leela