The main cause of acne is an underlying hormone imbalance, which explains why it is suffered predominantly by teenagers, and usually clears up once they enter their 20s. Always seem to get acne more than girls but women are more likely to have longer lasting acne as a more prone to hormone imbalance in adulthood. Although hormone imbalance is the primary cause of acne treatments concentrate on preventing the buildup of oil which clogs the pores and allows the bacteria that causes acne to flourish. One popular treatment that has been proposed is to use neem oil to treat acne. Can neem oil cure acne? We first need to understand what causes acne and how neem oil could have a role in a cure.

There are still many things that are not fully understood about the causes of acne including why some teenagers develop very severe acne and if food plays any role. Some things we do know for sure is that acne results from overproduction of oil on the skin which clogs up the pores and attracts dust which allows bacteria to thrive. The oil buildup causes redness and irritation and allows bacteria to rapidly multiply. This can sometimes lead to cysts becoming infected and scarring.

Overall then the primary means of controlling acne are to prevent the buildup of oil and kill the bacteria that is causing the problem. There are many treatments for acne including topical antibiotics and benzoyl peroxide both of which kill the bacteria. Recently a lot of attention is being given to extracts of oil from the Neem tree as this has anti-microbial properties. As well as being able to kill the bacteria it can reduce tenderness, swelling and redness on the skin. One of the acting ingredients in Neem oil is similar to salicylic acid, better known as aspirin.

Neem Soap

You can purchase neem soap that has different ingredients including neem oil, leaf powder or leaf extract. Some soaps on sale are very harsh and barely have any neem extract in them, so you cannot just go out and buy any neem soap and expect it to cure your acne. You need to find a good qualities soap that uses neem oil as the base, preferably with some leaf extract included. To date there have been no scientific studies on the effectiveness of neem soap on acne and as soaps that you can buy containing neem can be very varied it is difficult to come to any conclusions about its effectiveness. It could however be useful as a supplement to a good skin care routine.

Neem Capsules

The claim for neem capsules is that they clean the blood and that this will help to cure acne. Neem capsules contain neem leaf which has a long history in traditional medicine as a blood cleanser. Some research has shown that positive effects from ingesting neem can be due to its action on the liver but very little research has been done in this area. However although a healthy liver is essential for a healthy body and skin, acne is not caused by an unhealthy liver! Acne is also not caused by any type of blood impurity that can be cured by taking neem capsules internally. because of this we do not recommend taking neem capsules as a cure for acne.

Conclusion

Present research does not support the belief that taking neem capsules internally has any effect on acne. The use of neem soap is also unproven but it may be beneficial to use a good quality neem soap in addition to other skin care preparations to control your acne.