FAQ #4: “Is Dr. Neal’s acne bootcamp good for models and actors who need High Definition quality skin?”

Answer: Yes. We have many models, actors, and entertainers in this practice. We have fixed up leading actors in blockbuster movies and have many clients who act on Broadway. We have many on TV series both in NY and LA, and many who model for a living in New York. (see video below)

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In the Post entitled “Vegetarians with Acne”, I discussed the basic feeling of being baffled with acne while maintaining an ultra-healthy lifestyle.

In this post, we can revisit this emotional issue and continue to illustrate how hopelessness is created from doing “Everything Right”

Lets breakdown how logic can create hopelessness for a motivated, health conscious individual:

Misconceived Premise #1: Diet is the cure for all normal acne.

Premise #2: I eat a masterful diet.
(ex: raw food, vegan, vegetarian, organic, grass fed, paleo, etc…)

Premise #3: I still have acne.

Therefore: My acne must be abnormal and untreatable.

That’s perfect logic.

(Remember that the power of logic is not based in accuracy but rather in consistency. Premise #1 is inaccurate and therefore the perfectly logical conclusion is also inacurate.

If you are making great dietary efforts and this internal thought has crossed your mind, you have just become victim to what I call “needless suffering”. A powerful breed of hopelessness that is generated from the power of logic regardless of how inaccurate the premise.

If needed, here’s some logical arguments that will get your mind back on the right track:

Premise #1: Diet restriction is well known to have failed millions of acne sufferers.

Premise #2: You are an acne sufferer.

Therefore: Diet restriction may fail for you as well.
(Do not be surprised by this common outcome)

If still hopeless, try this one…

Premise #1: All Acne is treatable. (a well known reality that has been proven in over 130 videos)

Premise #2: You still have acne.


Therefore: Your Acne is treatable.
(There is no amount of hopelessness that can refute this reality.)

Bottom Line:
Eat well. It will help your mood, your energy, and possibly your skin. Do not be surprised if you still have active acne on a perfect diet. Diet has never been and will never be the ultimate “cure” for acne.
The power of logical conclusions can create hopelessness for those who suffer from treatable conditions. This type of needless suffering hurts us all.

Here’s a video of another health conscious vegetarian who still suffered from chronic acne despite her great lifestyle.
(The high resolution may need a moment to load up)

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©2010 “Vegetarians with Acne?? (part II)” by Dr. Neal Schwartz

Frequently Asked Question:
“Hey Dr. Neal, I don’t have much acne anymore. Which kit is best for my red and dark marks?”


All red and dark marks are treatable and preventable regardless of prior failure.
Feel free to send photos and details of your situation if you need a recommendation.


Watch this video closely to see what is possible.

(the Full Screen button is in the lower right corner)





Here’s the Associated Audio Testimonial:

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©2010 “Red Marks: A Case Study” by Dr. Neal Schwartz

Here’s the timeline of this next phase of the medical project.

1) Going Virtual on August 1st: If you are in the New York area and want to meet me in person, feel free to set up a free consultation anytime before the end of July.


2) Setting up the First Affiliate Center: The Acne Practice New York Affiliate Center will be opening August 1st in my current office space and will be delivering assistance with the home version for unheard-of low prices.

3) The Second Affiliate Center: Soon after things are running smoothly in the NY affiliate office, I will be opening the next Affiliate office in Los Angeles, California.
Likely by January, while creating this new practice, I will be making myself available in person to all those on the West Coast who are still in need.

4) The Third and Beyond: After NY and LA are up and running in a very tight system that brings incredible value to those that have so desperately needed it for so long, I will be opening up the flood gates and setting up affiliate centers all over the country.
Likely in this order: Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, Houston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, Phoenix, D.C., Baltimore, San Diego, Detroit, Columbus, and the list goes on…

5) International Affiliate Centers: Once numerous US cities have been set up and the system has proven to be well organized, I will embark on setting up the first few International Affiliate Centers likely in this order: London, Toronto, Sydney, and beyond.

Mission #1 of eliminating pessimism regarding the treatable condition of acne has been accomplished. Since the presentation of the extended gallery on the home page, I have celebrated this groundbreaking victory.

Mission #2 is to give affordable local support to everyone around the world while they confidently embark on their own bootcamp journey.
This new affiliate project will help me achieve my final mission of victory for all those who still suffer all over the world.

Leave me a comment below if you are psyched about this new chapter of the project….!

-Dr. Neal

These flesh colored mini bumps can drive people crazy.

Here are some observations I have made about them over the years:

1) They are more difficult to extinguish than people originally expect.

2) Humidy often times makes them worse. I used to call them humidity bumps on myself many years ago. (I’ve experienced many variations of this relentless condition)

3) They often times fail all standard acne treatments. (i.e. don’t be baffled if you have failed everything for these bumps)

4) They are almost universally downplayed by others. (have them read the post called “control issues” if they can’t understand)

5) They are often times misdiagnosed as anything but plain old acne. When frustrated by failure, patients and doctors start creating new diagnoses for plain old stubborn conditions.

Here’s a major case study of an acne variation I like to call “Mini Bumps”
(Possibly the first and only case study of its kind. View Full Screen.)







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©2010 “Chronic Mini Bumps” by Dr. Neal Schwartz

hey Everyone,

I get a little excited whenever I have fitness breakthrough and would like to share this new one with you as it has been bringing me great rewards.


Although I can run hard and play sports on occasion, I have avoided running on consecutive days for decades because I repeatedly get knee and heel pains that cumulatively get worse over time. The problem is that weightlifting, crossfit, and my other workouts sometimes lack that sustained heart rate boost that brings hours of euphoria. I get bored easily on the bike or other machines.


If your knees, heels, shins or hips have been keeping you away from daily cardio also, try this new style on the treadmill:


Big Picture:
30 minute uphill climb at a slow pace.

Details:
-set the treadmill incline to 8.0
-set the speed to 2.5 to warm up. Increase to any comfortable slow speed. (I get to 3.5 after about 7 minutes)
-increase incline to 10 at around the half way mark (15 minutes)
-increase incline to 12, then 15 (max) every 5-10 minutes.
-keep speed slow ~3.5

as a beginner modification, you can also make the whole workout a fast uphill walk.
(This will probably be enough for those who are more susceptible to injury.)

The slow speed and high incline with give you both a sustained cardiovascular workout with minimal impact on the joints. It kind of feels like the eliptical, but much better.

I usually go for 30 minutes minimum and add extra minutes when feeling stronger.

try it…
and let me know how the sweet rewards feel.

Let me know if you are able to repeat the workout for multiple days in a row without hurting your joints.

-Dr. Neal

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©2010 “Knees Hurt On the Treadmill??” by Dr. Neal Schwartz

Although very different situations, there are a surprising number of similarities between the struggle to get healthy skin and the struggle to get a healthy body. I’m going to map out similarities and differences here with the intention of giving people some insight into their own emotional reactions when dealing with difficult challenges of life.

We’ll start with interesting similarities:

1) Emotional imbalance will eventually develop in all cases.

-sooner or later, long term obesity and chronic acne can tweak the mind of any normal human being. Once an emotional problem has set in, treatment becomes even more challenging.

2) They are both 100% treatable:

-All Obese patients can get in shape as proven by the show “The Biggest Loser”

-All Acne Patients can safely get clear as proven by the medical project, “The Acne Practice”

3) Both Obesity and Acne are Self-Vicitimizing Situations:

-Obese patients have been blaming “Glandular and Genetic Problems” for their obesity for decades.
(This notion has since been disproven by the show “The Biggest Loser”)

-Acne patients display the exact same type of self-victimization using “Hormonal Imbalances or Bad Genetics”
(This notion has since been disproven by “The Acne Practice”)

4) Western Medicine often fails them both:

-5 minutes with the doctor is often not enough to “cure” obesity.
-5 minutes with the doctor is often not enough to “cure” chronic resistant acne

5) Eastern Medicine often fails them both also.

-An enthusiastic caring practitioner seen once a week or once a month is sometimes not enough. These two conditions can be very stubborn.

6) The Situation is Underestimated

-Frustration develops when obese patients can’t get victory. This frustration is generated from an expectation that it “should” happen from whatever efforts they are making.

-Frustration develops in acne patients when a 20 dollar bottle of cream does not transform their entire life. Acne patients are notorious for underestimating the difficulty of their situation. (large companies have been catering to this magical thinking for decades)

7) Both utilize a losing mentality to protect themselves from more heartache and pain:

-When beat down many times by failure despite great efforts, both obese patients and acne patients can become apathetic or defeated. When this emotional phenomenon takes hold, it takes an enormous amount of energy to wake them up to the reality that these situations are always treatable. (and thus the need for the show “The Biggest Loser” and the 120 videos in “The Acne Practice”)

These similarities can make obesity, acne, and all other treatable chronic conditions behave like the same chronic condition.
The emotional reactions are rooted in both Control Issues and The Agony of Defeat.






However, despite the similar heartache and reactions, acne and obesity have many differences that should be illustrated here as well.

1) Hands Down, Chronic Acne is trickier.

From Richard Simmons to that Tae Bo guy, there have been successful practitioners of fitness that have proven over and over again that anyone who really wants it can get fit.
However, until this recent project started in 2007, there has never been an acne expert who could really prove all forms of acne are safely treatable.
Poorly backed up claims and imaginative theories have ruled this field mainly due to the difficulty of getting solid results without taking chemotherapeutic levels of medications.
For this reason alone, Acne has proven to be the tougher condition to beat.

2) Motivation:

While there are still many motivated obese patients temporarily losing the battle of fitness at this time, the motivation of a chronic acne sufferer is often times more comparable to that of an olympic athlete. Acne suffers will often do anything to get clear including extremes of nutritional restriction, application of topicals, avoidance of aggravating situations, and spending every hard earned cent they gather. When referring to the ultra-motivated group of patients, Acne sufferers are very different from obese patients.

3) Cost:

-While fitness may require great personal training and coaching for some people, no group of suffering souls has collectively spent more money on themselves than the acne patients. On numerous occasions, I’ve had patients tell me they have already spent over 20 thousand dollars unsuccessfully trying to fix their skin.




Bottom Line:
While Obesity and Acne have remarkable emotional and self-vicitmizing similarities, Acne has proven to be a much trickier situation to conquer.
Fortunately, due to shows like “The Biggest Loser” and “The Acne Practice”, we all now know that both situations are treatable in 100% of cases.
There are no exceptions to this rule and no amount of self-vicitmization or hopelessness will ever refute what these two projects have already proven.

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©2010 “Acne vs. Obesity: A study of our humanity” by Dr. Neal Schwartz

Part 2

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©2010 “Severe Acne: A Case Study” by Dr. Neal Schwartz

In the search for skin satisfaction, 3-dimensional scars always bring fear and depression to acne sufferers. For decades, these scars were referred to as “permanent”


I made this video specifically to give hope to those who are worried about their scars and want to introduce to you another term created by The Acne Practice.
I call them “Semi-Permanent Scars”


What’s amazing about these photos is that this patient has only finished the typical Acne Bootcamp program. He did not have any real scar treatments, lasers, plastic surgery, needling, or injections.
This result occurred in only a few months. I will ask him to return one day to show us further healing without any procedures.

What I have learned, only through clinical practice, is that 3-D scarring often resolves or significantly softens with time only after the skin is “Completely Inactivated”

To give realistic hope to anyone, I want to share with you what I have observed for years.


(The Full Screen button is in the lower right corner)





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©2010 “Hope For 3-D Scars Without Invasive Procedures” by Dr. Neal Schwartz

In order to preserve the minds of the many continuing sufferers, I want to do another pro and con list specifically regarding Board Certified Dermatologists. I will make a new blog category today organizing these pro and con lists to help people get their heads around what is going on in the world of acne treatment. My intention with these lists is to prevent patients from being baffled by what is going on in the offices they choose. I want everyone to understand the reality of the medical world we live in and work wisely from within the confines of this reality.

Pros of seeing a Board Certified Dermatologist:

1) They are legally and ethically held accountable:
This aspect immediately makes going to see a real doctor completely different than taking irresponsible advice on a blog site. Doctors have an accountability that is monitored by the state government, their specialty associations, and their peers. They are held to a high standard of “First doing no harm”
For this reason, seeing a real doctor is a relatively safer move.


2) Powerful Remedy Options: A good dermatologist has the ability to quickly blast old bumps with injections, lasers, aestheticians, antibiotics, and creams. With this extended arsenal, a dermatologist is the best place to go if you have one large rogue bump that needs to be fixed fast.


3) Credentials: There is no doubt that your dermatologists is more knowledgeable regarding the anatomy, physiology, statistics, and science of skin than any other practitioner you will ever run across. The amount of hours, meetings, competitive testing, and speaking on the topic is far more extensive than any patient can ever imagine.
For this reason, doctors who have been in practice for many years are true experts in the field, having spent tens of thousands of hours at their craft.


4) Some really do care: Although they get a bad rap, some dermatologists are still very passionate about helping acne sufferers. It may take a few tries before you find one you can connect with on an emotional level.




Let’s look at the other side to break down why so many patients are losing their minds in this system.




——————————->

Cons of seeing a Board Certified Dermatologist:


1) Too Little Time: This is the biggest problem with the system at this time. There is a shortage of dermatologists in many towns. Ask yourself this question, ” why does my dermatologist’s daughter look amazing and my skin is falling apart”
Part of the answer to this question is time. A five minute consult every few months for an emotionally ravaging condition is not cutting it, and this lack of attention is being illustrated by the massive global acne failure rate.


2) Overconfidence in Acne Treatments: I believe dermatologists need to stop running into an acne patient’s room with a big smile and prescription pad that is thought to be magical. Whether this is being done on purpose as a placebo, or cluelessly regarding the current failure rate, it needs to stop as it is causing further emotional trauma for patients. The appropriate attitude confronting acne should be similar to the way a doctor approaches a treatable cancer. Very focused, detailed, and without the distraction of heightened emotions. (for example: you don’t get giddy when starting cancer chemotherapy)
(Doctors out there, please take note)


3) “In the Box” Despite their vast knowledge of other people’s experimentation, many doctors are very slow to adapt or bend what they believe to be “facts of medicine”. I teach both doctors and patients that in the artistry of practicing medicine, there are no hard facts. With a heavy science background sometimes comes a lack of artistry, creativity, improvisation, and seeing of new possibilities. (I know this from not only seeing a dozen dermatologists for my own skin, but remember that my dad is an old school internist and my mother is a holistically minded acupuncturist)
In addition, I witness this lack of artistry at every doctor’s meeting I attend.


Here’s an example of how an “in the box” practitioner can create mistaken hopelessness for a patient.


Frequently Asked Question: Can you fix cystic acne with topical products? My dermatologist said it is “impossible” and accutane is the only treatment that will work for me?


Here is my response to this common question that is obviously causing horrible pain around the world. If Accutane is the “ONLY” answer to cystic acne, what happens when multiple rounds of Accutane Fails???!!!! Should we send these Post-Accutane cystic acne patients to a leper colony???!!


ANY practitioner who ever says that any “ONE” treatment is the “ONLY” cure is completely “in the box”. This type of novice thinking is as uninformed, lazy, and unartistic as a practitioner could ever behave. It is completely disregarding the reality that all current treatments were at one time in the past created by other innovators.


Do they think all further innovation has ceased since the discovery of Accutane in 1982??!!


I’m usually saying “wake up patients!” in regards to doom and gloom, but in this example for the record, “Wake up Doctors!”

On the home page Video Gallery, there is a whole playlist of severe “cystic” acne being completely inactivated by a topical program. If you are struggling with this concept, show your doctor the videos or have them call me anytime to learn about what is now possible in the world of acne.

4) Not In Tune With The Global Failure Rate:
More specific than the overconfident persona mentioned above, I believe many doctors are clueless to their own failure rate with acne. When a failed patient does not follow up, the doctor never learns of the massive failures they are having. If they had, a passionate dermatologists would not like this, and would quickly make changes in their practice. This lack of bad outcome communication has dermatologists mostly seeing follow ups from the patients doing well. Of course they are going to think retin A is incredible…, they do not get to witness the failure!!


Even worse, this mistaken confidence in their favorite acne treatment creates false blame on a failing patient for not being compliant.

For the record, so there is no confusion:
Millions of perfectly compliant patients have failed prescription acne treatments.
(acne patients in my experience are often times the most regimented people in the world)

Bottom Line: While a Board Certified Dermatologist is still one of the best options to get started on your acne treatment, do not be surprised or baffled if you reach a dead end with their ability to adapt, create, or see possibilities for any case.
Also, learn to efficiently extract as much as you can from a 5 minute interaction because that is really all the time you may have. If done without distraction, 5 minutes has been enough to help many other prior sufferers.

And Finally, a special tip from me to you…

“Remember that dermatologists are often times overworked, well-intended human beings. If you show them love and compassion for their vigorous efforts, you may be surprised at how much special attention you get in return”






©2010 “Pros and Cons: Board Certified Dermatologists” by Dr. Neal Schwartz


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