Adolescence is hard enough without having to stress over the ravages of acne. As a parent of kids who've struggled with acne, I know that it's not only frustrating, but hurtful. At a time when they should be enjoying life and making friendships, they're having to worry about the embarrassment of constant breakouts.

You take them to the dermatologist, where they're given prescriptions for expensive drugs, and at first, you're hopeful. What the dermatologist doesn't tell you is that before things get better, they'll most likely get worse - much worse. And even after weeks or months of treatment, your skin may not only not be better - it may be worse.

With most prescription acne medications, your skin will go through a process known as "purging," which can last for weeks or months. Your skin may become dry, flaky, and raw. And if your face does clear, there's a very good chance that at some point, your skin will become resistant to the medication and begin breaking out again.

Acne occurs when your body produces excess oil, and this oil becomes trapped within your pores. Bacteria multiply in the clogged pore until your skin becomes inflamed and infected. In the worst form of acne, cystic acne, these inflamed pores become quite hard and painful, and often break through the pore wall, spreading into the surrounding tissue. If untreated, cystic acne can lead to permanent scarring.

When my daughters were going through this, I scoured the Internet for information. While some were having success with Proactive or Murad, many were not. On message board after message board, I read stories of hope followed by frustration and depression. For many of these kids, traditional medicine just wasn't working.

Then I found a thread on homeopathic remedies for acne. Some of the remedies that were mentioned were evening primrose oil, lavender oil, Vitamin D, the B vitamins (B-6 and B-12), and cutting out all dairy products. I set out on my own quest to find the answer. We tried each one of these for several weeks, hoping to see a difference, but were disappointed time after time.

Then one late night, while surfing the net looking for acne remedies, I came across some messages on a popular acne message board claiming success with apple cider vinegar. "Why not?" I thought. We had tried everything else. The consensus of opinion was that organic apple cider vinegar produced the best results, so I ran out to my local health food store and bought a bottle of Bragg's organic apple cider vinegar, and we began our experiment.

The results were promising. The acne started to clear up, slowly, but surely. Within a week, I could tell the difference, and over the next several weeks, things continued to improve. But the apple cider vinegar was hard to take. If you mixed it with water, it took forever to consume enough (the recommended dose was two teaspoons, three times per day). If you took it straight, especially in the morning, it made you want to gag. I had also read that if you took it straight for a long period of time, it could damage your throat and erode the enamel on your teeth.

So I went looking for an alternative. We had found something natural that actually worked, but the price was too high. Soon I discovered that you could buy apple cider vinegar tablets online. But would they work as well as the liquid vinegar?

After visiting various vitamin sites, I settled on Source Naturals Apple Cider Vinegar Tablets (500 mg.) and made my purchase. Several days later, they arrived UPS, and we began part two of our little experiment to beat acne. We decided on one capsule three times per day - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A week later, we were astounded. The transformation was miraculous. Not only did the apple cider vinegar tablets work to clear up my daughters' skin completely, they were inexpensive and easy to take.

Disclaimer: I don't claim that the apple cider vinegar cure will work for everyone. But after doing much reading, I know that it has worked for many. As a mother, I know the pain of watching your child suffer with acne. I have cried many a tear in the last couple of years over my daughters' struggle with it, and I feel it's important to share our story. My primary reason for writing this Hub page was to share our experience, in the hopes that others would also be cured of acne.

Postscript: Many people have read this Hub Page and have contacted me to let me know they are having success with this treatment, and they are very excited.  Although my daughters are only using the ACV tablets to treat their acne right now, some people have recommended a 1-to-1 dilution of apple cider vinegar with water applied to the face with a cotton ball as an excellent nighttime acne treatment. 

It brings already formed pimples to a head quickly and, after a week or so of use, begins to fade scars and produce a healthy glow.  Some people also recommend dipping a Q-tip in the mixture and applying it directly to pimples.