The hair follicles in your skin connect to sebaceous glands that produce sebum, an oily substance, to lubricate both your hair and your skin. The sebum should travel up the hair shaft and out through the pore opening in your skin, but when your skin produces too much sebum, the pore becomes blocked, resulting in whiteheads, blackheads and pimples. Visit with your doctor or dermatologist regarding decreasing the amount of sebum your body produces with vitamin A and derivatives of vitamin A, along with other vitamin A options, to help decrease your acne breakouts.

Apply topical over-the-counter vitamin A retinyl palmitate over your skin to help decrease minor sebum production of your skin. For more excessive sebum production, use a prescription retinoic acid, another form of vitamin A.

Take prescription isotretinoin, a synthetic form of vitamin A, orally for a period of four to seven months to control the sebum production of your skin. Your dermatologist may lower the dosage, giving you the ability to take the prescription for a longer period of time if your skin continues to produce excess sebum.

Take prescription tretinoin, another form of vitamin A prescribed by your dermatologist. Not only will tretinoin help decrease the amount of sebum your skin produces, it can help control the formation of new cystic acne breakouts.