Sunday, October 27, 2013

How to get rid of Acne

By Irene McDonald


As a sufferer of acne from my early teens, I can greatly empathise with people who has to deal with this regrettable skin condition. One of my memories relating to having acne was as a 15 year old working at my first job as a 'check out chick' at a supermarket. I was serving a mother and her young daughter asked me "what is wrong with your face?" Of course I was utterly embarrassed. Whilst it was of some comfort that the mother apologized profusely for her daughter's question, it didn't hide the fact that my acne was completely visible and entirely obvious.

My acne treatment journey took me to the extreme point of being on Roactaine not once, but twice, going on the contraceptive pill, altering my diet and trying every known acne product known. So I can understand the frustration and embarrassment people feel with this condition.

Quite a few years on now, I no longer have acne as a issue, but I do have some acne scars (although this could have been more pronounced) and I do still get zits. Presently, I work for an Australian Natural Skin Care company. I would like to share with you some general skin care tips I've picked up while working in the industry to help with your acne treatment.

For young, oily, acne prone skin I would recommend the follow regime:

1. Use a face wash with lactic and glycolic acids (AHAs) twice a day. Lactic and Glycolic Acids help to remove dead skin cells that can block pores.

2. Exfoliate two to three times a week to clear clogged pores which develop acne

3. Use a forumulated blemish gel morning and night to fight bacteria causing pimples and to decrease redness

4. Shop for an oil free moisturiser to use morning and night. Oil free creams are good for oily to combination skin. It is necessary to moisturise to keep skin hydrated (hydration is still needed for oily skin as it is water based, not additional oil)

5. Shop for a MSM Cream to also use to reduce soreness and inflammation related to cystic pimples.

For acne prone skin it is best to avoid cleansing your face with soaps or cleansers which are quite drying to the skin. Unfortunately these can cause the reverse effect, where taking away too much oil from the skin causes the skin produce even more oil to counterbalance, causing blocking pores and creating more blemishes. Some very well recognized acne treatment products do precisely this.

For really oily skin, it is better to use moisturisers without any oil included in them. Adding more oil to the skin can further block pores.

It is really important to exfoliate or use a mask one to two times a week to clear your pores. As blemishes are basically clogged up pores, this will help prevent pimples from forming.

Especially for women close to 'that time of the month' it is a good idea to apply a blemish gel morning and night to prevent zits. A quality blemish gel will feature an anti-bacterial formula to clear out zit causing bacteria and vitamins A, B3 and B5 which are well recognized in treating existing acne.

Usually it is well-advised to avoid squeezing zits, but its kind of like telling someone with chicken pox not to scratch. If you must do so, one suggestion would be dissolving some salt in a bowl of warm water. Wet a cotton pad in the bowl, squeeze out excess water and hold it over the pimple for three mins. Repeat again after wetting the cotton ball for another minute. Then use two cotton ear buds to put pressure on the outside of the pimple, but not squeezing it together. Hopefully this will give relief with as little damage to the skin as possible.

Finally, I would suggest consulting with your doctor. Sometimes acne can result from an underlying cause or hormonal problem. Whilst the right quality skin care products will help, until you deal with the root of the problem, it will not permanently stop your acne.




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