5 Tips on Getting Rid of Acne

Not everyone is unlucky enough to suffer from acne at some point in their life, but the fact is most of us do have to deal with bad skin from time to time, but the important thing to remember is that acne can be treated as long, so do not lose heart. There are lots of different acne treatments out there. Some are simple lifestyle changes to boost your overall health, whereas others require a bit more time and effort, but with the right approach, acne need not ruin your teenage years or even your adult ones—so read on for five useful tips on getting rid of acne.

Tip #1 – Give your lifestyle an overhaul

Lots of us can admit to eating too much junk food and not getting enough exercise, but if you are suffering from acne and your skin is a mess, the time has come to start looking at making some positive lifestyle changes. Eating healthily and exercising regularly will not miraculously cure your acne, but it will improve your overall health, and a healthy body and immune system give your skin a fighting chance to recover from acne.

Aim to eat a better diet and cut out the junk food and excess alcohol. Too much fat and sugary food is proven to irritate the sebum glands in the skin, which is a major cause of acne. Once you start eating more fresh fruit and vegetables, you should notice a difference in your complexion. Concentrate on snacking on healthy foods full of vitamins and minerals instead of laying waste to a bag of donuts at coffee time. Your skin will thank you for your self restraint.

Tip #2 – Go natural in your skin care routine

Harsh cleansers and skin care products containing chemicals and addictives are not always good for acne prone skin. Many of them strip the skin of its natural oils, which only causes the sebum glands to over compensate by producing even more oil. This becomes a vicious circle and the more you cleanse the skin the more spots you get. So rather than use harsh skin cleaners, try using skincare products made from natural ingredients instead.

Natural skincare products are a lot kinder to the skin. They do not contain strong chemicals and are less likely to cause further irritation on skin already stressed and inflamed from the acne. Skin products containing natural ingredients such as tea tree oil can help treat the bacterial infection and settle the inflammation down, while store cupboard staples such as honey and oatmeal can deep cleanse the pores and remove blackheads.

It is worth experimenting with natural ingredients and making your own face masks using citrus and antibacterial tea tree oil. See what works for you and have fun at the same time—natural products are safe to use and very effective for mild to moderate cases of acne, so give it a go.

Tip #3 – Probiotics

If your doctor has prescribed antibiotics to help treat your acne, it is a good idea to add probiotics to your diet. Antibiotics are not terribly discriminating and kill all bacteria in the body, including the good bacteria that populate the digestive system. So although antibiotics are very helpful at controlling the skin infections that cause acne, they play havoc with your gut and in the long term can make your acne worse.

Good bacteria in the gut help the body to effectively process waste and remove the toxins. When the delicate balance of flora in the digestive system is disturbed, the body is unable to get rid of toxic waste products and it all accumulates, eventually oozing out through the skin instead, causing acne to worsen.

Taking a probiotic supplement can help to restore the natural levels of good bacteria in your system. Alternatively, try eating probiotic foods such as natural live yoghurts. These are a tasty way of ensuring your good bacteria stay nice and healthy, even if you need to take a long term course of antibiotics.

Tip #4 – Do not stress about things!

Keep an eye on your stress levels if you want to keep your acne under control. It is easy to stress out about acne, but stress is incredibly bad for your health. Stress can cause all kinds of long term health problems (including making your acne worse) and many cases of adult acne are triggered by stress.

Once you recognize that stress is affecting you, try and do something positive to keep your stress under control. If work is stressing you out, delegate some responsibilities to junior personnel or consider changing jobs. If relationships are the stress point, take a good look at where changes can be made.

Try yoga or Pilates to help manage your stress levels in a healthy way, or join the gym and start burning off some excess energy doing exercise—the harder you work, the more effectively your metabolism gets rid of waste and increases healing blood flow to the skin.

Tip #5 – Do not suffer in silence

Acne can be very depressing, no matter how old you are, but always remember, there are lots of help and resources for acne sufferers available if you ask for it. If over the counter acne treatments are not working, seek medical advice. Doctors and dermatologists have lots of treatments for acne, so there is no need to suffer in silence any longer.

5 Acne Treatment Tips You Can Use Today

Acne affects most people at one time or another. Some of us suffer from the horror of acne during our teenage years whereas some enjoy clear skin right up until their forties before the blight of acne strikes, so how can you prevent acne from occurring in the first place and what acne treatment tips are there to help you keep problem skin under control and minimize the effects of this distressing skin condition?

Tip #1 – Diet

Never underestimate the importance of eating a healthy diet. The old adage, you are what you eat, is very true when it comes to problem skin. Our skin is the window to the rest of the body and if we eat a poor diet lacking in essential nutritional building blocks, our skin tends to look grey and unhealthy. So the best way to improve the appearance of your skin is to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, plus drink lots of water to flush those toxins out from your system.

Eating a healthy diet cannot prevent the underlying causes of acne, but it can give your body’s immune system a boost, plus there are certain vitamins and nutrients that actively promote skin healing and regeneration.

Vitamin A is essential for healthy skin and helps the skin to repair and heal. Eat lots of carrots, sweet potatoes, peppers and liver for vitamin A. Vitamin B improves skin circulation and promotes healing. The B vitamins can be found in oily fish, whole grains, nuts, white meat and liver. Zinc is a well known acne treatment and many people swear by zinc supplements to help improve their acne.

Tip #2 – Exercise

As well as eating a healthy diet, it is a good idea to partake in regular exercise. You might not feel like venturing out when you have acne, but exercising the body can have a very positive effect on your mental and physical wellbeing. Vigorous exercise gets the heart pumping and the blood flowing around the body, which helps to improve circulation to the skin and remove toxins when you sweat. Regular exercise also helps to keep stress at bay, which is good for your skin and emotional happiness.

However, even though exercise is very good for you, if you suffer from acne on your back and chest, avoid tight lycra clothing as it has a tendency to trap moisture close to your skin and encourage bacterial growth. Stick to loose cotton clothing instead as it allows your skin to breathe better and always take a shower immediately after a tough exercise session to prevent any further irritation.

Tip #3 – Cosmetics

Wearing makeup will not give you acne, but it can exacerbate an existing skin problem if you are not careful. Some types of makeup contain lots of oils and grease, which tend to clog pores and make acne worse, so if you are prone to acne, consider investing in oil free make up especially designed for acne prone skin. It is also a good idea to avoid makeup containing shimmering colors as these contain a mineral ingredient called “mica” that is known to cause skin irritation and clog the pores. Make up can also contain additives such as carmine and coal tar, which can irritate sensitive skin and lead to further outbreaks of spots and blemishes.

There are lots of products on the market that are called “non-acnegenic”, which means that they are good for acne prone skin. Shop around and buy the best quality makeup you can afford. It is perfectly acceptable to want to cover up your spots when you head out the door, but try and give your skin a rest from makeup for some of the time—your skin needs time to breathe so it can heal.

Tip #4 – hygiene

Acne is not caused by a lack of personal hygiene, although a failure to wash is not going to help matters! Regular washing is important because it helps to keep the level of skin bacteria lower and reduce the possibility of infection setting in, but you must be careful not to overdo the cleaning or you run the risk of encouraging more sebum to be produced, which in turn leads to further spots and blemishes.

Gentle cleansing using an antibacterial soap is the best way to cleanse acne prone skin. Try and avoid harsh cleansers containing alcohol as these strip the natural oils from the skin and encourage the body to over compensate with too much oil, which clogs the pores and creates further acne blemishes.

Exfoliation helps to remove dead skin cells and unclog pores, but you must be very careful not to scrub away at your face and irritate the area. Only use gentle products and do not exfoliate more than twice per week. Deep cleansing face masks can help, but again, use gentle products containing natural ingredients such as tea tree oil or Dead Sea mud to promote healing and kill residual bacteria in the skin.

Tip #5 – shaving

Shaving is often impossible when you are suffering from a bad case of acne, but it can actually be very helpful for the skin if your acne is not too severe. Shaving scrapes the skin and helps to remove the dead cells and clear blocked pores. However, avoid shaving in areas that ate heavily inflamed and covered in open acne lesions as this will only spread the infection further. Either leave the hair to grow for a few days or use a depilatory cream designed for sensitive skin.

Home Acne Treatments Tips

Not everyone wants to try using prescription medications and over the counter treatments for acne, and unless you are suffering from a particularly severe case of acne, they might not be necessary. For mild to moderate cases of acne, it is worth trying some home acne treatment ideas first. Home acne remedies are often extremely effective, so before you rush out to the nearest pharmacy for some expensive acne treatments check out these home acne treatment tips.

1. Essential oils such as tea tree oil are very effective in the fight against acne thanks to their natural antiseptic properties. Natural essential oils have been used for hundreds of years to treat all kinds of skin conditions, including acne, so experiment with lavender oil, tea tree oil and rosewood oil to see which essential oils work for you. Dilute them with grapeseed oil and apply to the affected skin, leave over night and then wash off with warm water and some mild antibacterial soap in the morning.
2. Drink lots of water to flush out the toxins from your body. Most of us do not drink enough water: we prefer caffeinated drinks such as tea, coffee, and cola, and then top them up with a few glasses of wine after work. But this is not good for us and without even being aware of it, we are often dehydrated. Water is essential for healthy metabolic function and consuming enough water per day helps to keep the skin fresh and hydrated. Try and drink between six and eight glasses of water per day to detoxify your body and see how much better your skin looks as a result.
3. Stay away from the junk food! The causes of acne start inside the body, not on the surface of the skin, so take a good look at what you eat—there is bound to be plenty of cholesterol laden rubbish in there during the average week. In order to beat acne, you need to eat a healthy diet packed full of fruit and vegetables. A good diet will go a long way towards improving your skin and research has shown that teenagers with acne can enjoy a significant improvement in their skin when they swap white bread, cakes, and potatoes for brown rice, wholemeal bread and vegetables.
4. Consider taking a vitamin and mineral supplement if you are not too keen on eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Vitamins such as vitamin A, E and C are very important for a healthy immune system and skin. Zinc is also very important for healthy skin and people with acne are often deficient in this essential mineral.
5. Beware of processed foods—lots of people suffer from food allergies without even realizing it and since there is a known link between food allergies and acne, your diet choices could be making your acne worse. If you suffer from periodic breakouts, keep a food diary to see if there are any obvious links between what you eat and when you have a skin breakout—if there appears to be a definite pattern, try cutting out the offending food for a few weeks to see if it helps your skin. If it does, consider visiting an allergist to see what else you might be allergic to.
6. Make a resolution to start exercising more. Exercise is good for skin conditions such as acne: working up a sweat by pounding the pavements or doing a hard session down at the gym will get your heart beating and send blood rushing to the skin, which helps open the pores and get rid of the toxins. Exercise is also good for your mental health, so if acne is making you feel depressed, start improving your fitness levels and take advantage of nature’s natural antidepressant—endorphins!
7. Give your skincare routine an overhaul to avoid making your acne worse. When you have acne, it can be very tempting to spend hours in front of the mirror squeezing spots and picking at blackheads, but this will end up making matters worse. You need to resist the temptation to pick at your skin as you will end up spreading the bacteria and increasing the level of infection. You could also end up with permanent scars as a result of your efforts. Stay away from harsh cleansers as they strip your skin of natural oils and cause your sebum glands to go into overdrive to compensate. Instead use gentle antibacterial soap and warm water twice a day and then use a deep cleansing face mask twice per week.
8. Wearing makeup will not do your skin any harm, but stick to oil free products designed for acne prone skin. These are less likely to make blemishes and inflammation worse. Ideally have at least two days per week makeup free so your skin pores have a chance to breath and always remove your makeup thoroughly at night to ensure you do not make your skin blemishes worse.
9. Make sure you get plenty of sleep. Never underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep—after a few days of sleep deprivation, most people look pretty rough, and burning the candle at both ends is definitely not good for your skin.
10. Get some sun once a day. We need sunlight for vitamin D and a short time spent in the sun is very good for the skin, although be very careful not to overdo it as too much sun is dangerous.