Acne Control - Minor Outbreaks Can Be Treated Easily At Home
Posted on March 8, 2008
Filed Under acne, natural cures |
Unless you are one of the lucky few, you have had to deal with an acne breakout at some point in your life. For some, acne is a daily, ongoing problem. For others, who only have the occasional eruption, it can still be a painful, miserable experience.
Research has turned up several contributing factors to acne, but the specific cause is still elusive. Factors that are believed to create acne include hormones, your own genetics, toxin intake, skin care products, stress, diet and exercise patterns, and some medications. A woman’s menstrual cycle can be a cause, as is the hormonal changes that teens go through. Tight clothing, excess sweating, pollution, and skin irritants can all be factors, as well.
A moderate or severe case of acne often needs the help of a doctor, or dermatologist. However, minor outbreaks can often be treated by you at home. Commercially available products that contain benzoyl peroxide, resorcinol, salicylic acid and sulfur, are all able to treat a current outbreak in some way. Should you choose to use one of these products, watch to make sure that you aren’t irritating your skin further, and stop usage if any rashes or other signs develop.
If you are a woman who gets outbreaks with your menstrual cycle, it is often advisable to see a dermatologist, to see if what you are experiencing is normal hormonal changes. You could be suffering from something more, such as pollutants or other irritants, and to chalk it up to your cycle without knowing for certain can lead you in the wrong direction. Certain types of birth control pill can also have an effect on your skin, if you are on such medication, be sure to mention it to your doctor as a possible cause of irritations.
To help treat your acne, you should first start with prevention. Prevention can take the following forms: 1) Clean your skin regularly. Using a mild soap two to three times a day, gently clean your skin to help reduce the chance of a flare-up. Using a stronger soap may seem like it is helping, but it isn’t likely to do much better than simple bar soap, and may actually do worse, if you wind up irritating your skin.
2) Avoid touching your face, if possible. Squeezing and picking at your skin will only make the problem worse in the long run, and can lead to scars or other marks. In addition, your hands are a fantastic carrier of oils, which may contribute to your problem.
3) Avoid excess sun. Tanning your skin may give you a temporary lift in your skin condition, as tanned skin can hide the impact of an acne outbreak. But tanned skin will dry out, flake and die, and will help to clog your pores, and give you another outbreak in the future.
4) Think about your cosmetics. Choose make-up that are noncomedogenic, and ideally oil-free, to keep your pores unclogged.
If you have a severe case of acne, you are better off consulting a dermatologist. But for minor occurrences, often simple, at-home treatment is enough. And the prevention steps listed above should be considered as a part of the daily regimen in the fight against outbreaks.
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