Acne Treatment Review Blog

In an earlier post, we listed three popular myths surrounding acne. Well, there are more myths out there. Here are three more popular acne myths that might surprise you.

#4 – If you pop acne, it will go away. As tempted as you might be to squeeze those little bumps, don’t do it! For one, popping acne can actually make the bumps stay around longer. This is because pressing on acne can push the bacteria that cause it further back into your skin, leading to more redness. There’s also the risk of creating an acne scar when you pop your acne. Some of the marks created by pressing and popping acne can last for months, and some acne scars may actually be permanent.

#5 – Not wearing makeup means you’ll never have acne. This one is partially true. Some makeup can clog up your pores and cause more acne, but if you use nonacnegenic or noncomedogenic makeup, you’ll be fine. There are actually some types of concealer that are made with benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid, two chemicals that can help fight acne. Much like the way chocolate affects people differently, some types of makeup can cause acne breakouts on some people and not on others. If you notice this, you may want to try different types of makeup and consult with your dermatologist to determine exactly what type of makeup might be best for you.

#6 – If you continue to have acne, keep using more acne medication. While you might think that more medication is the solution, it’s really not. If you keep using over the counter medication and still have major acne breakouts, you may need something more serious. You should consult a doctor or dermatologist to see if there’s a more powerful medication you should use. In fact, if you over-use over the counter acne medication, you can dry out your skin.

You’ve probably heard many different “common knowledge” things about acne, but did you know that some of them are myths? In fact, many of the “facts” about acne are not actually true at all! Here are three myths about acne that you may not have realized weren’t true.

#1 – Eating a lot of chocolate can cause acne. Many people believe this, but research has shown that there really is no link between chocolate and other sugary foods and acne. However, there is a bit of truth to this myth. Different foods affect people differently, and some may actually break out or experience worse acne after eating chocolate. For others, this may occur after drinking a lot of caffeine. It all depends on the person.

#2 – Tanning is one way to clear away acne. Again, this is also false. While tanning might temporarily hide acne, it won’t make it disappear. In fact, it actually dries out the skin. This can cause more acne, not less! Too much sun can also make your skin look older and can even lead to skin cancer. If you do decide to tan, make certain you wear sunscreen that is nonacnegenic or noncomedogenic. Unlike other sunscreens, these types do not contain ingredients that clog pores (another cause of acne).

#3 – Washing your face over and over will cut down on the amount of acne you have. This myth is, despite what you might logically think, false as well. If you wash your face a few times during the day, you can remove oils and dirt that may clog your pores and lead to more acne. However, if you wash your face too much (more than three or four times a day), you risk drying out your face and irritating your skin. Don’t scrub your face, either. Instead, use mild soap and gently wash your face in a circular motion. This will help remove dead skin and keep your pores clean.

Eating a light breakfast is a surefire means of controlling and preventing acne. This is because light breakfasts let the body work at detoxification instead of digesting heavy food. The increased detoxification of the skin leads to a reduced occurrence of acne and hence, a better complexion.

In addition to a light breakfast, it is advisable to avoid eating oily foods after 7pm. The body finds it difficult to digest heavy food efficiently, which in turn leads to toxins remaining in the body and this contributes to an acne outburst.

Moreover, by eating heavy food at night, you wake up feeling tired as your body has to spend lots of energy digesting the heavy food throughout the night. This is why it is advisable to avoid eating heavy food after 7pm. Eat snacks like fruits and vegetables or a few nuts instead.

Besides cutting down on the food you eat after 7pm, it is important that you eat moderate meals. Make it a habit to stop eating once you feel 70% full; this way you feel better and more energized, while your acne problem comes under control. Too much food places stress on the digestive system as more time is required to digest the food. This in turn gives bacteria more time to trigger acne attacks.

While talking about food, it is better to always eat food cooked using fresh and organic ingredients. This food is much better than the chemically grown vegetables that could be full of pesticides, etc.

Also avoid canned and frozen vegetables which lose most of their micro-nutrients that help in digestion. Without the right digestion, you end up with more toxins in your body and this can also lead to acne attacks. Following these tips for the right diet and maintaining good hygiene by washing your face twice or thrice a day helps in controlling your acne problem.

Acne is a chronic problem that is better prevented than cured. Basically, making some lifestyle changes is what is necessary to control acne and with stress being a major acne trigger, you have to work at reducing stress levels.

Under stress, the body tends to produce hormonal steroids like cortisol, which targets the skin and results in acne flare-ups. To control stress, you have to learn to recognize your body stress levels and make it a habit to cleanse your face thoroughly in such situations.

Increase the frequency of your daily skin care regimen to control the skins response to stress. Once this stressful bout passes, you have to return to your normal day to day skin care regimen, as the incidence of acne reduces without stress.

In addition to stress, both caffeinated and de-caffeinated coffee stimulates cortisol production. This means that coffee could promote acne so its consumption has to be limited. Instead, switch to healthier beverages such as green or white tea.

In some people, milk and dairy products can induce an acne attack. This is because milk has some hormones that tend to induce acne infections. This type of acne is predominant in the chin and jaw line.

People suffering from such a tendency should avoid consuming dairy products and try out acne products that work at reducing the amount of dyhydrotestosterone and sebum in the skin.

It has been found out that acne has a genetic tendency; so acne problems can run in the family. If your parents or uncles suffer from acne and you also have acne problems, your acne problem may be a hereditary one. In such cases, it is better to find out what they had done to control and cure their acne problem. The same treatment and cure will most likely be effective in controlling your acne problem too.

Acne is a problem that affects most teenagers and some adults too. There are many reasons for an acne attack, where the most common ones are attributed to hormonal changes in the body, stress, wrong food diet and pollution.

Though there are many creams and treatment options for treating acne, it is always better to work at preventing acne instead of treating it. This is why you should try to make some changes in your diet to prevent an attack.

Eating a light breakfast helps prevent acne. This is because throughout the night, you body works at detoxifying itself, until such a time you eat something in the morning. This is when the body stops detoxifying the body and starts digesting the food instead.

Eating a heavy breakfast puts too much of stress on the digestion system; so instead of skipping breakfast, it is suggested that you eat a light one consisting mainly of fruits or smoothies. Even ripe fruits are great as they are easily digested and thus help the body in continuing in its detoxification process.

It would be good if you could only eat fruits until noon, as this gives the body an additional 3-4 hours to detoxify, repair and maintain itself. Going through this procedure everyday will give an extra day of detoxification in a week, and this works wonders on your skin and your acne problem.

Not only does this light breakfast give you a smoother skin with low incidence of acne outbursts, you find that you have much more energy. This is mainly because the body can concentrate no working fro you, and not on digesting the fatty breakfast you had just eaten.

Women are known to have a higher tendency towards acne attacks as their menstrual cycle has a relationship with acne. With the body increasing the production of hormones, the production of sebum is also stimulated. This in turn leads to other chemical reactions in the body that lead to an acne attack.

To prevent an acne attack during periods, it is better to increase the daily skin care regimen three to seven days before the menstrual cycle begins and return to the normal regimen at the end of the period. Using a Green Tea poultice twice a day is also effective in controlling acne.

Besides the menstrual cycle leading to acne problems, oral contraceptives can also act as triggers. If this is the case, it is better to talk with a physician on using a low-progestin contraceptive or something similar as such contraceptives tend to reduce the formation of acne. Even oral contraceptives with ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel are beneficial in controlling moderate cases of acne.

In some people, acne may start from the hairline to the forehead. This form of acne is usually caused by the liberation of sebum and free fatty acids in the scalp which may pass on to the forehead. The best cure for such cases of acne is frequent shampooing using a shampoo that is specially formulated for use on oily hair.

These shampoos help in reducing the production of fatty acids and sebum in the scalp, which in turn reduce the occurrence of acne. Women under hormone supplementation program may also suffer from acne problems.

This is because of the dosage of the hormone supplements, which can be rectified by talking with the physician for means on reducing the dosage and thus, the occurrence of acne. Besides hormonal factors, it has been found that the production of sebum is greatest in the afternoon between one and two oclock, and the minimum in midnight.

Taking this into consideration, it is better to perform a thorough skin care regimen in the late afternoon or early evening to control acne problem. With all these tips in mind, it is possible to control the frequency and severity of your acne problem.