Face Your Acne

If you are prone to acne, or have acne breakouts on a regular basis, then it is important that you follow a few tips to make sure that you keep your acne at bay. Acne can be treated with over the counter acne treatments as well as prescription treatments but it is also important that you start with at home prevention.

Simple ways to avoid acne are to be gentle when you wash your face. You should use lukewarm water to wash your face, and never to use any harsh chemicals like alcohol or astringents. A mile cleanser twice a day should be all you need. If you perspire a lot such as when you work out at the gym, you should wash your face immediately after to avoid the build up of oils and sweat that can clog your pores. You should also avoid scrubbing your face which can irritate it, but you do need to rinse thoroughly after every washing.

The most important tip to remember to avoid acne is to not allow bacteria to breed on your skin. This can be done by simply keeping your hands away from your skin, and to wash your hands frequently through the day. You never want to squeeze or pick your pimples, especially with dirty hands because acne will result if there is bacteria on your hands.

For men, you want to be careful with shaving. Never use an old razor or one that has been worn down over time. You may have to experiment to find the perfect shaver, but the one that works best is the one that prevents acne breakouts. Electric shavers are great for severe acne because it doesn’t scrape the skin as much as a traditional razor.

For women, you need to avoid cosmetics that have oil in them. Although they are not a major cause of acne, you should be careful to choose makeup that has hypoallergenic qualities or use acne products that unclog your pores.

Finally the best tip to avoid acne is to stay out of the sun, or to use sun block with an SPF of 15 or higher. Although many think that sun actually helps acne, it actually increases the oil production in your glands which leads to clogged pores when you are out of the sun.

Unless you are very lucky, everyone at some point in time will get a blackhead, whitehead, or some other form of mild acne. This is typical around adolescence, but adults get mild acne from time to time as well. Although not life threatening, it can be embarrassing, especially if you have a date or a big meeting to attend. The usual treatment for mild acne that is prescribed by your dermatologist is a topical cream that is applied directly on the affected skin, but for the most part, you can find everything you need in the drugstore. Over the counter remedies is usually the most helpful treatment for mild acne, and contains many of the ingredients that you find in prescription medication.

Salicylic acid is one of those ingredients that can be used alone or along with SD Alcohol 40. This protects your skin against both blackheads and whiteheads and also works to decrease the shedding of cells around hair follicles that can cause acne. One of the Best Acne Products with Salicylic acid is the ClearPores Skin Cleansing System.

Another popular ingredient in topical creams is benzoyl peroxide. This is very effective against acne because it reduces the oil production that causes the acne. In fact, you will see this ingredient in many of the over the counter remedies because for most people this can help you clear up a case of acne very quickly.

Resorcinol, used both for acne and other skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis is given to acne sufferers in combination with other prescription treatments such as sulfur. This works well with other remedies because it helps to break down existing blackheads and whiteheads.

Sulfur, one of the oldest medications, consistently shows good results in removing mild acne. It is usually given as an exfoliation or peeling agent, and is one of the main ingredients in concealers for women.

For mild acne you may want to start in your local drugstore to see what topical treatments are available with these ingredients. You may find lotions, creams, lotions, and soaps. Just remember, you may not see a complete fix in just a few days. Many of these over the counter acne treatments involves months of use before you see substantial results. If after that time you do not see the results that you want, it is best to see a dermatologist to see if there is a prescription treatment that may be better for you.

Retinoids is one of the most common ways to treat acne. Retinoids can either be given in a topical cream or as an oral prescription. They are made from Vitamin A which is very beneficial in normalizing the amount of time that follicle cells live which is just one way of treating mild to moderate acne. You may have heard of a retinoid treatment that you can buy over the counter such as Retin-A or some that are prescribed by a doctor such as the topical cream Differin and Tazorac, or the oral retinoid Accutane.

Retinoids are also known for decreasing the oil in the glands which makes it so successful at treating acne. It does take about 4 to 6 months to decrease the oil completely but during this time you will see a noticeable difference in the way that the hair follicles clog up and turn into pimples. In most cases, by the end of the six months the acne will be gone for good. Some however do require additional acne treatment later on down the road.

The one downfall to retinoids is the side effects. With one treatment you may not see as many side effects, but if you do need another treatment a few months must pass in between to give the body a chance to recover fully. With either both one and two treatments the most common side effects are nose bleeds and dry skin. Some patients have reported having liver problems while others had bouts of depression. In pregnant patients, there have been reports of birth defects on the unborn child, which is why now dermatologists do not treat females unless they are on strict birth control. Pregnant women are absolutely not allowed to take any kind of retinoids at all.

Even with the chance of side effects, people are still willing to take retinoids because of the effectiveness it has on acne. Whether you use topical cream or an oral prescription is up to you, but your dermatologist may recommend one or the other based on the severity of your acne. There are pros and cons, but only you can decide if this particular acne treatment is right for you.

No matter what age or gender you are, acne can be difficult to deal with even under the best of circumstances. There is the embarrassment factor, as well as being self conscious based on the severity of your acne. However, if you start off with the right kind of acne treatment from the beginning of acne then you have a much better chance of avoiding the embarrassing breakouts that often occur if the acne is not handled the right way.

Choosing between all of the acne treatments can be confusing because there are just so many on the market. That is why it is up to you and your dermatologist to go through each treatment and figure out what kind of ingredients it has as well as how effective it is with treating your type of acne. There are different treatments based on mild, moderate, and severe acne, so you need to search for the kinds that will be most successful for you.

Acne treatments are available in either oral or topical forms that can be found over the counter as well as through prescriptions. Oral treatments help with acne from the inside out, whereas topical creams are mostly for mild to moderate cases and can treat just the blemishes themselves or they can prevent future outbreaks from occurring. Depending on the severity of your acne you may want to try both separately or a combination to help prevent acne as well as deal with the acne you currently have.

Choosing the right treatment also entails knowing how long each takes to work. Some creams and topical lotions take a few months to a year to work, whereas prescriptions take a shorter period of time. You also have to be aware that you may be taking this acne treatment for an extended period of time to stop future outbreaks, so it is best that you find your treatment both convenient and effective.

Finally, when looking at all the acne treatments available, keep in mind that they all come in chemical and natural form in case you have a preference. Although natural acne treatments take longer to work, they are usually gentler on the face then the chemical treatments. Make sure to check all side effects on the remedies that you choose so that you know what you are dealing with.