Acne Controls for Healthy Skin
Talking about acne controls.... The best way to eliminate a problem is to prevent it. This is true for acne as well as anything. In order to control acne, you must first understand where acne comes from.
Acne is caused by a bacterium, Propionibacterium acnes, that lives in your skin.
Normally, this bacterium is harmless. But in certain cases, when it suddenly has optimal growing conditions, this bacterium starts to multiply, living in your oil glands and creating pimples and blackheads.
You cannot get rid of this bacterium completely, but I believe you can do two things:
- eliminate those optimal growing conditions,
- and minimize the amount of bacteria on your skin.
Believe me, the first part is not as easy to do for most people. It took me 20 years to figure out that there are a combination of things that create an environment for acne bacterium. So in a nutshell, here are the major factors and what you can do.
Set the Foundation for Healthy Skin: Start with Good Life Habits.
Maintain a healthy body, exercise, sleep, and properly clean your skin. These are the cornerstones of my own daily regimen.
Diet, for me, is the first step.
Focus on the USDA's new food pyramid, especially by adding healthy fruits and vegetables and eliminating fats and salts.
Read here to find a step by step acne solution guaranteed to cure your acne from the inside out.
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A note on fatty, sugary snack foods like Twinkies and chips: recent studies have shown that the carbs in these foods are very easily converted to fats that migrate right to your skin. Result: oilier skin. Eat less of these foods, for better acne control.
Cleansing your system is equally important.
I flush impurities out of my system by drinking rooibos tea daily, a non-cafeinated tea with 50 times more antioxidants than the regular green tea. Other ways you can detoxify your system include eating apples or drinking lemon juice.
Learn how to wash your face properly.
Never scrub, and never use plain soap. Instead, wash your face with very warm water to open pores, use lots of water to flush out those pores, and use a mild cleanser; rinse well and pat dry. Do this twice a day, and you should start seeing an improvement.
Never scrub your face; when you use an exfoliant (no more than once per week), apply only with your middle two fingers and massage, don't grind, with a gentle circular motion.
Never pick at your face or even touch it more than you must; any messing with your face could spread the bacterial infection.
After washing, you can treat your face with something containing either salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide.
Both these treatments are antibacterial and will help calm down the bacteria on your skin.
On top of this acne treatment, apply a moisturizer and/or sunscreen to seal it in, and on top of this you may apply makeup if you wish. Makeup should be hypoallergenic, noncomedogenic, and also include some sunscreen for protection.
If you have oily skin that makes your acne worse, look for specific treatment for oily skin and acne.
If you do all this and you still have a problem with acne, it may be time to consider oral treatments: Retin-A and oral antibiotics. Your doctor will be able to prescribe an appropriate treatment for you. However, if you take either of these, you will definitely have to wear sunscreen and avoid the sun; both make your skin much more sensitive to sun damage.
Have Occasional Breakouts?
4 Key Acne Controls for Healthy Skin
If instead you simply have a problem with occasional breakouts, there are other home treatments for them.
To eliminate a sudden zit, use white toothpaste; apply just before you go to bed and after you wash, then don't wash it off until morning. If you have one appear first thing in the morning, soak it with hydrogen peroxide and then apply a clear triple-antibiotic instead.
No one can truthfully promise you perfect acne control. But you can work to control your own acne now and in the future.
