Say Goodbye to Acne

Before you can decide on the best acne treatments you need to understand what acne is. The pores of your skin are openings to canals called follicles, each of which has a strand of hair and an oil gland.

The oil glands help to lubricate the skin and the removal of old skin cells. Production of excess oil by the glands leads to blockage of the pores, which is turn collect bacteria and dirt. Acne is caused when the pores of the skin get clogged.  The blockage is known as a plug. The best acne treatments work on clearing these blockages.

Symptoms of Acne

The plug or the blockage has a head which can be a blackhead or whitehead. When those rupture they allow the material inside, which includes oil and bacteria, to spread around the surrounding area, causing inflammations. When the inflammations are deep the pimples become enlarged and form angry, painful cysts. The best acne treatments aim to cure the cause and eliminate the symptoms.

Who is prone?

Teenagers are more prone to acne since they are at the age when they experience hormonal changes which in turn stimulate the production of oil by the glands. This is not to say that adults do not get blemishes and pimples. However, 75% of teenagers are affected by outbreaks at some stage, to some extent and look for the best solutions. The depression and anxiety that result from the onset of acne can be difficult to handle and hence acne treatment is imperative at an early stage.

Other causes

It is often genetic Hormonal changes brought on by stress, menstruation, pregnancy or birth control pills Excessive sweating caused by high humidity Drugs such as testosterone, estrogen or steroids Hair products or cosmetics that are greasy or oily

Acne treatment

The best acne treatments always recommend thorough cleansing of the skin to begin with. This needs to be followed by a topical treatment such as the application of an acne face toner to deep clean and tone the skin. An anti acne mask can remove toxins from the skin and helps to regulate the production of oil in the skin.

Additionally, treatment should be consistent and followed for at least six to eight weeks to ensure that they have long-term benefits. This will result in the prevention of new lesions being formed and aid in the removal of acne scars.

By: Tim Faber

About the Author:

Solve your acne & skincare problems at http://www.acnepimplezits.com

In this day and age, there exists a wide variety of acne treatments from prescription medication to facial cleansers. Pharmaceutical giants try their very best to cater to individual needs both to present a cure to the masses and also to make as much profit as they possibly can. There also exist alternative acne treatments that are lighter on your pockets. With the myriad of acne treatments available, there should be no reason why anyone should be suffering from acne breakouts.

The acne treatment market provides a multitude of products that targets different kinds of acne breakouts. It is quite important to know what kind of acne breakout you are suffering from so that the proper treatment can be applied. A good skin doctor could assess your acne condition and provide you with suitable treatment if your acnes are really bad. Normal acne breakouts can be treated with over the counter medications.

Acne normally occurs due to the oil being secreted by your skin for protection. This oil can get stuck in your pores and cause acnes. Therefore, most people would just need to take care of their skin hygiene to prevent acne from occurring. Washing your face a few times daily is normally enough to prevent acne breakouts. Using a mild soap will rid the facial skin of excess oil and thus reduce the chances of blocked pores that cause acne. Take care not to overly wash your face as this can lead to dryness of the skin. In response to drying skin, the body usually reacts by secreting more oil to maintain moistness.

There also many good over the counter products that is effective acne treatment agents. A product that works well for one person may not work so well for another so getting a product that will suit you can a bit of trial and error. Give a bit of time per product trial though before gauging the outcome and running out to get a different product. Even if you do find a good product that does well for you, be patient with the treatment cycle because if you overuse that product, it might end up aggravating your skin and lead to more acne!

Getting the right treatment for acne is of huge importance, and it is also important to understand that not one treatment is going to be the right treatment for everybody. Because of this it then becomes confusing when trying to find out what is the best course of action to treat your acne with, because we are bombarded with sales messages from pharmaceutical companies, and well meaning (but still sales) advice from holistic companies, so what we want to do here today is try and explain some of the common information you will find, which will hopefully help you decide the correct treatment for acne for you. First of all lets briefly cover what causes acne outbreaks the majority of the time.

Your body naturally creates an oil called Sebum. Sebum is very important for your skin as it is needed to protect and waterproof it and this in turn prevents your skin from becoming dry, brittle and cracked. Unfortunately though, if for whatever reason your body produces too much sebum, and this excess oil then combines with any dead skin cells that are naturally found on our body, this then causes the pores to clog up and in turn you have a resulting acne breakouts.

The first thing that you can try and do is more prevention rather than cure. By that I mean trying to regulate the amount of sebum your body is creating by watching what you eat and drink. In a nutshell to do this you want to try and eat your five portions of fruit and veg a day, whilst cutting back on processed or fast food. Also make sure you drink plenty of water, at least eight large glasses per day and cut back on fizzy drinks and caffeine. This will help to clear your skin and keep on flushing out toxins. The beauty of following this advice is that not only will it help control your acne but as a side benefit you will actually be healthier and you will feel that in your everyday life too.

However, if you already have an acne outbreak as well as diet there are other treatments for acne that you can use, which we will cover next.

Antibiotics are used to reduce bacteria and inflammation that cause acne, and one of the most commonly prescribed treatments is minocycline. Unfortunately though, this drug can be more expensive than other similar antibiotics treatments that are out there, plus there are concerns about its safety. But, on the whole, antibiotics generally do a decent job of clearing inflamed acne spots, and any surrounding skin inflammation. However, they have little effect on unplugging blocked pores, this results in you still suffering from whiteheads and blackheads.

If you would rather go for an over the counter type cream or lotion for the skin, then you will probably get one that contains Benzoyl peroxide. This ingredient is a very common and effective topical acne treatment and because of this it is probably the most widely used ingredient in acne medications. Available in varying strengths both over-the-counter and by prescription, Benzoyl peroxide kills bacteria and slows down the action of skin glands.

For people suffering from really severe acne, then another treatment for acne to consider is laser treatment. Although not cheap, laser treatment is becoming extremely popular because it has the potential to be more precise than the other techniques in the treatment for acne as it is hitting the specific areas that need treating. Another use of laser treatment is for removing the scars that can be left behind by acne. This is done by using the laser on the outer layer of the skin which causes the under layer to heal tightly and more smoothly.