Acne is an embarrassing problem. You can have control of your breakouts, even though at times it seems impossible. There are many natural remedies that work just as well as medications, sometimes better. Sometimes your body just needs proper skin care and the right nutritional balance to help acne go away for good. Take a look at these great hints.
If you have developed acne scars a great effective cure is using medicated and non-medicated lotions. These lotions are easily applied privately at home and prove to be most helpful when used over a long period of time. Medicated lotions will help soften your skin over time and heal/treat existing scar tissue.
If you suffer from acne, look out for moisturizers that contain alpha hydroxy acids, retinol or salicylic acid. These ingredients are exfoliating agents, which can increase cell turnover helping to improve acne. Unfortunately, these agents can sometime irritate sensitive skin, so discontinue use if you notice increased pealing, flaking or redness on your skin.
Limiting the amount of caffeine that you drink can help you reduce acne. Caffeine encourages your body to give off an abundance of stress hormones. These hormones make acne worse, so it is important to stay away from things like chocolate, coffee and tea. Reducing these foods should cause you to see a noticeable difference in your skin.
Everybody gets pimples, but the worst thing to do is pop them. Popping zits can leave scarring, redness, or cause swelling. When you pop a pimple, you are just pushing the infection back into the skin, and really making it a lot worse. Be kind to your skin and no matter how embarrassing it may be, don’t pop your pimples.
A simple lemon slice can help you with your acne. Apply a slice of freshly cut lemon to your blemish. Leave on only for a few minutes. This is an easily accessible, natural and cost-effective treatment for acne. This treatment only takes a few minutes a day and can deter you from more drastic and expensive treatments.
Minimize your dairy intake as a way to combat acne. Dairy is full of saturated fats that may be metabolized poorly by your body. This causes an overproduction of oil from your pores. This excess oil is a major cause of blocked pores and blackheads. Minimizing dairy cuts this type of fat from your diet significantly!
Some kinds of make-up contain a lot of harsh chemicals that can irritate skin cells and cause your skin to break out with acne. Using little to no make-up is best, but for those who like to wear make-up, there are many different brands available that are all natural and are less likely to cause problems with your skin.
For those of you suffering from mild acne, you should try an over-the-counter acne product. These products are available to everyone and contain ingredients that target the bacteria on your face known to cause acne. Keep your initial doses low to make sure your skin is not sensitive to the product.
When you break out, consider trying an over-the-counter topical acne solution. Most contain either salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide which act as both an antibacterial and a drying agent. Be careful not to use too much as both of these topical solutions can lead to very dry, scaly skin.
If you want to get rid of your acne quickly, try combining aspirin with lemon juice. Crush the aspirin and mix it with a little lemon juice. Put the liquid on your blemishes and leave it on overnight. Aspirin has a certain type of acid in it that helps your skin heal. Lemon juice has similar healing qualities.
A good tip for those of you looking to treat or prevent any acne breakouts is to use manuka honey. Manuka honey is a supplement that has very powerful antiviral, antibiotic and antiseptic properties. It also happens to be extremely good for your skin so adding it to your diet is a great way to fight acne.
Consider taking a probiotic. If you have been prescribed an antibiotic by your doctor or dermatologist either directly for your acne or due to an illness it is important to replace the good bacteria in your body. Antibiotics destroy all the bacteria in your digestive system both the good and the bad. This can lead to constipation as well as absorbing less of important vitamins and nutrients. Between the vitamin deficiencies and built up toxins, antibiotics can sometimes cause an even worse acne breakout. Probiotics replace the helpful good bacteria that you have lost.
If you’re trying to prevent acne, don’t over dry your skin. Over-drying your skin can be counter productive, as the oils in your skin are essential to maintaining the health of your complexion. Use masks and astringents sparingly and make sure that your skin care routine is right for your skin type.
In order to prevent acne and minimize scarring, you can use aspirin. Crush up several aspirin tablets and mix with water to make a paste. Spread over your face and let sit for a few minutes. After a few minutes has passed, wash the paste of thoroughly and pat dry.
If you are only afflicted by acne in certain areas of your face, then spot treatment is your best option. Acne treatment, while beneficial, contains certain harsh chemicals in order to get the job done. Spot treatment ensures that these chemicals are only directed to the small areas which actually need the treatment.
You need to wash your pillowcase often if you are prone to acne. The oils that the face produces can collect on the pillowcase and cause you to breakout even worse. By washing the pillowcase, you will be limiting your faces exposure to the oils on the pillowcase and thus lowering the number of breakouts.
Now that you know how to take care of your body and your skin in a way that helps to clear up your acne, don’t hesitate to start. It may take a few weeks to see results, but once your body gets the right treatment, inside and out, you will see a fresh-looking face staring back at you in the mirror.
