Jan 24, 2011 • By pakclinic • 467 Views
Don't you just hate those dreaded teen hormones, from making you emotional and unpredictable to giving you that dreaded Acne Vulgaris! Why does Acne have to be a part of growing up?, it's just not fair.
Acne lowers your self esteem, makes you paranoid, makes you less attractive and feel less attractive, gives off an unhealthy look, is ugly and dramatically brings down your supposed to be fabulous façade.
I will now go through the Causes of Acne, Symptoms and Treatments thatworked wonders for myself and others, whether being natural or unnatural treatments.
I will also mention some amazing treatments for Acne Scarring that honestly work and eliminated my scaring!
Don't you just hate those dreaded teen hormones, from making you emotional and unpredictable to giving you that dreaded Acne Vulgaris! Why does Acne have to be a part of growing up?, it's just not fair.
Now Acne does affect teens mostly but also is very common among all sorts of adults, and unfortunately that also seemed to be the case with me.
Acne lowers your self esteem, makes you paranoid, makes you less attractive and feel less attractive, gives off an unhealthy look, is ugly and dramatically brings down your supposed to be fabulous façade.
I will now go through the Causes of Acne, Symptoms and Treatments thatworked wonders for myself and others, whether being natural or unnatural treatments.
I will also mention some amazing treatments for Acne Scarring that honestly work and eliminated my scaring!
Causes of Acne
There are tonnes of reasons why people suffer from Acne that I will outline below.
Hormonal Causes of Acne
- Hormones Androgens and Testosterone – make the sebaceous glands in follicle enlarge and secrete more facial oil (sebum). The sebum accumulates in the hair follicle and eventually reaches the surface of your skin where it mixes with bacteria. The bacteria multiply and feed of the accumulated sebum and eventually result in acne.
- Puberty and Maturation – imbalance of hormones results in acne
- Stress – alters the balance of hormones leading to acne
- Period – hormones go haywire and cause acne
Nutritional Causes of Acne
- Unhealthy eating habits
- Lack of essential vitamins and minerals (Get your 5 a Day!) - responsible for optimal bodily function and skin health. If you don't get the proper nutrition this puts your body out of balance and therefore your hormones as well.
Hygiene related Causes of Acne
- Lack of daily facial cleansing and skin care.
- Overuse of facial cleansers leading to dry and weak spot prone skin.
- Repetitive touching of the face with hands - Hands are full of bacteria and must be washed.
- Not Changing your bed linen and pillows often – We are estimated to sweat one pint of sweat a day and especially during the night. Bacteria multiply rapidly on sweat and on your bed linen and pillows.
- Use of Dirty/Musty Towels – Any towel that has a musty smell contains bacteria.
Other Causes of Acne
- Shaving - Shaving against the hair follicle causes ingrown hairs and spots.
- Pore blocking (Comedogenic)Moisturisers - Usually contain a lot of oil that can block your pores.
- Lack of exfoliation with a good exfoliator - leads to oil and blackhead build up, thus leading to spots.
- Over use of exfoliators – damages and weakens skin making it more prone to spots.
- Oil Based Makeup - clogs pores like comedogenic moisturisers.
Symptoms of Acne
- Oily Skin
- Blackheads
- White heads/Pimples/Spots
- Scaring
Treatment of Acne
There are lots of acne treatments out there, whether being natural or unnatural.
Natural Acne Treatments
- Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables – to get all you vitamins and minerals naturally that will help in normal bodily functions and indirectly reduce Acne.
- Drink over 2 litres of Water a Day – keeps your skin hydrated and moisturised which will make it stronger and more resistant.
Tea Tree Oil
- Tea Tree Oil is a natural oil extracted from the leaves of a plant called Melaleuca alternifolia.
- Tea Tree Oil has anantimicrobial activity therefore can kill bacteria involved in causing Acne via an anti-bacterial action.
- For Normal to Oily Skin, Mix 1 part Tea Tree Oil with 9 parts water. More tea tree oil can be added if wanted, but never apply pure tea tree oil directly to the skin.
- Tea Tree Oil Soap is also an effective and convenient option for acne management.
Charcoal Soap
One of my friends used this kind of soap for her acne and she found it very effective.
- The Charcoal used in the soap isactivated charcoal, which means it was subjected to certain chemical process that produced the charcoal to have many tiny‘pores'.
- When you wash your face with this soap, impurities on your skin get trapped in the poresof the activated charcoal, thereby cleaning your skin!
- It doesn't over dry your skin so is great for people who suffer from dry skin or skin that is sensitive to normal skin cleansers.
- Charcoal also has antibacterial properties which will fight your acne.
Vitamin and Mineral Supplements for Acne Treatment
- Vitamin A - Derivatives of vitamin A called Retinoids are used to treat acne.
- Vitamin C and E have antioxidant effects and Vitamin E also has roles in skin repair. Both are important for healthy skin.
- Chromium and selenium may also have anti-acne effects.
- The best mineral for acne treatment has to be zinc!
I'd recommend just taking a complete vitamin and mineral supplement along with a Chelated Zinc supplement. This worked extremely well for me and still does!
Zinc Supplements (Preferably Chelated zinc)
- Zinc may prevent hormone imbalances which can lead to Acne outbreaks. Zinc Worked Wonders for me!
- Zinc helps in the maintenance of healthy skin and in normalising production of skin oils.
- Zinc can help heal your blemishes.
- Zinc Reduces inflammation.
- Zinc will help your skin to heal faster. It is also provided in aftercare packages from piercing and tattoo shops due to it's healing abilities.
Considering that a major proportion of your zinc intake will not be absorbed, you have to make sure you buy a zinc supplement with a high concentration of Zinc (a few days RDA per Day).
List Price: $18.20
Antibiotic Acne Treatments
- Tetracycline
- Erythromycin
- Doxycycline
The problem with antibiotics is that they can have a vast number of side effects. Candida, Vaginal Yeast infection, can occur when taking antibiotics as the natural balance and competition between good bacteria and yeast is disrupted due to the good bacteria kill off.
Antibiotics can also cause bloating, nausea and constipation.
Oral Acne Treatments
- Quinoderm Cream – can use the normal Quinoderm cream or Quinoderm 5 cream for sensitive skin. Quinoderm contains Benzoyl Peroxide as an antibiotic.
- Panoxyl Cream - Basically same ingredients as Quinoderm, contains Benzoyl Peroxide as active ingredient and antibiotic. You can use Panoxyl 5 for sensitive skin or mild acne or panoxyl 10 for more severe acne. You can also get Panoxyl soap and cleansing lotions.
These products are very good for getting rid of acne, but can cause skin redness and dryness and other skin sensitivity. It also will lighten hair and fabrics if it comes in contact with them. Don't get it near your eyebrows!
A problem with these is that Salicylic Acid can cause skin redness, stinging and dryness.
Bestseller Top Treatment
Salicylic Acid 20% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional) Amazon Price: $18.95List Price: $34.95
Other Acne Treatment
- At Home Facial Sauna – The stream from the sauna causes your skin to perspire and release impurities from your clogged pores. Less clogged pores then less spots and blackheads. Facial Saunas can be extremely cheap which is also very handy.
Treatment of Acne Scars and other Scarring
Now that our acne is gone we have these unsightly scars left to take care of.
There are a few ways and products I found great in getting rid of my acne scars.
- Light exfoliation of the face – Yes it removes dead skin cells and unclogs pores, BUT it also increases the blood flow to the surface of your skin aiding in skin healing.
- Exercise – As well and keeping you fit, it also increases blood flow to surface of skin aiding in skin healing and appearance.
- At Home Facial Sauna (again) – Other than unclogging pores, it also, like exercise and exfoliation, increases blood flow to skin aiding in healing.
- BIO OIL (recommended) – Bio Oil is an unbelievably effective product for getting rid of that acne scaring and other scaring! I used it to get rid of mine and I'll always recommend this as the best over the counter ointment for scar reduction/removal. It also reduces stretch marks, uneven skin tone, is good for ageing skin and is good for hydrating dehydrated dry skin.
- Vitamin E Oil – Vitamin E can help in skin healing and is widely used to help reduce scarring. I used this for a while, it works, although Bio Oil seemed to work the best for me.
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