Tag: acne

Embarrassing Bodies – Lady with chronic acne given advice

Leave a comment

A chronic acne sufferer visits Dr Pixie. Natalie, who has suffered from boils and cysts on her face, back and bottom since she was 12, said the condition was only getting worse. Natalie was diagnosed with Cystic Acne, more rare and ferocious than its milder variant which affects 80% of the population. Dr Pixie advised a joint course of antibiotics and laser treatment and sent Natalie to see a specialist dermatologist. Natalie’s skin was treated with pixel laser resurfacing treatment, rejuvenating healthy skin under the scar tissue and was given small skin grafts to cover the larger pock marks. Since, Natalie has had stronger laser treatment to tackle the deeper scaring. Several months later a radiant Natalie revisits the clinic thanking Dr Pixie for the huge physical and personal change the treatment has made. This new series explores the conditions and ailments that leave many of us a little red-faced and aims to de-stigmatise common complaints.

Acne: A Summary

Terminology

The term “acne rosacea” is a synonym for rosacea, however some individuals may have almost no acne comedones associated with their rosacea and therefore prefer the term rosacea.[14] Chloracne is associated with exposure to polyhalogenated compounds.

 Signs and symptoms

Typical features of acne include: seborrhea (increased oil-sebum secretion), comedones (blackheads and whiteheads), papules (pinheads), pustules (pimples), nodules (large papules) and, possibly scarring.[1] The appearance of acne varies with skin color.

 Scars

Acne scars are the result of inflammation within the dermis brought on by acne. The scar is created by the wound trying to heal itself resulting in too much collagen in one spot.[15]

Physical acne scars are often referred to as “Icepick” scars. This is because the scars tend to cause an indentation in the skin’s surface. There are a range of treatments available. Although quite rare, the medical condition Atrophia Maculosa Varioliformis Cutis also results in “acne-like” depressed scars on the face.

  • Ice pick scars: Deep pits, that are the most common and a classic sign of acne scarring.
  • Box car scars: Angular scars that usually occur on the temple and cheeks, and can be either superficial or deep, these are similar to chickenpox scars.
  • Rolling scars: Scars that give the skin a wave-like appearance.
  • Hypertrophic scars: Thickened, or keloid scars.

 Pigmentation

Pigmented scars is a slightly misleading term, as it suggests a change in the skin’s pigmentation and that they are true scars; however, neither is true. Pigmented scars are usually the result of nodular or cystic acne (the painful ‘bumps’ lying under the skin). They often leave behind an inflamed red mark. Often, the pigmentation scars can be avoided simply by avoiding aggravation of the nodule or cyst. Pigmentation scars nearly always fade with time taking between three months to two years to do so, although can last indefinitely if untreated.

 Cause

Acne develops as a result of blockages in the follicles. Hyperkeratinization and formation of a plug of keratin and sebum (a microcomedo) is the earliest change. Enlargement of sebaceous glands and an increase in sebum production occur with increased androgen (DHEA-S) production at adrenarche. The microcomedo may enlarge to form an open comedone (blackhead) or closed comedone (milia). Comedones are the direct result of sebaceous glands‘ becoming clogged with sebum, a naturally occurring oil, and dead skin cells. In these conditions, the naturally occurring largely commensal bacterium Propionibacterium acnes can cause inflammation, leading to inflammatory lesions (papules, infected pustules, or nodules) in the dermis around the microcomedo or comedone, which results in redness and may result in scarring or hyperpigmentation.[16]

 Hormonal

Hormonal activity, such as menstrual cycles and puberty, may contribute to the formation of acne. During puberty, an increase in male sex hormones called androgens cause the follicular glands to grow larger and make more sebum.[17] Use of anabolic steroids may have a similar effect.[18] Several hormones have been linked to acne: the androgens testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), as well as insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I).

Development of acne vulgaris in later years is uncommon, although this is the age group for estradiol fails at menopause. The lack of estradiol also causes thinning hair, hot flushes, thin skin, wrinkles, vaginal dryness, and predisposes to osteopenia and osteoporosis as well as triggering acne (known as acne climacterica in this situation).

 Genetic

The tendency to develop acne runs in families. For example, school aged boys with acne often have other members in their family with acne. A family history of acne is associated with an earlier occurrence of acne and an increased number of retentional acne lesions.[19]

 Psychological

While the connection between acne and stress has been debated, scientific research indicates that “increased acne severity” is “significantly associated with increased stress levels.”[22] It is also not clear whether acne causes stress and thus perpetuates itself to some extent.

 Diet

A high types of chocolate).

Diagnosis

There are multiple grading scales for grading the severity of acne vulgaris,[29] three of these being:

  • Leeds acne grading technique: Counts and categorises lesions into inflammatory and non-inflammatory (ranges from 0–10.0).
  • Cook’s acne grading scale: Uses photographs to grade severity from 0 to 8 (0 being the least severe and 8 being the most severe).
  • Pillsbury scale: Simply classifies the severity of the acne from 1 (least severe) to 4 (most severe).

 Differential

 Management

Benzoyl peroxide cream.

Many different treatments exist for acne including benzoyl peroxide, antibiotics, retinoids, antiseborrheic medications, anti-androgen medications, hormonal treatments, salicylic acid, alpha hydroxy acid, azelaic acid, nicotinamide, and keratolytic soaps.[30] They are believed to work in at least 4 different ways, including: normalising shedding into the pore to prevent blockage, killing Propionibacterium acnes, anti-inflammatory effects, hormonal manipulation.[citation needed]

Medications

Benzoyl peroxide

 

Antiseptics

Sometimes benzoyl peroxide topical medication is combined with a salt of hydroxyquinoline, such as potassium hydroxyquinoline sulphate, which has antibacterial properties. One such topical product is available without prescription in the UK.

Antibiotics

Antibiotics are reserved for more severe cases.minocycline.

Hormones

In females, acne can be improved with spironolactone can have anti-androgenetic properties, especially in patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Topical retinoids

Topical retinoids are medications that normalize the follicle cell life cycle. This class includes tretinoin (Retin-A), adapalene (Differin), and tazarotene (Tazorac). Like isotretinoin, they are related to vitamin A, but they are administered topically and they generally have much milder side effects. They can, however, cause significant irritation of the skin. The retinoids appear to influence the cell life cycle in the follicle lining. This helps prevent the hyperkeratinization of these cells that can create a blockage. Retinol, a form of vitamin A, has similar, but milder, effects and is used in many over-the-counter moisturizers and other topical products. Effective topical retinoids have been in use for over 30 years, but are available only on prescription, so are not as widely used as the other topical treatments. Topical retinoids often cause an initial flare-up of acne and facial flushing.

Oral retinoids

A daily oral intake of vitamin A derivative

Anti-inflammatories

 

Ibuprofen is used in combination with tetracycline[36] for some moderate acne cases.

Mandelic acid has been noted to be an effective topical treatment for mild to moderate acne. It is considered[according to whom?] to be a gentler alternative to popular alpha hydroxy acids such as glycolic acid and lactic acid.[37]

 Procedures

 Dermabrasion

Dermabrasion is a cosmetic medical procedure in which the surface of the skin is removed by abrasion (sanding). It is used to remove sun-damaged skin and to remove or lessen scars and dark spots on the skin. The procedure is very painful and usually requires a general anaesthetic or “twilight anaesthesia”, in which the patient is still partly conscious.[5] Afterward, the skin is very red and raw-looking, and it takes several months for the skin to regrow and heal. Dermabrasion is useful for scar removal when the scar is raised above the surrounding skin, but is less effective with sunken scars.

In the past, dermabrasion was done using a small, sterilized, electric sander. In the past decade, it has become more common to use laser dermabrasion using CO2, Er:YAG laser or a combination of both for the treatment of acne scars. Indications for CO2 laser treatment include previous non erythematous and non-proliferative hypertrophic scars, atrophic acne scars and burn scars.] Laser dermabrasion is much easier to control, much easier to gauge, and is practically bloodless compared to classic dermabrasion.

 Phototherapy

 Blue and red light

Light exposure has long been used as a short-term treatment for acne. Recently, visible light has been successfully employed to treat mild to moderate acne (

It seems that the treatment works even better if used with a mixture of the violet light and red visible light (660 nanometer), resulting in a 76% reduction of lesions after three months of daily treatment for 80% of the patients;and overall clearance was similar or better than benzoyl peroxide. Unlike most of the other treatments, few if any negative side-effects are typically experienced, and the development of bacterial resistance to the treatment seems very unlikely. After treatment, clearance can be longer-lived than is typical with topical or oral antibiotic treatments; several months is not uncommon. The equipment or treatment, however, is relatively new and reasonably expensive to buy initially, although the total cost of ownership can be similar to many other treatment methods (such as the total cost of benzoyl peroxide, moisturizer, washes) over a couple of years of use.

 Photodynamic therapy

In addition, basic science and clinical work by dermatologists Yoram Harth and Alan Shalita and others have produced evidence that intense blue/violet light (405–425 nanometer) can decrease the number of inflammatory acne lesion by 60–70% in four weeks of therapy, in particular, when the P. acnes is pretreated with delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), which increases the production of porphyrins. However this photodynamic therapy is controversial and not published in a peer-reviewed journal. A phase II trial, while it showed improvement occurred, failed to show improved response compared to the blue/violet light alone.[45]

 

 Laser treatment

Laser surgery has been in use for some time to reduce the scars left behind by acne,[48] but research has been done on lasers for prevention of acne formation itself. The laser is used to produce one of the following effects:

  • to burn away the follicle sac from which the hair grows
  • to burn away the sebaceous gland, which produces the oil
  • to induce formation of oxygen in the bacteria, killing them

Since lasers and intense pulsed light sources cause thermal damage to the skin, there are concerns that laser or intense pulsed light treatments for acne will induce hyperpigmented macules (spots) or cause long-term dryness of the skin.

The [51]

 Surgery

For people with cystic acne, boils can be drained through surgical lancing.[8]

Alternative medicine

Alternative medicine for acne generally claims to cleanse the blood of toxins, increase immunity, balance hormones and sebum production.

 

Prognosis

Acne usually improves around the age of 20 but may persist into adulthood.

 Epidemiology

Acne affects 40 to 50 million people in the United States (16%), and approximately 3 to 5 million in Australia (23%).

 

 Research

A vaccine against inflammatory acne has been tested successfully in mice, but it is not certain that it would work similarly in humans.[64]

A 2007 microbiology article reporting the first genome sequencing of a Propionibacterium acnes bacteriophage (PA6) said this “should greatly enhance the development of a potential bacteriophage therapy to treat acne and, therefore, overcome the significant problems associated with long-term antibiotic therapy and bacterial resistance.

Acne: A Summary

Leave a comment

Terminology

The term “acne rosacea” is a synonym for rosacea, however some individuals may have almost no acne comedones associated with their rosacea and therefore prefer the term rosacea.[14] Chloracne is associated with exposure to polyhalogenated compounds.

 Signs and symptoms

Typical features of acne include: seborrhea (increased oil-sebum secretion), comedones (blackheads and whiteheads), papules (pinheads), pustules (pimples), nodules (large papules) and, possibly scarring.[1] The appearance of acne varies with skin color.

 Scars

Acne scars are the result of inflammation within the dermis brought on by acne. The scar is created by the wound trying to heal itself resulting in too much collagen in one spot.[15]

Physical acne scars are often referred to as “Icepick” scars. This is because the scars tend to cause an indentation in the skin’s surface. There are a range of treatments available. Although quite rare, the medical condition Atrophia Maculosa Varioliformis Cutis also results in “acne-like” depressed scars on the face.

  • Ice pick scars: Deep pits, that are the most common and a classic sign of acne scarring.
  • Box car scars: Angular scars that usually occur on the temple and cheeks, and can be either superficial or deep, these are similar to chickenpox scars.
  • Rolling scars: Scars that give the skin a wave-like appearance.
  • Hypertrophic scars: Thickened, or keloid scars.

 Pigmentation

Pigmented scars is a slightly misleading term, as it suggests a change in the skin’s pigmentation and that they are true scars; however, neither is true. Pigmented scars are usually the result of nodular or cystic acne (the painful ‘bumps’ lying under the skin). They often leave behind an inflamed red mark. Often, the pigmentation scars can be avoided simply by avoiding aggravation of the nodule or cyst. Pigmentation scars nearly always fade with time taking between three months to two years to do so, although can last indefinitely if untreated.

 Cause

Acne develops as a result of blockages in the follicles. Hyperkeratinization and formation of a plug of keratin and sebum (a microcomedo) is the earliest change. Enlargement of sebaceous glands and an increase in sebum production occur with increased androgen (DHEA-S) production at adrenarche. The microcomedo may enlarge to form an open comedone (blackhead) or closed comedone (milia). Comedones are the direct result of sebaceous glands‘ becoming clogged with sebum, a naturally occurring oil, and dead skin cells. In these conditions, the naturally occurring largely commensal bacterium Propionibacterium acnes can cause inflammation, leading to inflammatory lesions (papules, infected pustules, or nodules) in the dermis around the microcomedo or comedone, which results in redness and may result in scarring or hyperpigmentation.[16]

 Hormonal

Hormonal activity, such as menstrual cycles and puberty, may contribute to the formation of acne. During puberty, an increase in male sex hormones called androgens cause the follicular glands to grow larger and make more sebum.[17] Use of anabolic steroids may have a similar effect.[18] Several hormones have been linked to acne: the androgens testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), as well as insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I).

Development of acne vulgaris in later years is uncommon, although this is the age group for estradiol fails at menopause. The lack of estradiol also causes thinning hair, hot flushes, thin skin, wrinkles, vaginal dryness, and predisposes to osteopenia and osteoporosis as well as triggering acne (known as acne climacterica in this situation).

 Genetic

The tendency to develop acne runs in families. For example, school aged boys with acne often have other members in their family with acne. A family history of acne is associated with an earlier occurrence of acne and an increased number of retentional acne lesions.[19]

 Psychological

While the connection between acne and stress has been debated, scientific research indicates that “increased acne severity” is “significantly associated with increased stress levels.”[22] It is also not clear whether acne causes stress and thus perpetuates itself to some extent.

 Diet

A high types of chocolate).

Diagnosis

There are multiple grading scales for grading the severity of acne vulgaris,[29] three of these being:

  • Leeds acne grading technique: Counts and categorises lesions into inflammatory and non-inflammatory (ranges from 0–10.0).
  • Cook’s acne grading scale: Uses photographs to grade severity from 0 to 8 (0 being the least severe and 8 being the most severe).
  • Pillsbury scale: Simply classifies the severity of the acne from 1 (least severe) to 4 (most severe).

 Differential

  • Keratosis pilaris
  • Rosacea
  • Chloracne

 Management

Benzoyl peroxide cream.

Many different treatments exist for acne including benzoyl peroxide, antibiotics, retinoids, antiseborrheic medications, anti-androgen medications, hormonal treatments, salicylic acid, alpha hydroxy acid, azelaic acid, nicotinamide, and keratolytic soaps.[30] They are believed to work in at least 4 different ways, including: normalising shedding into the pore to prevent blockage, killing Propionibacterium acnes, anti-inflammatory effects, hormonal manipulation.[citation needed]

Medications

Benzoyl peroxide

 

Antiseptics

Sometimes benzoyl peroxide topical medication is combined with a salt of hydroxyquinoline, such as potassium hydroxyquinoline sulphate, which has antibacterial properties. One such topical product is available without prescription in the UK.

Antibiotics

Antibiotics are reserved for more severe cases.minocycline.

Hormones

In females, acne can be improved with spironolactone can have anti-androgenetic properties, especially in patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Topical retinoids

Topical retinoids are medications that normalize the follicle cell life cycle. This class includes tretinoin (Retin-A), adapalene (Differin), and tazarotene (Tazorac). Like isotretinoin, they are related to vitamin A, but they are administered topically and they generally have much milder side effects. They can, however, cause significant irritation of the skin. The retinoids appear to influence the cell life cycle in the follicle lining. This helps prevent the hyperkeratinization of these cells that can create a blockage. Retinol, a form of vitamin A, has similar, but milder, effects and is used in many over-the-counter moisturizers and other topical products. Effective topical retinoids have been in use for over 30 years, but are available only on prescription, so are not as widely used as the other topical treatments. Topical retinoids often cause an initial flare-up of acne and facial flushing.

Oral retinoids

A daily oral intake of vitamin A derivative

Anti-inflammatories

 

Ibuprofen is used in combination with tetracycline[36] for some moderate acne cases.

Mandelic acid has been noted to be an effective topical treatment for mild to moderate acne. It is considered[according to whom?] to be a gentler alternative to popular alpha hydroxy acids such as glycolic acid and lactic acid.[37]

 Procedures

 Dermabrasion

Dermabrasion is a cosmetic medical procedure in which the surface of the skin is removed by abrasion (sanding). It is used to remove sun-damaged skin and to remove or lessen scars and dark spots on the skin. The procedure is very painful and usually requires a general anaesthetic or “twilight anaesthesia”, in which the patient is still partly conscious.[5] Afterward, the skin is very red and raw-looking, and it takes several months for the skin to regrow and heal. Dermabrasion is useful for scar removal when the scar is raised above the surrounding skin, but is less effective with sunken scars.

In the past, dermabrasion was done using a small, sterilized, electric sander. In the past decade, it has become more common to use laser dermabrasion using CO2, Er:YAG laser or a combination of both for the treatment of acne scars. Indications for CO2 laser treatment include previous non erythematous and non-proliferative hypertrophic scars, atrophic acne scars and burn scars.] Laser dermabrasion is much easier to control, much easier to gauge, and is practically bloodless compared to classic dermabrasion.

 Phototherapy

 Blue and red light

Light exposure has long been used as a short-term treatment for acne. Recently, visible light has been successfully employed to treat mild to moderate acne (

It seems that the treatment works even better if used with a mixture of the violet light and red visible light (660 nanometer), resulting in a 76% reduction of lesions after three months of daily treatment for 80% of the patients;and overall clearance was similar or better than benzoyl peroxide. Unlike most of the other treatments, few if any negative side-effects are typically experienced, and the development of bacterial resistance to the treatment seems very unlikely. After treatment, clearance can be longer-lived than is typical with topical or oral antibiotic treatments; several months is not uncommon. The equipment or treatment, however, is relatively new and reasonably expensive to buy initially, although the total cost of ownership can be similar to many other treatment methods (such as the total cost of benzoyl peroxide, moisturizer, washes) over a couple of years of use.

 Photodynamic therapy

In addition, basic science and clinical work by dermatologists Yoram Harth and Alan Shalita and others have produced evidence that intense blue/violet light (405–425 nanometer) can decrease the number of inflammatory acne lesion by 60–70% in four weeks of therapy, in particular, when the P. acnes is pretreated with delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), which increases the production of porphyrins. However this photodynamic therapy is controversial and not published in a peer-reviewed journal. A phase II trial, while it showed improvement occurred, failed to show improved response compared to the blue/violet light alone.[45]

 

 Laser treatment

Laser surgery has been in use for some time to reduce the scars left behind by acne,[48] but research has been done on lasers for prevention of acne formation itself. The laser is used to produce one of the following effects:

  • to burn away the follicle sac from which the hair grows
  • to burn away the sebaceous gland, which produces the oil
  • to induce formation of oxygen in the bacteria, killing them

Since lasers and intense pulsed light sources cause thermal damage to the skin, there are concerns that laser or intense pulsed light treatments for acne will induce hyperpigmented macules (spots) or cause long-term dryness of the skin.

The [51]

 Surgery

For people with cystic acne, boils can be drained through surgical lancing.[8]

Alternative medicine

Alternative medicine for acne generally claims to cleanse the blood of toxins, increase immunity, balance hormones and sebum production.

  • Egg Oil (INCI: Egg Oil) has often been used with success, since it contains antioxidant xanthophylls like Lutein and Zeaxanthin, Cholesterol and long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (Omega-3, Omega-6) like Docosahexaenoic acid and Arachidonic acid. It has known anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory properties in skin infections due to the presence of immunoglobulin.[52]

 

Prognosis

Acne usually improves around the age of 20 but may persist into adulthood.

 Epidemiology

Acne affects 40 to 50 million people in the United States (16%), and approximately 3 to 5 million in Australia (23%).

 

 Research

A vaccine against inflammatory acne has been tested successfully in mice, but it is not certain that it would work similarly in humans.[64]

A 2007 microbiology article reporting the first genome sequencing of a Propionibacterium acnes bacteriophage (PA6) said this “should greatly enhance the development of a potential bacteriophage therapy to treat acne and, therefore, overcome the significant problems associated with long-term antibiotic therapy and bacterial resistance.

Related Blogs

  • Related Blogs on acne
  • Related Blogs on acne scars
  • Related Blogs on Australia

The post Acne: A Summary appeared first on .

Related Blogs

  • Related Blogs on acne
  • Related Blogs on acne scars
  • Related Blogs on Australia

What acne product works best to get fast and effective results?

Leave a comment

There are several popular acne products but which one gets you the results faster, and is it effective? Neutrogena, clearasil, clean and clear, clinique, biore, olay, and l’oreal. Which of these is the best acne product to get rid of acne with fast and effective results that you can see? And if you know, is there a product that gets rid of acne scars?

Acne and Exercise

Moderate exercise is actually good for your skin. It helps you maintain a healthy body and manage your stress levels, too. If you find your acne is aggravated by regular exercise, then you may want to examine your routine.

What do you wear? Where do you go? How hard do you work? Exercise-related acne is usually caused by something you put on your body rather something you do with it. Remove these outside factors, and you may put an end to your workout breakouts.

Here are just a few things to watch for.

Acne & Exercise – Make-up. When exercising, wear as little make-up as possible. Even oil-free and non-comedogenic (non-pore-clogging) cosmetics can clog pores if worn during heavy exercise. When you’re done working out, wash as soon as possible.

Acne & Exercise – Sunscreen. If your regimen takes you outdoors, always wear sunscreen. While acne may improve slightly after brief periods in the sun, studies show that prolonged exposure actually promotes comedones (clogged pores) and, of course, sun damage. Some kinds of acne medication make skin more sensitive to the sun, so sunscreen is even more important. When choosing a sunscreen, look for products that are oil-free and have a protection factor of at least SPF 15 for both UVA and UVB rays. Like make-up, sunscreen can travel across the skin’s surface and lodge in the pores — so wash immediately after working out.

Acne & Exercise – Clothing. If you’re prone to body acne, avoid garments made exclusively with lycra or nylon. Why? Some synthetic fabrics can trap the heat and moisture against your skin, creating a fertile breeding ground for the bacteria that contribute to acne. For moderate exercise, your best bet is lightweight, loose-fitting cotton, or a lycra-cotton blend. Natural fabrics allow the skin to breathe, and loose garments are less likely to cause friction. If you’re exercising vigorously and working up a good sweat, however, you may want to try some of the new fabrics designed to wick moisture away from your skin.

Acne & Exercise – Equipment. Some people are more likely to get acne or have their lesions aggravated in the areas affected by sports equipment. The best defense against friction-related breakouts is a good fit — make sure your helmet doesn’t slide around on your forehead, or your wetsuit isn’t too tight under the arms. You can also curb equipment-triggered breakouts by lining your helmet with a layer of soft, washable cotton fabric; it’s a great use for those old t-shirts, too. And no matter what the sport, it’s always a good idea to keep your equipment clean and dry when not in use.

Acne & Exercise – Moisture. Mom was right: You should get out of those wet clothes! No matter how you get your exercise — treadmill, trail, tennis court, or whatever — don’t sit around in your sweaty clothes or wet bathing suit when you’re done. If you can, shower off immediately and change into dry clothes before driving home. If this isn’t possible, change into dry clothes and wipe down as well as you can. When toweling sweat off your face, always use a clean towel, and blot gently rather than wipe. Vigorous wiping can irritate your skin, driving make-up and sunscreen deeper into the pores.

Acne & Exercise – Showering. Again, it’s best to shower immediately after working out. You may want to use a medicated exfoliant cleanser, but always be gentle with your skin. Scrubbing harder isn’t going to make you any cleaner, or make your acne go away — and it may actually irritate existing lesions or promote the development of new ones. If you can’t shower right away, you can still curb breakouts by wiping down with medicated pads; keep a few in your gym bag just in case.

So keep up the good work! A healthy exercise program is an integral part of your overall health; and a healthy body is more likely to have healthy skin. Just keep an eye on the various factors that accompany your regimen, and try to remove the acne triggers — you’ll be on your way to breakout-free workouts.

 

Acne Prevention

Acne Hygiene

One of the most common misconceptions about acne is that it’s caused by dirt. It’s not! Acne is caused by a combination of factors you can’t control, like your hormone balance and the natural pace of your skin’s renewal system. Fortunately, there are a number of things you can control that may help you keep your acne in check. Begin by following these simple suggestions for healthy-skin hygiene.

Acne Prevention – Tip #1: Don’t over-wash. Since dirt is not causing your acne, excessive scrubbing and washing won’t make it go away. Try to limit yourself to two washings per day — anything more than that can leave your healthy skin dry, and your acne-prone areas irritated. Habitual over-washing may also stimulate extra oil production, which could result in more breakouts.   

Acne Prevention – Tip #2: Skip harsh scrubs. It’s okay to exfoliate, but be sure to use a gentle formula with small, smooth grains. Avoid products with almond or apricot shell fragments; they can irritate or even tear your skin and further aggravate your acne.   

Acne Prevention – Tip #3: Say no to alcohol. If you use a toner, avoid products with high concentrations of isopropyl alcohol, or common rubbing alcohol. A strong astringent, alcohol strips the top layer of your skin, causing your sebaceous glands to produce more oil. The result? Dry, red skin — and possibly more blemishes.  

Acne Prevention – Tip #4: Don’t squeeze or pick. Squeezing or picking your blemishes — with fingernails, pins or anything else — can force bacteria deeper into the skin, causing greater inflammation and infection. You’ll also increase the damage to the surrounding skin, so the blemish is more likely to leave a permanent acne scar.   

Acne Prevention – Tip #5: Hands off! Propionibacterium acnes (the bacteria that causes breakouts) is a normal resident of your skin; it doesn’t lead to acne until it gets trapped inside the hair follicle. Excessive touching of your face, including rubbing or even resting your chin in your hands, can drive bacteria into your pores — where it can begin its dirtywork.   

Acne Prevention – Tip #6: Work out, wash off. When you exercise, your movement generates heat; clothing and equipment cause friction. Until you shower off, heat and moisture are trapped against your skin, creating an ideal breeding ground for the spread of bacteria. So whenever you can, shower off immediately after exercising.   

Acne Prevention Treatment – Find a regimen and stick with it. Most cases of mild acne can be improved with “over-the-counter” products, or products that don’t require a prescription from your doctor. There is a wide range of treatments available, and there’s a good chance one of them will work for you. If you start treatment before your acne gets severe, you’ll have a better chance of avoiding physical and emotional problems down the road. But if your acne gets worse or lasts more than a couple of weeks, see a dermatologist. Here’s a quick listing of the most common products used to treat acne — click on the links that interest you for more information on that course of acne treatment

Acne is not a simple condition to treat

Acne is not a simple condition to treat.

It is a skin disease that affects each individual that has it differently. Every case of serious acne has to be looked at as an individual case in order to be properly treated. There is no catch-all treatment that can be used for every case.

Furthermore, a lot of trial and error is usually needed in order to find an effective treatment individual by individual.There are many acne products that are mass-marketed as the best cure for acne. It is very important to realize that products that are marketed towards acne sufferers and that can be bought off the shelf in the supermarket, do not cure acne.

They manage, mask or suppress the symptoms of acne. It is important to recognize this as well as to realize that acne is not a result of bad hygiene. If your acne is progressively getting worse do not think that it is enough to wash your skin often and to use an over the counter product. If your acne is getting worse, seek medical advice for stronger products that might only be available with a prescription.Acne treatments vary from being off the shelf, over-the-counter creams, prescribed and surgical.

Over the counter acne products are usually topical medicines that contain Benzoyl Peroxide or Salicylic Acid. These are usually used to treat mild cases of acne where an individual is attempting to halt the progression of acne and clear up some troublesome pimples. They can also be used during severe stages of acne in combination with another treatment. Doctors usually recommend that the acne-infected area be washed very gently with warm water and a mild soap and then the topical treatment applied.When acne progresses to the moderate or severe stage, doctors and dermatologists will usually use a combination of treatments in order for maximum effectiveness in halting any further development of the skin disease.

Light therapy and extraction are often used at the moderate stage, in combination with an oral antibiotic or a retinoid cream, depending on the observations and recommendations of your doctor.Since acne is such a complex condition to properly treat, it is not advisable to attempt to self-medicate. If you try over the counter products and they do not work.

Do not give up thinking that you have an incurable case of acne. Seek further professional medical advice. A doctor or a dermatologist will try to stop your acne from getting out of hand and will make an aggressive attempt at using a combination of products to prevent the possibility of acne scarring.If you are serious about putting a halt to your acne, learn about the latest acne fighting products and how they can possibly work for your type of acne from your doctor. Do not make off the shelf products the extent of your fight against acne. Be as aggressive about fighting acne as acne is about progressing step by step into a serious skin condition.

 

1 … 3 4 5