Dealing With Adolescent Acne
Unbalanced hormones generally drive adolescent acne or teen acne, and it can be painful, embarrassing, and frustrating to a teen. Having to live with acne throughout the teen years can cause low self-esteem, and for many it’s devastating. That should be no surprise since appearance is so important, and other teens are hard on each other – teasing unmercifully. Some teens who suffer acne develop severe depression.
Acne affects almost all young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to some degree during the adolescent years. It can be in the form of blackheads, whiteheads, or pimples, and it is usually caused by hormone levels that are fluctuating. Once your hormones stabilize, acne almost always disappears.
So what is a good way to handle your adolescent acne?
The most important thing your teens can do for acne is to keep your skin nice and clean. It’s simple and so effective. Keeping your skin clean and free of oil can really help. Of course, this isn’t a cure but it will certainly help to minimize your acne breakouts.
Drinking a minimum of 8 glasses of water and eating healthy are also very important. Water keeps your skin hydrated and it flushes toxins from your body. Fresh fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants that reduce acne inflammation.
Girls should avoid the use of oil-based cosmetics, and remove all makeup every night. You should exfoliate 1 to 2 times a week. Exfoliating helps to open your pores, and it removes dead skin.
If you are suffering from a mild case of acne, you can control your acne with the use of over the counter remedies that you apply to your skin. These active ingredients in these OTC medications usually include retinoic acid, peroxide, or benzoyl.
You should also consider using natural products to treat acne such as Echinacea or tea tree oil. Wash your face morning and night with a mixture of these herbs to help reduce/eliminate the number of breakouts you suffer. Both of these treatments have anti-septic and anti-inflammatory qualities.
In more serious cases of adolescent acne, a physician can prescribe a variety of medications including Accutane, oral contraceptives, antibiotics, and a number of other oral medications.
As teens age their hormones begin to stabilize, and that leads to fewer outbreaks. However some people still continue to have acne outbreaks even when they are adults. If a teen acne condition becomes worse, or he/she becomes debilitated because of depression it’s time to see a dermatologist to get treatment.
You don’t want an adolescent growing up with acne that scars and emotional trauma from the acne, so make sure the emotional scars are treated as well as the acne scars.