Archive for September, 2008
Needless to say, acne creates havoc into your life. The causes are as diverse as the acne sufferers themselves and it is the most common skin disorder that has no cure. For those who are long time sufferers of chronic acne, you know that frequent out breaks can affect physical appearance, lower self esteem and impact both social and professional life. As dismal as is it sounds, acne sufferers need to understand the causes of their acne and more specifically need to be identify effective treatment for their acne.
When Acne Becomes A Problem?
Acne flare ups occur when oil glands trap dirt, grime and bacteria in your pours thereby clogging them up and creating acne flare ups. If this results, clogged pores develop into blackheads, pimples, whiteheads, cysts or lesions.The appearance of acne vary and can look different but there are at least 4 acne causes that can be identified. These are:
Heredity
Due to your heredity, you are not able to alter nor change these characteristics. Listening to your dermatologists recommendations, will be able to manage and eventually control your acne problem. Regardless of making changes to improve your condition you will be living a normal healthier life.
Affects of Changing Hormones
Using birth control pills to regulate homone levels is a common treatment with women. When young adults and teenagers avoid foods like white flour and sugar, they will reduce insulin and positively affect hormones.
Diet Changes Can Have Positive Affects
By avoiding caffeine, processed foods, carbonated beverages, pasta, fatty foods and start drinking fresh water, eating fresh fruits, vegetables and unprocessed foods you will see dramatic positive results in your skin. This is how you control your acne problems.
Stress Control Can Affect Your Acne Condition
Stress control will allow you to manage the affects of your acne. Don't let your boss, work, relationship or health worries cause you create extra stress, instead you should try relaxation techniques and exercise help you manage your stress. Methods such as aromatherapy,excersise,hypnotherapy and visualization can relieve stress and reduce acne outbreaks.
Acne Treatments
What if treatments like following a healthy diet, managing stress, trying to get proper amounts of rest, staying out of the suns or maintaining a skin care program fail to improve ones acne? Then you should seek a professionals help.Oral or topical medications can be recommended by your dermatologist. Both antibiotics and retinoids seems to offer the more successful treatments for acne. For reducing or slowing down acne, cosmetic treatments such as facials, dermabraion or laser treatments can be effective.
With Time Can Acne Improve?
Being patient over time will allow changes with your acne. If you are an adult now and you’ve noticed that your current treatment isn’t working, it is best to see your dermatologist to help you find a different treatment now that you are older. Currently there isn't a cure for acne but don't stop your treatments and do continue seeking new treatments.
Temporary Solution With Fast Results
Accutane can be prescribed as a last resort. Considered as a quasi-cure for acne, Accutane medication has a potential life threatening side effects. However there are excellent results with over 60% success. Severe depression or birth defects are some of the side effects. Because of this, you should talk to your doctor to see if you are eligible for this medicine.
Although this can sound like a gloomy reality for those who are having a hard time controlling there acne can still live a normal life. The key is to get educated about acne. Find out what causes acne? Discover what effective treatments are available and keep up to date on what the future hold for a cure.
Someone who has suffered with chronic acne can testify that frequent break outs will affect your daily life and bring your spirits down.
Acne is a common problem for teenagers, and most parents of those teens probably dealt with it themselves, to some degree. In most cases, the acne disappeared once the teenage years were past but this is little comfort to most teens in the midst of it now. As a parent, you need to provide moral support but also some good hard facts.
Now, just because you dealt with acne when you were a teen doesn’t make you an expert. The best acne treatments and medications have come a long way in the last few years. Knowing what is available today will let you help your child decide the best way to deal with their acne.
It’s always a good idea to talk to a health care professional for advice. For one thing, a dermatologist can tell you for sure whether those spots are in fact acne. There are other skin conditions that look similar, but need to be treated differently.
Teenagers are usually embarrassed by their acne, so it might be a touchy subject to talk about. You’ll know your teen best but it’s important to be supportive and understanding. Never accuse them of bad habits that led to acne - the old myths about acne being caused by chocolate and greasy foods have been proven to be false.
It’s likely that your teenager is trying every possible acne control technique. If if they avoid talking about it, it’s probably on their mind most of the time. It can affect their self image and in some cases can ultimately lead to depression and withdrawal.
Let them know that you’re available and will do whatever you can to help them with their acne problem. It can sometimes help to talk about your own experiences if you dealt with it as a teen.
While it’s probably small comfort to them, you can remind them that most teens deal with acne to some degree. Studies show that roughly 85% of adolescents have acne and up to 40% have a severe enough case to require dermatologist treatment.
Although there are cases of adult acne, in most cases it doesn’t last forever - as your teen gets older it will most likely become less and less of a problem for them. By the time they reach their 20’s, it will likely be a distant memory - at least until they have teenagers of their own!
If you have been suffering from acne for a while you have probably tried many treatments to solve your acne situation. Finding the best acne skin care product is becoming harder and harder with all the products available on the market.
The Best Acne Skin Care Products - What are the Ingredients?
Acne is usually the result of a certain cycle happening in your body. You see your Sebaceous gland role in your body is to keep your skin well moisturized by releasing oil onto the skin. For people who are suffering from acne like you, this oil is often blocked in your skin’s pores. This is what we call a pimple. For most people the process ends there but for people more incline to develop acne this is just the beginning of an acne outbreak. The acne breakout occurs when the oil trapped under your skin attracts bacteria that are called Propionibacterium. What happens next is that the bacteria feed on the oil blocking your skin’s pores causing it to grow. Your body then tries to defend itself by unleashing blood cells to attack the bacteria; the end result is red, swollen skin.
With all the new products on the market, finding the best acne skin care product is harder than ever. First it is important that you learn the essential ingredients that are effective to fight acne. As a general rule, products containing benzoyl peroxide are some of the best on the market. Benzoyl peroxide is very effective at unclogging skin pores, preventing the formation of pimples.
Other than benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid and alpha hydroxy are considered to be effective ingredients found in effective acne skin care products. These products are different than benzoyl peroxide because they mostly act as a preventive measure. This is very useful for people with dry skin because these products simply remove a thin layer of skin preventing you skin pores to be clogged.
One form of treatment that we must not forget is the natural approach. This type of treatment is becoming popular simply because it is natural and very effective. Natural treatments for acne are often considered amongst the most effective acne skin care products available. In most cases the products are in oil form and must be mixed with water before application. You can find most of these natural products in natural food store, products like:
- Oils
- Tea Tree
- Bergamot
- Clove
- Lavender
- Rosewood
The oil that is often considered the best acne skin care product is the tree oil. It is highly effective because it as the ability to fight the bacteria that is causing acne.
Finding the right acne skin care product can be hard with all the products on the market, but it is also necessary because it is the best way to prevent further acne breakout and improve your skin once and for all. See our recommended acne treatments or just click the following link to learn more about how to get rid of acne fast.
Oil build up on the skin is one of the primary causes of acne, so you will want to avoid getting any kind of oil on your skin. This includes mechanical oils and greases, as well as cooking oils. Oil is not moisture, and skin needs moisture. Determining the cause and caring for your type of acne, as well as properly caring for your skin is crucial in curing acne. Oils that cause acne come from under your skin, not from your diet.
Excess oil remains in the pore, blocking the sebaceous duct and creating a blockage within the follicle. Excess production of an oily substance that helps keep the hair and skin soft is a prime ingredient. This oil is Sebum, during adolescence the amount of sebum produced by your body is greatly increased. Excessive sugar level in blood is one of the causes that stimulate the sebaceous glands to produce more sebum. You know production of excessive sebum is a precursor of inflammation of hair follicles and sebaceous glands that soon turns into acne.
Hormones are also responsible for the acne flare-ups during menstruation and pregnancy. Hormonal imbalances may occur during teenage years, pregnancy, certain medical conditions, at times of extreme stress, and even during menopause in women. Hormones are released into the body starting around the teen years, to help a “child” body mature into an “adult” body. Hormones are the things that make a female grow breasts, a man’s voice grow deeper, and so on.
Sebaceous glands, which are attached to the hair follicle just below the skin’s surface, produce an oil called sebum. Normally, sebum empties onto the skin’s surface to lubricate the skin. Sebaceous glands are distributed mainly on the face and scalp, although they can also be found in the labia minor (small lip of the vagina) and on the scrotal skin, trunk, nipples and eyelids. These glands produce sebum which is an oily secretion that protects our skin from loss of moisture.
Hair sprays and other hair products that are used too close to the face are another cause of Jaw line acne as they clog the pores and cause acne eruptions. Using oil on the hair and especially when it falls over the face for some women is another cause of clogged pores which bring on jawline acne. Hair follicles produce an oil called sebum. If this oil builds up in the clogged pore it becomes infected, and the hair follicle becomes inflamed.
Drugs that have been shown to cause acne include anabolic steroids and corticosteroids, some anticonvulsants, lithium, isoniazid and rifampin, immunosuppressants, and drugs containing iodine. If you are taking any of these medications and suspect that the medication may be the cause of your acne problem, do NOT stop taking it. Drugs such as certain steroid tablets and some beauty products that block the pores can contribute to acne but contrary to popular beliefs, acne is not caused by eating fatty food or chocolates. Changing the brand of the soap makes the skin disturbed as it may not get easily adjusted to the newer brand. Changes are that you are actively creating these bacteria-friendly conditions in your body and actually aggravating your acne. As you can see it is not so easy to find an adult acne cure if we don’t understand first nd adult acne cause and origin.