You thought you had grown out of it. However, you find yourself confronted by acne breakouts similar to the ones you had as a teenager. What is going on and what can you do to alleviate the problem?
Acne is difficult to deal with no matter what your age and can cause nervous tension, depression and social anxiety for adults exactly as it does for teens. Adult acne is much more common than people realize, affecting millions of people. It is important to realize that you are not alone.
Unfortunately, adults can develop acne at any time. It is much more common in females and thought to be caused primarily by hormonal changes and/or daily stress. Stress causes your oil glands to overcompensate and hormones cause the sebaceous glands to overact, both precursors to skin eruptions.
CLEANSING YOUR FACE:
If washing your face well were the solution to eliminating your acne, you would not have acne. Unfortunately, cleansing your face only removes the surface dirt and does not unclog your pores. However, you must make sure you are cleansing your skin properly in order to keep your skin as healthy as possible.
*NEVER scrub your face. Using abrasive cleansers or rubbing with a washcloth will NOT help clear up your acne, but will instead make it worse.
*NEVER over-wash your face. This will upset your skin?s pH balance, making your skin dry, flaky, and more prone to breakouts. Once in the morning and once before you go to bed is more than sufficient.
*NEVER use harsh soaps. These will strip your skin of its natural oils. Use natural, herbal-based soaps that will cleanse your skin gently, allowing your skin to keep its delicate balance.
*NEVER use heavy, oil-based makeup that clogs your pores. Use pure, natural water-based cosmetics that will cover your skin?s imperfections without contributing to the problem.
DIET AND EXERCISE:
What, if anything, can you do to treat acne naturally? To begin with, go on a healthy and nutritious diet full of fruits and vegetables (at least five servings a day), exercise every day, and try to control your stress level. These changes will greatly benefit your acne treatments.
Drink water, lots of water. Water is necessary for flushing unhealthy toxins from the body and transporting crucial nutrients throughout your system. Water does not cure acne by itself, but it is essential for helping the skin in healing itself and remaining healthy.
The best exercises are simple aerobic movements like walking, jogging, or swimming. These exercises can generate an overall feeling of well-being and relieve depression, anxiety and stress by producing endorphins, the body's natural sleeping pill.
Make sure you get enough sleep! Devote enough time each night to get at least eight hours. Eight hours of restful sleep works wonders for an over-stressed body and an over-stressed mind.
ACNE TREATMENT OPTIONS:
Traditional treatments for acne include topical and oral remedies. Topical creams like benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, and Retin A assist in unplugging pores and prevent the development of blackheads and whiteheads. These topical medications reduce the redness of the skin and can help prevent future scarring.
Another method that can be used is microdermabrasion. This is a procedure that exfoliates the skin to assist in the reduction of blackheads and the discolored pigmentation that occurs with blemishes.
Microdermabrasion uses several peels. Enzyme peels absorb the dead skin cells on the surface. Salicylic acid peels penetrate all the way into the oil gland to reduce the production of oil.
Oral antibiotics can be the most effective form of adult acne treatment. Your doctor can prescribe an antibiotic from the tetracycline family. Antibiotics can reduce the bacteria on the skin and reduce the inflammation that causes the skin?s redness.
