Acne can be profoundly irritating, and it can affect you at any age. It has a myriad of potential causes. Fortunately, the array of treatment options available to you is nearly as vast. Regardless of the cause, your acne issue may respond well to some of the possible treatments outlined in this article.
If you have a breakout, resist the urge to scratch or "pop" any pimples. This could cause an infection, scaring, or maybe even both. Try over-the-counter medications, creams, and astringents first. If your acne worsens, consider making an appointment with a dermatologist who can suggest something more effective.
A good wash if you suffer from serious acne is a mild solution of salt water. Salt water will clean the oils and dirt off of your skin in the same way a cleanser would, but without the detrimental drying effects of many commercials cleansers that are intended for acne treatment.
Not wearing make-up, or changing to a water based foundation, may make a difference when caring for acne. Make-up can exacerbate your break-outs by clogging your pores. If you stay away from makeup it will clear up your pores.
Use only one cream at a time to treat acne. People often want to get rid of acne as soon as they can, so they mix together a lot of different lotions and creams and think that they will work better as a unit. Don't do this, because it might end up doing more harm than good.
Consider adding an overnight treatment to your skin care product line. While you sleep, increases in hormones encourage your glands to create oil. This causes your skin to have a shiny appearance and can also encourage the development of acne. Using an overnight treatment can combat some of these concerns.
If over-the-counter treatments haven't improved your acne breakouts, a dermatologist can prescribe more advanced treatments. A cream that might be prescribed for you is Retin-A, which you apply to your skin daily. While effective for many patients, it's important to understand that it does take several weeks to achieve improvement.
If you have a tendency to suffer from acne breakouts, it is important to avoid extended exposure to sunlight. This includes exposure to sunlamps and tanning booths. Even though it is true that a small amount of sun exposure may initially help your acne, it is only a temporary benefit. In the short term, your acne might be a bit less noticeable, but that is only because you skin has been reddened by the sun, so your acne blends in better to your skin tone. Extended exposure to the sun's rays will dry out your skin which will cause your sebaceous glands to produce even more oil.
An important tip to consider when concerning acne is knowing where acne can occur on your body. This is important in order to distinguish acne from other ailments. Acne will commonly occur on your face, and other times it may show up on the neck, chest, back, or your shoulders. It technically can occur in other places that may have clogged pores, but this would be more likely to occur from bad hygiene.
There are some vitamins that are known for treating acne. Taking a multivitamin each day can make it easier to know that you are getting the vitamins that you need. Vitamin B and Omega 3 are two of the most important nutrients to get to help the appearance of your skin.
If you have acne issues, avoid any skincare or cosmetic product that has an oil base. Most acne sufferers already have an excess of naturally-occurring oil that contributes greatly to acne susceptibility. If you add artificial products with their own oils to the mix you are just adding fuel to the fire.
Make sure that you remember to moisturize after applying your acne treatment. Most acne treatments will dry out your skin. This is what most of them are designed to do. This is a good thing, but if you allow your skin to remain dry it can cause redness and irritation.
You should never think of acne as inevitable. While some of its causes are beyond your control, some are issues that you can address or even resolve. It may not even require much effort for you to treat a lot of the underlying causes of your acne. Tips like the ones presented in this article, can help you put yourself in control of your acne situation.