If it is one thing that ruins a teenager's life is dealing with acne. With all the pressures of high school: algebra test, essays, power point presentations on the Boston Tea Party, and the all important social life you can see why skin care is one of the last thing on a fifteen year old boy's mind. Unfortunately the ruling factor in high school life is the social life. In order to have a healthy social life you need to have confidence, which is derived from self-esteem, and it is tasking to have high self-esteem with acne. Luckily there are a myriad of products to help combat that pesky bad skin. Starting with the mildest form of treatment there is topical benzoyl peroxide. It can be found in face wash, soaps, and creams. Benzoyl peroxide is a mild bleach and works by getting rid of dirt, oils, and bacteria that clog pores. Benzoyl peroxide can be used for mild to moderate acne. Essentially you are to apply the benzoyl peroxide to the affected area at least twice a day. The draw back of utilizing benzoyl peroxide is that it can dry out the skin. Dryness can be combated with oil-free moisturizers.
Topical antibiotics can be used to combat bacteria that can be harbored in clogged follicles. Topical antibiotics such as erythromycin, clindamycin, or stiemycin, or tetracycline work just as well as oral antibiotics, but you don't have to deal with the nasty side effects that can encompass upset stomach and it won't deactivate your contraceptive pill. Unfortunately, as quickly as two to three days after you stop application break outs will occur. Oral antibiotics work similarly to the topical except in the case when you stop treatment. Oral antibiotics will continue to work for weeks after treatment has ended.
Women have the option of taking hormonal treatments. There is an overwhelming amount of hormonal contraception available. Cortisone for example is an injection that immediately gets rid of the redness and swelling of really stubborn pimples.
Most hormonal contraception is pill form and also act as birth control. Topical retinoids work to regulate the cell follicle life cycle. They are generally related to vitamin A and have mild side effects. Topical retinoids can cause skin irritation. Over a period of 4-6 months oral retinoids can achieve long-term results. Doctors have to closely watch patients who decide too take oral retinoids as a form of treatment because of their side effects. Some side effects are dry skin, dry mucosa, and nosebleeds. There are some reports of these types of drugs damaging people's livers and also reports stating that they lead to depression. Another form of acne treatment is phototherapy.
Phototherapy involves using violet light (405-420nm) twice a week. Receiving treatment twice a week results in 64% reduction of lesions. What occurs is free radials attack P. acne (Propionibacterium acne) when hit by 420nm or less wavelengths. Phototherapy can also be done with red light also know as visible light which has longer wavelengths than violet light. If one exposes the affected with 660nm daily they will achieve up to 76% reduction. Side effects are rarely experienced and clear skin can be enjoyed for longer periods after treatment than both oral and topical bacterial killers. Bad skin is incredibly difficult to deal with, but at least there is more than just one way to deal with it.
Our skin's appearance is very important to us personally of course, but it seems to have been only made more important by the emphasis of "flawless skin" in beauty magazines, tabloids and other media outlets that our society has become so enthralled with. It's no wonder that the skincare industry has enjoyed growth and profits in leaps and bounds over the past fifteen to twenty years.
So, what can you do, besides enlist the help of an expensive dermatologist or skin care spa to help combat acne and prevent new breakouts on your own, for next to nothing - or better yet, free? Well, we will focus on things you can change in your diet to get rid of or dramatically reduce acne breakouts, since what we put in our mouths is more key for the skin's appearance and health than most people may think.
There are many schools of thought on what to avoid and what to include in the diet if you are to attain and maintain clear skin. However, one thing remains pretty clear, and that is the avoidance of sugary foods and caffeine. I cannot tell you how many times I have experienced major breakouts that I can directly attribute to the consumption of sugar or caffeine in excess.
Sure, it's ok to have a sweet snack (a small one!) here and there, and not suffer the consequences of a few new pimples, but by and large it is prudent to either strictly limit sugar or try to eradicate it all together if you have problem skin.
Sugar has many destructive properties that are bad for overall health, but it's recently also been proven to have properties that accelerate the aging process of the skin when chemically broken down by our bodies, and also to lend a hand in the inflammation of skin cells.
Inflammation is a direct cause of acne, since it is, by definition an inflammatory skin condition, so we can safely say that sugar is indeed a category of food to be avoided in the quest to be acne free, oh and also to keep your skin young too!
OK, enough about sugar, now let's move onto to another culprit behind acne. Caffeine can have similar effects on the skin to sugar, since it actually may increase inflammation, especially in some people who are more caffeine-sensitive than others (like myself).
With all the super caffeinated beverages out on the market today, it's no wonder we're all not walking around with broken out faces. I suspect that teens especially are susceptible to the caffeinated drink rage, which is unfortunate because they may be unknowingly aggravating their skin and causing breakouts at the age where they are more apt to break out anyway.
Caffeine can also produce an uneven and "bumpy" texture of the skin. Beverages aren't the only culprit either, since there are many supplements, pills and diet aids that contain stimulants that will break your skin out faster than you can say "energy". Caffeinated drinks and other products containing stimulants should be avoided if you want to avoid rough, broken out skin.
If you want to try to neutralize inflammation caused by eating foods that increase skin volatility as mentioned above, a good suggestion is to start drinking lemon water.
Not only is drinking lemon juice infused water a refreshing difference from plain old water, but water with about an eighth of a lemon (preferably organic) squeezed into it can help neutralize acidity in the body caused by acid-producing foods, which in turn limits inflammation.
Seriously, begin to drink lemon juice infused water for a few days and I'd be surprised if you don't see at least a little difference in the way your skin looks.
If you want to get really adventurous, add a sprinkle or two of cinnamon, again prefereably organic, to your water, and you may also enjoy a bit of a revved up metabolism as well as a more stabilized blood sugar level, as research is showing cinnamon has excellent benefits for blood sugar stabilization. Why do I mention blood sugar? Well, because a stable blood sugar level helps to lower inflammation, and it also helps reduce the effects of stress and anxiety which can trigger higher levels of androgens in the body, which are the very hormones that cause acne.
And there you have it, free or very cheap, easily incorporated, and dare I say "pleasant" ways to combat acne. Not only do these suggestions help reduce breakouts, they are also generally beneficial to your health in other numerous ways. Who says everyone needs a dermatologist or expensive skin care regimens to achieve pristine skin?
Both Dexter Bedd & Danna Schneider are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Danna Schneider has sinced written about articles on various topics from Acne Treatment, Types of Cancer and Aging Problems. Danna Schneider is the founder of , a very popular weblog about acne and how to treat it, and. Danna Schneider's top article generates over 90500 views. to your Favourites.