Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Three Ways to Treat Acne

By Rose Williams

Acne is nasty. However, it's not a problem that cannot be tackled. There are loads of acne skin care items around. We can catalog acne skin care products into 3 broad types:

1] Deterrent or all-purpose acne skin care items; 2] Over-the-counter, specialised acne skin care products; 3] Prescription acne skin care items.

The general acne skin care items are the ones that are used as an acne-prevention measure. These include cleansers, make-up removers and similar items that help avoid acne. In the real sense, these acne skin care items are those that should be part of your daily schedule anyway. However, some of these are more orientated to work like an acne skin care product.

These acne skin care items work against the causes of acne e.g. limiting the production of sebum/oil and preventing the clogging of skin pores. Essentially, these acne skin care products inhibit the oil from getting trapped in the skin and consequently hamper the escalation of the bacteria that lead to acne. Broad-spectrum acne skin care products also take in exfoliation items like skin peels. These work by exfoliating dead skin cells, thereby reducing the possibility of pore-clogging and bacteria development.

Then there are specialised acne skin care items that are available over-the-counter i.e. without the requirement of a prescription. These include items like vanishing creams which remove the extra oil from the skin. Most of these acne skin care items are based on benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid, both of which are the enemies of bacteria (and hence acne too). You must start with a product that has a lower concentration of benzoyl peroxide (e.g. 5%) and see how your skin responds to it.

Alpha-hydroxy-acid based moisturizers are also popular as acne skin care products. You might have to test a few, before you find the acne skin care product that is most effective for you. If nothing seems to work, you should get in touch with a dermatologist.

On-prescription acne skin care items are the ones that are prescribed by a dermatologist. These include ointments that can be applied on the affected area or oral antibiotics or just any topical treatment. Dermatologists might also suggest a minor surgical procedure to do away with the contents of pustules. However, never try to squeeze or do this by yourself, it can lead to the everlasting damage of your skin.

Your physician could also prescribe a hormone-based treatment (since hormonal changes are also known to cause acne). Such acne skin care items are known to be very efficacious in many circumstances. So, with all those acne skin care items, tackling acne is really not all that difficult. - 14130

About the Author:

No comments: