My Little Acne World
Just some of my personal rantings and ravings.
One thing that I am almost certain of in the uncertain world of acne is that hormones do play a role in acne. I am absolutely 100% positive it does. It is common knowledge that overactive hormones produce sebum and this is what in large amounts is giving you acne. I also feel that you ca n be healthy and still get acne, but having a healthy body does not mean that it will work with your skin though. I am slim and fit, eat good food, have seen dermatologists and this is what brings me to that conclusion. OK more on that later, what I want to talk about now is body mapping your skin, as some people actually get acne on the exact same place on their bodies for years. Take back acne for example, why does it always occur on your back? Knowing a bit about how your skin works will help you get rid of acne faster.
OK so body mapping is a technique that a lot of skin people use. You basically start from the top and work your way down your body exploring how each part of your skin works with your body. So lets start with the forehead.
Forehead
Acne on your forehead is a sign that you have a lot of toxins in your body, if this is the case for you look and what you are eating and start upping your water intake. You need to clear your digestive system properly this may mean looking at your diet. Also are you drinking too much coffee? Anti oxidants are great for clearing out toxins in your body.
Nose
Acne on your nose is a sign of high blood pressure. Do you have a poor diet? Look at cutting out some of that junk food and sugar out of your diet. Fruit, vegetables and good meat cuts are the way forward.
Area between your eyes ( cannot remember the name???)
This area seems to be linked with the liver. A few ways to improve the health of your liver is to cut out dairy products and unhealthy oils also drink plenty of water to flush out those toxins. Try eating smaller meals so you do get into the habit of having food lying in your system on all the time.
The Upper Cheek
This area is connected with out lungs. Are you a smoker? Are you around people that smoke? Smoke contains toxins which is not good for your skin in general. Just another thing to be aware of.
The Lower Cheek
Strangely enough acne on your lower check is linked to poor dental hygiene. You learn something new everyday!! So as you should know brush your teeth at night and in the morning and have a good head on that tooth brush. Visit your dentist a the very least once annually. Well you should know the rest.
Ears
Yes this is one place that I seem to get acne and it is really annoying to. If you get acne on you ear you will know what I am talking about, it usually comes in the form of those nasty cyst type spots also. So if you are having issues with your kidneys then this could be the problem. Again your kidneys need to be flushed out with a regular intake of water, 8 glasses a day is the norm. The key word here is anti oxidants, look into them.
Chin
Your small intestine is effected here, again look at a poor diet and look at your water intake. Poor diet and lack or water means a build up of toxins which is not good for that acne.
Neck and Chest
I do not seem to really get spots in this area, but when I shower I have little red marks on my neck and chest, weird! OK so stress is what seems to affect this area. If you are suffering from stress, the number one cause of stress is lack of sleep get some. Stress messes with your hormones fix this and it will be your best acne treatment bar none. Also get some exercise apart from being good for your overall health, exercise is a great stress relief.
Back or Bacne
OK last one, back acne seems to come in the form of cysts, yes the ones that hurt when you touch them. Your back is sensitive look at what you are wearing, do you sweat a lot. Do you wear a backpack that rubs against your skin a lot. These are the usual causes of back acne.
Body Mapping your Acne
Get a Better Price on Acne Treatment with the Use of Baking Soda
If you don’t want to spend a lot of cash for acne products, then opt for baking soda instead. It is an effective alternative and a lot cheaper on the pocket to. Baking soda can be acquired just about anywhere. It can be used to help with your acne, get rid of some acne scarring and it can even be used as an exfoliant.
It would be helpful to make use of an exfoliant because it can eliminate sebum that obstructs the pores, which is known as the primary cause of acne development. Baking soda can be employed as a good exfoliant for clearing out your pores. As well as being a great exfoliant it also is effective to keep the balance of your skin's PH levels. Hormonal problems take place if your skin’s pH level is abnormal. Bear in mind acnes have a tendency to form when your hormone is extremely active. It is a very safe ingredient to utilize and has no known side effects unlike a lot of the popular acne brands out there, that make use of harsher chemical substances to remove your acne.
How do you make use of baking soda?
Baking soda works better when used as an exfoliant, but you must turn it into a paste to be able to do it.
Making the paste
In making a paste, all you have to do is to mix a bit of baking soda and water until it is close to the consistency of a toothpaste. Apply it in your face and wipe slowly. Leave it there for 20 minutes. Be sure you put on the paste in a soft circular direction. The skin will become irritated if you rub hard, which in turn causes acne formations to intensify. Once on your face, the paste will start to clean out the pores off your skin. Once you are finished you should then clear the paste of with water. Apply it at least 2-3 times per week in order to get the best outcome.
Acne Scarring
Not only will baking soda help your acne, but it will also help with any scarring you have on the skin. To make use of it for scarring again we make a paste with water, but this time we leave the paste on through the night while we sleep. When you get up the next day, you will then wash off the paste. Irritation might occur if baking soda is left on the skin for too long. Actually, you can try out if irritation will happen by observing how your skin reacted a few hours after you put it on.
The overall outcomes may vary depending to the type of skin and sensitivity of the skin. Acne can be tough to get rid of and sometimes you just have to pay the money to get a proper acne treatment to help you eliminate it. But you should at least try baking soda on your skin for about a month. Even if it doesn’t get rid of your acne, your skin will be glowing from using it.
Body Acne
Having acne in and around your face is bad enough; however, many have severe acne on their bodies as well. And even though you can cover up back and chest acne over the winter it becomes much more obvious when the summer sun appears. Of course you don’t wish to miss having a great time at the beach. But, you don’t want to get uncomfortable because of your acne, your choice is to conceal or perhaps you might choose not to go at all. The real question is, why does acne appear on people’s chests and back? The simple answer is that there is a large amount of oil glands in that area of the body. Acne also shows up in the buttocks as well as legs and it can be very painful to touch.
And the reason why you have acne on your back or chest is the same as your face clogged pores. When our sebaceous glands secrete a lot of sebum, our skin will clog. In addition, acne on the body is hard to eliminate.
The Proper Way of Treating Acne
Treating acne on your body is the same as treating acne on your face. In cleansing your skin, you should use the appropriate cleanser for your body skin type and make use of towels or loofah scrubber. It is essential to clean your body initially before applying some acne treatment. Dirt on your body should be removed first. One thing to keep in mind is that you must not rub your skin.
The idea that rubbing one’s skin roughly can cause irritation and outbreaks; it is suggested to perform a soft caressing motion. It is preferable to use benzoyl peroxide for curing acne imediately after you have cleansed your body. You can buy this in most chemists with no doctor's prescription and it can prickle initially, but your skin should become used to it after a couple of days. If after a week you are still in discomfort while using it then it could be that your skin it too delicate for it and it might be best to stop using it.
For effective usage of benzoyl peroxide, you need to apply it at night so that you will not feel the itchiness it gives. Also, this product can bleach colourful clothing so it is advisable to use the product when you are about to sleep. So what you must do is to use it and then wear an old t-shirt to bed. If you would like apply this during the day, then you have to put on extra t-shirt, white to be specific for your shirt not to get bleached.
If using benzoyl peroxide does not clear your acne, you have another option and this is by applying salicylic acid. However, salicylic acid is not easy to purchase unlike benzoyl peroxide. You can search the internet to look for the product. But if these two treatments do not treat your acne after a month of applying it, you must go to your doctor and ask for advice.
Acne Product Ingredients
They are so many acne products on the market nowadays. But what ingredients do they have? Acne products mainly use a mixture of both natural and medical type ingredients. Not all are using exactly the same though and as everybody reacts differently to different ingredients it is worth knowing what you are buying. Each ingredient has a propose and knowing what type of acne you have and what ingredient is best to use to fight it, is very important. People go out and buy anything without knowing really what it is they have bought.​
Aloe Vera​
This is one cool ingredient literally. It helps to cool your skin from the some of the harsher ingredients used in acne products. This plant has been used for treating skin for a long time. It is great for reducing inflammation in your skin; its cooling properties are so good that people also use it for burns.​
Eastern Purple Coneflower (Echinacea)​
This plant is used to keep your immune system in tip top shape. A healthy immune system is capable of fighting some elements of acne without using treatment. Black and whiteheads alone are can be cured by your immune system.​
Dandelion​
A herb that can often been seen growing in many gardens and parks. This is another ingredient that helps to keep your immune system in good working order. It also helps with blood circulation, which we all should know is important for having a healthy heart.​
Burdock Root and Yellow Doc​
Burdock Root is used to clear any bad toxins from your body. A body clear of toxins means better skin. Yellow Dock works on your digestive system by keeping it clear of toxins.
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Gardenia​
Gardenia is a herb that has been around in Chinese medicine for a long time. It has laxative properties that help to keep your digestive system working right. It also clears out toxins from your system.
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Atlantic Kelp​
Atlantic Kelp is an algae that is rich in vitamins and minerals. It is very good for keeping your hormones at a safe level with regards to acne. Over active hormones mean you will get acne. It is also great for clearing out toxins from your body.​
Cayenne​
This is a plant that is used in many hot dishes threw out the world. It is also known as a pepper or capsicum. It is used in acne products as it helps to sweat out toxins from your body.​
Turmeric​
Another spice that used quite a lot in dishes across the world. Turmeric has great anti-bacterial and anti-septic properties that mean it is great for treating acne. In certain parts of the world women are known to rub it onto their faces as they believe it helps to keep their skin clear?​
Licorice Root​
This is a plant that is very good for fighting the inflammation caused by acne. It also has antioxidant properties that are good for keeping your liver healthy.​
If you look at any acne product on the market today you will see a lot of these ingredients listed. It is handy to know what their uses are.
Pregnancy,birth control pills- How to
Acne generally starts out in our teens as this is the time when our hormones start to play games with us and it is generally believed that hormones play a big part in acne production. So with increased Hormonal activity comes more acne in theory. This is why you see pregnant women get acne as there hormones are usually all over the place. Contraception pills also play havoc with your hormones. If you do take any birth control pills and you notice that you have a lot of acne then you should speak to your doctor about this. Different types of birth control pills have different effects on your hormones. It may just be a matter of getting your doctor to chance the pills you are using now. There are a few brands out there that will help clear up your acne and one of those is Ortho Tri-cyclen. Although you should not be using birth control pills to clear your acne this should only be used as a last resort.
Acne and Pregnancy
It is normal for women who are pregnant to have some sort of increase in their acne. This is natural as women bodies go through a lot of changes during pregnancy. Hormones are to play in getting acne while you are pregnant and the two hormones in women that achieve this are progesterone and estrogen. Increased progesterone will make the body produce more sebum which will clog up your pores and acne bacteria will start to breed.
The problem with trying to treat acne during pregnancy and especially with oral medications is that you are putting the foetus at risk to problems before it is even born and in some cases acne medication has been known to cause birth defects in unborn babies. Acne during pregnancy is just a natural side effect to you being pregnant and the best way to deal with it would be just to get on with it and wait until your baby is born and then you will see an improvement in your skin. Treating acne during pregnancy is a dangerous game with play. If you are thinking about it then please at least consult your doctor before you think about trying any kind of acne cream of medication.
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If you really want to treat your acne during pregnancy then you should ask your doctor to recommend you to a dermatologist who will then should be better equipped to tell you what treatments you can use when you are pregnant
Shoulder Acne
Acne on the shoulder usually effect back with back acne, but people with just facial acne can get it sometimes as well. Sometimes it can be very easily diagnosed with something like tight fitting clothing of a strap from a bag rubbing against your shoulder and other times it can be hormonal and very hard to diagnose. The problem with shoulder acne from my own experience is that it tends be in the form of cystic acne that is very difficult to remove and can at the minimum leave scarring for six months after it has gone.
If it is causes by clothing, sweat or irritation from rubbing then it is most like Acne Mechanica. What usually happens here is that the skin is irritated and for some reason this causes the body to produce more sebum and because the skin in this area of the body can be so tough, we generally get cystic acne. Now this can be fixed easy enough by changing clothing and not trying to irritate the area of the skin with bag straps etc. But if this is not the case then we would need to look at some kind of treatment to fix it. The single most effective acne ingredient for this would be benzoyl peroxide. Although using it just on its own can be a bit too much for your skin. There are some very good products out there that use it like Exposed skin Care and Clearpores, but they use other ingredients with it to numb down the after effects of it on the skin.
You could go down the road of natural treatments, but that is going to do very little for stubborn cystic acne on your shoulders. Even Retin A and Accutane is not known to have much of an effect on it.
If you are going to use benzoyl peroxide then you should read this article on how to wash with it properly, but be warned that using it as a single ingredient can leave your skin looking raw and it will bleach your clothing when used on its own so wear some old clothes under your shirts to protect them.