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How to Treat Acne
Acne is the bane of millions of people every year, and especially younger folks who should otherwise be enjoying radiant, clear skin! But while acne is extremely annoying and almost ubiquitous, it’s also a problem that’s easy to tackle once you understand it and learn some effective strategies to deal with the issue.
In this guide, we’ll break down exactly what acne is and how you can treat it with the help of natural skin care products.
What is Acne?
To understand how to treat of acne, you first need to know where it comes from and what it is.
In a nutshell, your skin has hundreds of thousands of tiny pores, which are small openings in the skin where hair, moisture, and dead skin cells can all collect over time. Your pores can indeed become blocked by bacteria, oil, and other contaminants, even if you wash your face daily.
When a pore becomes too clogged with bacteria or other contaminants, a pimple or zit may develop. Acne is the plural form of this condition – it occurs when you have multiple pimples or zits at once. They can spread across your face or the rest of your body.
If you suffer from acne regularly, don’t feel too bad; acne is one of the most common skin conditions in the U.S., and likely in the world, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Furthermore, acne is annoying, but it’s not life-threatening and it can always be dealt with through the right treatment or products.
Where Does Acne Come From?
Acne can be caused by a wide variety of things, even though the core cause of the condition is the same: blocked skin pores that are clogged with dirt, dead skin cells, bacteria, and facial oil. You can end up with a lot of acne due to:
- Your skin type. Some people just have naturally oily or dry skin, both of which can lead to excessive acne. Naturally oily skin simply makes it easier for bacteria to flow into the bottom of your pores, which cause blockages. If you have dry skin, your skin may ironically produce extra oil to prevent moisture from being lost throughout the day, which can cause the same problem.
- Your environment. If you live in a place with a lot of environmental contaminants in the air, you might have a lot of acne since tons of dirt or other contaminants can get into your pores passively.
- Diet. Certain foods, especially those high in saturated fats, can cause your skin to produce extra oil or sweat. As a result, it’s all too easy for bacteria and dead skin cells to clog up your pores compared to if you ate more healthily.
- Hormones. There’s a reason why teenagers are stereotypically associated with acne. It’s because they have hormone spikes as they reach adulthood, which can cause the skin to produce extra sebum (the skin oil mentioned before). This, in turn, makes it much more likely that they’ll experience one or more acne outbreaks before they leave high school.
The good news is that there are multiple ways to treat acne regardless of the cause. With the exception of particularly bad acne or really intense dermatitis (both of which may require the assistance of a dermatologist or doctor), you can use any and all of the methods below to tackle your acne problem.
How to Treat Acne
There are a few major techniques and strategies you can employ to treat acne, plus some additional strategies you can use to supplement those primary methods.
Primary Methods
Follow a Holistic Skincare Routine
Skincare routines like the ones championed by Suki Skincare – with incorporate washing, toning, moisturizing, using a facial serum and exfoliation from time to time – have the best chance of getting rid of your acne over time plus giving you radiant skin you can be proud of.
The fact is that most acne is caused by dirty pores. If you clean the pores and give your skin the vitamins and nutrients it needs to regenerate, your acne should clear up unless there’s something else causing the condition.
Cue Suki’s Purifying Face Serum. With salicylic acid from white willow bark paired with powerful antibacterial extracts like echinacea, goldenseal, and zinc, this serum clarifies and purifies your complexion to ultimately help balance sebum, bacteria, and pH and target blemishing and redness at the source.
In order to make the most of a skincare routine, be sure that you prioritize natural skincare products that use gentle and organic ingredients. Furthermore, check out our multitude of guides to help figure out what a great skincare routine might be for you and your unique skin.
Toners are particularly important since they penetrate deep into your pores and can clear out dirt and debris that regular facial cleansers don’t reach. However, you should also look into exfoliating products. These can cleanse away dead skin cells and stop them from clogging up your pores, plus making your skin look and feel a lot younger at the same time!
Wash Your Face Appropriately
Want a simpler solution? Wash your face twice per day at a bare minimum and any time you exercise. Sweat is one of the number one medium through which bacteria and dirt can get into your skin’s pores. If you wash your face two or three times per day, you can get rid of the sweat, and a bunch of dirt and bacteria, without overly drying out your face or getting rid of too much sebum.
This is important since your face needs a certain amount of sebum present to prevent over-evaporation of water.
Use an Anti-Acne Cream or Treatment
You can either speak to a dermatologist or get an over-the-counter acne treatment at practically any grocery store or pharmacy. These acne treatments will usually have benzoyl peroxide, which is an active ingredient that can decrease the level of bacteria on your skin. This directly lowers the likelihood of an acne flareup.
Other treatments might contain retinoids that can reduce oily skin and unclog your pores over time. Other acne creams will contain salicylic acid. This acid is a bit harsher but is the most common anti-acne ingredient, so it may be a good choice if you don’t have overly sensitive skin.
Additional Things to Try
Wash Your Pillows and Clothes
When you sleep at night, you may inadvertently be rubbing dead skin cells and bacteria into your pores. This can make it much more likely that you’ll experience an acne outbreak. Wash your pillowcases and any clothes that come into contact with your skin or face. In other words, do your laundry! It really can have a positive effect.
Don’t Pop Your Acne<
It can be tempting to attack those pimples and zits with everything you have, but you really shouldn’t. The pus and bacteria contained in the pimples can easily spread to the rest of your pores if you aren’t careful. It’s always better to apply your acne treatment and let the pimple dissipate over time.
Use Non-Comedogenic Skincare Products
Whenever you use a skincare product, be sure that it's non-comedogenic. This just means that the skincare product won’t clog your pores and won’t exacerbate your acne issue. Most of Suki Skincare’s products are non-comedogenic by default.
Avoid Touching Your Face
Our hands, regardless of how often we wash them, get absolutely filthy over the course of a regular day. If you constantly find yourself touching your mouth and face, stop! Not only is this not good due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s also important for your skin health.
When you touch your face, you may accidentally rub dirt and bacteria into your pores. Doing this will only make your acne problems worse, even if your face feels overly itchy or irritated. Do your best to ignore the temptation to scratch or rub at your facial skin.
Wash Your Mask
If you’re wearing a mask due to the pandemic (and you really should be), be aware that a particular type of acne called “maskne” for short could affect you even if you don’t normally suffer from acne outbreaks.
If this has happened to you, be sure to wash your mask and follow the other strategies above.
Summary
As you can see, there are multiple ways you can tackle your acne depending on your skin type and sensitivity. In our opinion, you’ll see the best results if you combine multiple methods simultaneously. For instance, you can adopt a holistic skincare routine, wash your pillowcase, and try to avoid touching your face all in the same day.
One last thing – no matter which of these methods you decide to try, be sure to give them each up to four weeks to really have an effect. You can’t expect even the best acne cream or treatment to provide life-changing results overnight. In most cases, it takes up to two or three weeks for a medicine or skincare routine to fully take hold in your skin and give you the clear skin you’ve been dreaming of.
We’ll bet you’ll see fantastic results sooner than you think if you adopt these kinds of strategies. Let us know if we can help and be sure to check out our skincare products for some great, non-comedogenic solutions.
If you already have a good skincare routine but need a little extra power, check out our Concentrated Clarifying Toner, which balances oil and bacteria production and purifies pores!
Sources
https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/acne/DIY/wont-clear