Acne Care Prevention

If you never had an acne or acne related problems like pimples, whiteheads and blackheads, then I am very envious of you. For those of us that constantly have to battle against this will know the psychological ramifications it can have on our lives especially as a teenager. For some people that have suffered from acne may be lucky enough to only experience it during their teenage years and have been acne free since then. However, acne can continue into adulthood, which can be very disheartening.

Therefore, I feel that trying to search for a quick fix is insufficient. There must be a long term acne skin care solution. As once was said, “Prevention is better than cure”. I would like to explore this further in this hub. I'm definitely not saying that you should give up looking for an acne care treatment. I just want to place more emphasis and draw more attention toward prevention.

In the process of discussing the possible steps you can take to prevent the development of acne or at least minimizing the growth, I believe having a look at the cause would be beneficial.

On most of your body, you will have fine hair follicles in the skin, which are more commonly known as pores. Underneath your skin, lies what is called sebaceous glands that produce an oily matter referred to as sebum. The reason for the glands is to help lubricate your skin. Under normal circumstances, this sebum is meant to flow through the hair follicle and out of the skin. However, dead skin tissue that you shed sometimes remain on your skin and end up clogging the pores. The build up of sebum at the culprit pore and any trapped bacteria eventually results in acne.

So with this information, what can you do on a daily basis to help reduce the chances of these nasty acne from appearing, especially when you least want them to?

As you go about your daily business, you’re going to come in contact with a variety of items, most of which have been touched by people. All sorts of germs are likely to reside on the surfaces. Think about it – if you catch public transportation, you probably press a button, hold onto a hand rail. When you use a computer, you’re touching the keyboard and mouse. Even entering and exiting your office toilet (or worse, a public toilet), you’re touching the door handle and water taps.

Therefore, with all this going on, if you touch your face without properly cleaning your hands, you will passing these germs to your face and severely increase the likelihood of acne developing, particularly if there is a break in your skin.

That’s right – what you eat is very important. No matter how much you would like to deny this, it is simply fact. Eating excessive amounts of junk food (particular those that are greasy) can increase your chances of acne problems. Simply to have an overall better health, too much artificial ingredients can’t be good.

Instead, a regular diet of fruits and vegetable can help remove toxins in your body and contribute to acne care. Knowing what certain foods will make you prone to a breakout will be useful. For example, I really enjoy eating all kinds of nuts. However, there was one time I ate half a handful of peanuts everyday, and after about one and half weeks, I started getting acne growing on my scalp and neck. Once I stopped doing this, the acne began subsiding and no new acne appeared.

Recent studies have shown that stress can be a contributor to acne, particularly adult acne. When you stress, your adrenal gland kicks into high gear inducing hormonal release and the sebaceous glands pumps more sebum. The combination of these two things occurring can lead to acne outbreaks.

One other possible contributor to your acne problems is the products that you use your skin. Everyone has different skin types ranging from dry to oily as well as different levels of sensitivity to the ingredients contained within the products. The first step is to learn your skin type from a dermatologist. Then, before you purchase any products you intend to apply to your skin, such as cosmetics, make sure to check the ingredients and ask the shop keeper.

You should also be careful with the acne skin care products that you choose. Some can be quite harsh and hence do more harm over the long term rather than help you.

Before you go investing in an expensive acne skin care product, use the above guide and examine what are the things you are currently doing or not doing enough of. Reiterating my point earlier, I’m definitely not suggesting that all acne skin care products are not necessary or have no value. I’m just saying that natural acne skin care approaches should be explored first. Aside from all the various acne treatment skin care to a certain degree is reliant on how you live your life day to day - that is, through your diet, hygiene, etc.