Ashwin Kumar

What is acne?

Acne or pimples is not only a problem for teenagers but also for the ages between 10 through 40.It is not strange for women to develop acne in their mid-to-late 20’s. Even if they have no breakouts,

Acne can appear in following ways:

• Congested Pores
• Cysts
• Pustules
• Whiteheads
• Blackheads

These occur due to excessive oil glands mainly on the face, chest and back

Causes for Acne:

Acne develops when oil glands come to life from adrenal glands of both men and women. Oil is the natural substance that is being lubricated to protect the skin. Oil motivates bacteria to multiply though it doesn’t create any problem but causes surrounding tissues to be come inflamed.

Pustule is developed if the inflammation is right near the surface; if it’s deeper then pimple is produced, and if still deeper then it’s a cyst. Whitehead is the result when oil breaks through to the surface. If the oil becomes oxidized then the oil changes from white to black and resulting in blackhead.
Some factors that don’t usually cause acne, at least by them selves are:

• Heredity
• Food
• Dirt
• Stress
• Hormones
• Cosmetics

Some factors contributing acne are:

• Pressure
• Drugs
• Occupations

How can acne be avoided our own:

The three ways to avoid acne is to

• Clear Pores
• Kill Bacteria
• Minimize oil

Though everyone cannot sleep for eight hours, drink liters of water and have good meals thrice but can control acne if they maintain their lifestyle frantic and volatile. Never squeeze or pick pimples, even if you are clean and careful playing with pimples makes them redder and makes a mark that takes a month to fade.

Open the pores:
A mild cleansing bar can be used to wash the face once or twice a day to keep clean and helps in minimizing irritation and sensitivity. Mild scrubs, masques and exfoliants can be used as they contain fine granules or salicylic acid to make a mild peeling agent which helps in opening pores by removing the outer layer of the skin.

Kill the Bacteria:
Benzoyl Peroxide, sulphur and resorcinol are the best antibacterial cleanser used to kill bacteria. Products like gels, creams and lotions can also be applied to the affected area.

Minimizing Oil:
Generating oil glands cannot be stopped. Though isotretinoin slows down oil glands for a while but later it comes into life.

In order to get rid of oil on the surface of the skin and reduce embarrassing shine by using a toner to wipe away oil. Products containing glycolic acid or ant alpha-hydroxy acids are helpful in cleaning the skin by peeling the superficial layer. Masques containing sulphur and other ingredients draw facial oil and antibacterial pads containing benzoyl peroxide help in wiping away oil.

Acne:
Acne is not only a teenage problem but also affects adults in a large number. About 25% of adult men and 50% of adult women are affected in their life time. Its not that all have the serious cases of acne majority of the people have minor cases, still affects adults the same way as it affects teenagers. Depression, embarrassment and self-consciousness can be the cause of acne problem.

Factors causing Acne in Adults:

Though there is no exact cause for acne but it can be related to the hormone levels. Androgens, male hormones present both in men and women. Hormonal imbalance can also cause acne. Androgens start to get produced during puberty, which is the main reason for the teens to be affected by acne. The changes in adults like menstrual cycles, pregnancy, and menopause can cause change in hormones. These can be treated by doctor in order to avoid acne.
Other reasons that can produce acne are:

• Oily substances
• Poor eating habits
• Lack of exercise
• Medication and steroids

Tips to treat Acne:

Though there are various medical and natural methods for treating acne, still there is no single best adult acne treatment as everybody’s skin type is not the same, as are the causes of acne.

Herbal remedies and certain type of facial cleanser can be few natural treatments that help to control acne. Natural treatments have advantages over some other type of acne medication like minimal side effects, lower cost and less invasive. As everybody’s skin in not the same so naturally the treatments also must be different.

Some of the most popular natural remedies include:

• Wash the face twice a day with non-oily face wash.
• Oily cosmetics should be avoided.
• Natural astringent cleansers can used to dry the skin.

Some of the herbal remedies include:

• A paste of honey and cinnamon can be applied to the skin at night and washed in the morning.
• Lemon juice along with cinnamon can be applied to acne.
• Fresh mint juice can be used as a rub.
• Acne cream can be prepared from ground up orange peel and water and it can be applied for 20-30 minutes.