How To Get Rid Of Acne

How to get rid of acne is an often asked, but not so simple to answer question.  I personally am not a doctor or dermatologist, however I do know enough that I can confidently say that for some people acne is simply a fact of life.  There’s just no getting around the fact that no matter what steps you take to prevent an outbreak of acne, sometimes it is inevitable.  I still get the occasional pimple, even though I am well past the teen years!  My best suggestion for how to get rid of acne would have to be to see a dermatologist.

Now that I have that out of the way you should know that I am not simply writing my own thoughts and opinions.  I have done my research about how to get rid of acne and this is what I have found.  There is a variety of acne types as well as a variety of reasons for people to get acne.  This is a broad overview for treating acne, but if you have a specific kind of acne the information below may serve as a starting point for further investigation by you into getting rid of your acne problem.

Preventing Acne and Getting Rid of Acne

The first step is to gather up all your hair products, cosmetics and make up and to find out which ones are oil based.  Get rid of these.  One of the main reasons people get acne is due to excess oil on their skin, so adding more oil from external sources is not going to help the problem.  Besides the external products you should be wary of foods containing excess oil such as many snack foods and fast foods.  Young people are notorious for not eating right, but even older folks can benefit from this advice.  Making small changes to your lifestyle and the way you eat can bring great benefits to your complexion.

You also want to make sure you are not using really harsh cleaners on your skin.  Many of the soaps and lotions that are designed to dry up your skin do their job very well, too well in fact.  You will find that they strip too much oil from your skin causing your glands to produce even more oils to compensate.  The oil produced by your body naturally is meant to keep your skin from drying out, so when your skin gets too dry the body responds by pumping out even more oil.  This cycle can eventually lead to worse acne symptoms and even damage to your subaceous glands.

You can avoid harsh cleansers by simply bathing regularly and washing with a gentle cleanser.  Many of the natural soaps, such as tea tree oil soap are quite gentle and will help to keep you clean without stripping away all of the oil from your skin.  You might be amazed at how twice daily showers with a gentle cleanser will reduce the severity of your acne symptoms.

Many people are prone to picking, prodding and squeezing their pimples…don’t ever do this!  When you squeeze, you are not only forcing the liquid out of the pimple, you are also forcing liquids deeper in.  This can cause a fluid build up inside the glands, infections and eventually damage to the subaceous glands.  In addition, whenever you touch the acne with your fingers you are rubbing all the oils and bacteria from your fingers onto your acne.  This by itself can cause your acne to become worse and can even lead to infections.

Just like I mentioned at the beginning of the article the best way to get rid of acne is to see a dermatologist.  They can recommend a suitable soap or lotion to help you fight your acne problems.  While you can find many products in the store that are labeled dermatologist tested or dermatologist recommended, there will not be nearly as effective as the product that a dermatologist recommends for your specific case.  He or she will be able to determine the most likely cause of your acne and make recommendations based on years of experience for which product is going to be most effective in combating your case of acne.  These can include both over the counter as well as prescription solutions and both lotions and soaps.

Dermatologist Recommended Acne Treatments

The most commonly prescribed acne medication is one that is a derivative of vitamin A, usually either retinoic acid (known as Retin-A) or adapalene (known as Differin).  Both of these are mild lotions that help to remove dead skin cells, therby keeping the pores clear.  Usually they are used in conjunction with a mild antibiotic to control the bacteria present in mild acne cases.

If your acne is more severe the dermatologist may prescribe a more powerful antibiotic to control the acne.  Recently though many dermatologists are being cautioned to use stronger antibiotics sparingly and are being steered instead towards prescribing the drug Accutane to treat severe acne cases.  If you have cystic acne then this will help, however you need to be aware that Accutane can come with some pretty strong side effects.  You will want to weigh the pros and cons of using it before committing to taking Accutane.

Females have one final option and that is the use of oral contraceptives.  The hormones in some of the birth control pills can be beneficial in treating acne, however they do have their own set of side effects.  Consider carefully if they are worth using and can help you to control your acne problem.

Now that you’ve read through everything you can see that solving the problem of how to get rid of acne can be quite complex.  If you have already tried some of the things I am suggesting in this article then you may want to see a dermatologist to help you get rid of your acne.