How to Clear Acne in Simple Ways

Are you wondering about how to clear acne? You’re not the only one. In the US alone, there are over 60 million people who all want to clear up their acne problem.

Clearing up and treating acne is a serious business. Just one person out of those 60 million Americans can spend upwards of a thousand dollars in his or her search for the holy grail of acne treatments. If you combine all those people and all that money together, then you get the hundreds of millions of dollars that are being poured into the massive market of acne treatments each year.

Clearing up your acne problem doesn’t have to cost you hundreds of millions of dollars. In fact, it doesn’t even have to cost you anything. There are some small, simple things that you can do or avoid doing that can greatly improve your acne condition. Here is a list of some of those seemingly ordinary things that are actually great and effective ways of how to clear acne.

1. This might be a no-brainer, but keep your hands off of your face! Most especially if your hands are unwashed and dirty. Excessively touching your face with unclean hands transports dirt and bacteria to that area and can cause and aggravate acne.
2. Do not pick, squeeze, rub, or prick existing acne lesions. Doing so may leave deep acne scars. Finding out how to remove acne scars can sometimes be much harder than finding out how to clear acne.
3. Change your pillowcases often. Unseen acne-causing dirt from your face, the air, and from other places can accumulate on your pillowcases and transfer back onto your face.
4. Keep hair strands out of your face, especially if you use hair gels, hairsprays, and pomades. Hair with products on it can also irritate facial skin and cause acne.
5. In that same line of thought, keep your hair as clean as you would your face. Use gentle formula shampoos and conditioners.
6. For women, always remove makeup before going to sleep. Use a good makeup remover to completely clear your skin of all traces of makeup. Residual makeup is one of the top causes of acne in women.
7. For men with acne prone skin, it would be a better idea to shave in the same direction of your facial hair growth. Not shaving the hair close to the follicle will lessen the chances of ingrown hairs that can block skin pores and cause acne.
8. Drink water. Lots of it. Water cleanses your system of toxins that not only can cause acne but are also harmful to the body.
9. This may sound like an odd way of how to clear acne, but you need to get the right amount of sleep. Not getting enough sleep causes acne by overstressing your body. As it is commonly known, stress is one of the major triggers of acne.
10. Washing your face at least twice a day is one of the simplest ways to prevent acne.

How to clear acne is as simple as changing a few things in your usual everyday routine.

Available Types of Acne Treatments Overview

The problem with having acne is that it is the first thing that people will see. It really doesn’t matter if you have the most beautiful eyes, highly proportioned face or ruby red lips. People you have just met will refer to you as that girl or that boy with a colony of zits on the face. Furthermore, acne, especially the very big ones, leaves pockmarks and scars that can be permanent.

If you have acne, however, you don’t have to fret and hide in the corner. Nowadays, you have a wide variety of acne medications to choose from. Moreover, you can surely find an acne medication regardless of the type and severity of your acne.

Here is the list of the type of acne medications that is available on the market today:

Topical Acne Medications
Visit your local drug store, or even convenience store, and you will find a wide array of creams, gels, lotions, and other topical treatments for acne. These over-the-counter acne medications are usually for mild to moderate types of acne.

The common active ingredients that topical acne medications contain are sulfur, benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, resorcinol or lactic acid. If you find that these medications do not work on your acne, it is time for you to visit a doctor, preferable a skin or acne specialist, so that you will be given prescription for a stronger type of topical acne medication.

Adapalene and Tretinoin are some of the active ingredients of the more potent topical creams. These two chemicals are derived from Vitamin A. These types of topical lotions or creams usually work by preventing hair follicles from clogging, which is the main reason for the development of acne, and hastening of cell regeneration.

If your acne is severe, your doctor might prescribe the use of topical antibiotics. These medications are aimed at killing or eliminating skin bacteria. Usually, topical antibiotics are used in conjunction with other acne medications.

Antibiotics
Acne problems that are severe usually need the help of oral antibiotics to help fight off the bacteria that are causing the breakout and ease the inflammation. You should never take oral or topical antibiotics without prescription. Usually, oral antibiotics are taken for weeks or months.

Oral Contraceptives
Women who have acne can take advantage of oral contraceptives to improve their acne condition. Usually contraceptives that contain ethinyl estradiol and neogestimate are the ones that are effective pimple fighters. However, since oral contraceptives might have side effects, you need to consult first with your doctor before taking such medications.

Isotretinoin
For the type of cysts and nodules that antibiotics cannot reach, isotretinoin may be the answer. This is a strong medication that is a last resort treatment for stubborn acne. A lot of people have confirmed the effectiveness of this type of treatment for hard-to-treat acne.

However, it also might have potential side effects. Thus, dermatologists usually closely monitor people who are using this type of acne medication. Some of the adverse effects of isotretinoin are birth defects, triglycerides increase and reproduction problems.

Cosmetic Surgery
Cosmetic surgery is actually more useful in removing or reducing the appearance of the scars or craters from acne infections. Usually, the procedure called dermabrasion is used for the removal of scars on the face. This works by peeling off the top layer of the skin by use of chemicals and equipment.

Whatever type of acne medication you use, it is wise to consult a doctor first so that your treatment will be monitored. Furthermore, it is still best to know what is the underlying cause of your acne breakouts so that you can handle the situation right at its roots.