Acne – how to help yourself

Acne mainly appear on the face, chest area and the upper back. Apart from scars on the face, they can cause psychological effects as loss of confidence, embarrassment and even social phobia.

There are many different causes of acne, so perhaps the hardest stage in the fight against them is determining the real cause. Hormones play a major role in the formation of acne, so teens are the biggest group.

Unfortunately, for many people acne is not a transient problem that ends with adolescence and sometimes they cause inconvenience to people who are in their 40ties. Hormonal changes that occur as a result of pregnancy, menstrual cycle, using contraceptive pills increase women’s chances of getting acne.

Besides hormones, the cause of acne can be the increased secretion of sebum, bacteria, or taking certain medications, the use of strong beauty products and diseases like polycystic ovarian syndrome. If your parents suffered from acne, it is very likely that you face will have this problem, i.e acne is hereditary.

Contrary to widespread opinion, scientific research has shown that oily foods and chocolate have little to no effect on acne.

Nourishing the skin prone to acne:

The goal you need to reach with your skin prone to acne is to heal the existing acne, avoid the creation of new and to prevent scars and blemishes. To achieve this and to improve the appearance of the skin, it takes a daily practice a few basic rules:

Wash the skin twice a day. Washing your skin removes excess oils and dead skin cells. But if you wash it too often it can cause irritation and excessive secretion of sebum, which is the main ally of acne.
Use appropriate cosmetic products. Troubled skin requires proper care and use of cosmetic products for skin with acne. Choose products that contain salicylic acid and benzoil peroxide.
Do not squeeze the acne. It is hard to keep with this rule, because sometimes it is very embarrassing to show up somewhere with a big bump on the face. But squeezing the acne can lead to the creation of blemishes that hardly disappear, and also it causes spreading of bacteria and more acne.
Steaming. In a bowl with hot water, add a few drops of tea tree oil, cover your head with towel and stand with your face over the bowl for 5-10 minutes. You can put chamomile tea too. The steam will open your pores. Then on the acne apply a small amount of tea tree oil. Steam your face once a week.
Never go to bed with makeup. Sleeping with makeup on the face can cause clogging of  the pores. Every night before bedtime remove the make-up properly and thoroughly. It is best to use makeup only when you really need it.
Drink enough water. The water will help to discard toxins from the body and to facilitate the problem with acne. Eight glasses of water a day is quite enough.
Eat foods rich in vitamins A, C and E and zinc. They all help to maintain good-looking skin.
Shower immediately after exercise. The sweat can capture dirt and bacteria into the pores of the skin and thus cause acne.
Wash your towels and pillow cases often. Bacteria on the towels and fabric can aggravate the acne condition. Change the pillow case every other day.
Keep your hair away from your face. If you have oily hair, wash it every day and do not let it touch your face. Whenever you have the opportunity, keep it gathered with a hair band.
Wear cotton clothing. Acne on the back and chest area can occur due to wearing tight synthetic clothing. Choose clothing made of cotton, to allow your skin to breathe freely.
Protect your skin from the sun. Although sunlight can improve the skin condition, it gives only short-term results. Sometimes after exposure to the sun, acne can become a bigger problem than they were before. Some people avoid sun creams, because they think they can cause acne. The truth is that some creams actually are too oily and can cause acne, so you need to find a suitable product that you will use.