Best acne products Go Back to Nature
There are so many remedies on the market each proclaiming to be the ultimate acne remedy. The problem is all the chemicals in these products can actually break your face out worse because of an allergic reaction. Some of the best, little known, resources are all natural essential oils. Because these are natural products there is no chance of an allergic reaction. Your face can become free from acne blemishes by using these oils on a regular basis.
Essential oils like tea tree oil, rosewood oil, lavender oil, bergamot oil, and clove oil can relieve mild or moderate cases of acne. There may be a need to dilute the oils. You can do this with grapeseed oil. You can use these essential oils as a topical application. Each oil has it’s own properties.
Tea tree oil is an essential oil made from a plant in Australia, Melaleuca alternifolia. What is so special about this oil for treating acne is it’s anti-microbial properties. It can kill the bacteria which causes acne. You do have to be careful when you apply the tea tree oil. This oil can cause your skin to dry out. The irritated skin can become worse instead of better. This is why a mixture of the tea tree oil and grapeseed oil is recommended. You can find tea tree oil in any health food store. Just keep in mind this is a natural remedy and as such may take longer to work than other chemical based products.
Clove oil is another natural remedy commonly used for many things from toothaches to acne. Although it may be tempting to use the essential oils full strength it is not recommended. Clove oil can cause severe skin irritations. This would only add to the frustrations associated with having acne. You can dilute the clove oil just like the tea tree oil. The common formula is 5 to 1. That means 5 parts grapeseed oil to 1 part clove oil.
Bergamot oil has a wonderful fragrance. As a matter of fact, if you are a tea drinker this aroma may be well recognized. It is the same oils used in the making of Earl Grey tea. Bergamot oil has fantastic anti-bacterial properties. It also has drying properties. These two traits make it perfect for treating acne in a natural way. As with the other two essential oils, you will want to dilute the bergamot oil before applying it to your face.
For someone who has a natural oily face the answer to their acne problem may be rosewood oil. This essential oil can actually reduce the bodies ability to produce sebum. Sebum is the oil used to lubricate the hair follicles. It is the oil which can build up and cause an acne outbreak. Reducing the production of sebum can lessen the chances of an outbreak. You can actually use this oil as a spot treatment for the acne. It can be used several times a day. If you have delicate or overly dry skin, you may not want to use rosewood oil. Should this oil cause any type of skin irritation, it too can be diluted with the grapeseed oil.
Lavender oil is the ultimate in essential oils. From it’s relaxing properties to taking away headaches and insomnia, this powerful oil can help with what ails you. Acne is one thing lavender oil can help with. Known as an antibacterial natural oil, the soothing properties of lavender oil can actually stop future outbreaks of acne. You can use this essential oil as preventative medicine for acne. This is a strong oil so it must be diluted for proper use and results.
These five oils can help you with the acne problems you have. Just remember with any natural remedy there is always the chance of an allergic reaction. Speak with your doctor before using any of the above mentioned treatments for acne.
Acne Scar Treatment
There are several acne scar removal techniques which you can benefit from, sand they largely depend on the severity of the scarring. Some of these techniques are, by necessity, more invasive than others. Remember though, that all these methods are only suitable for old acne scars and they cannot be used when you still have any active acne breakouts.
Punch Procedures
There are three different types of punch procedures for acne scars but none punch excision and punch elevation are not suitable for really deep acne scars. Punch excision and punch elevation cut out the acne scar and in the latter, the base of the scar is raised to the level of the other skin around it. The incision is the sutured in both these procedures. In punch replacement, the procedure is carried out as above but then the area is covered by a skin graft, so it is suitable for dealing with deeper acne scars.
Chemical Peels
These are suitable for mild acne scars. Chemical peels use quite strong acids on the surface of the skin to remove the top layers of skin so that the smoother skin beneath is revealed. This is a quick procedure – usually only 15 minutes – so it can even be done in your lunch hour if you want, although you can expect your skin to be quite red afterwards.
Augmentation
This procedure is the most suitable treatment option for deep acne scars. Fillers such as collagen or some other artificial filler or perhaps even fat from the patient’s own body is injected into the skin under the scar to fill it out and raise it to the level of the other skin. The good thing about this treatment is that it is quick but the bad thing is that its effects are only temporary, with results typically lasting only three to six months.
Dermabrasion
Dermabrasion is not a new technique, and it should not be confused with the newer technique of microdermabrasion. Dermabrasion uses a powered hand tool to remove the skin damaged by acne, after it is anaesthetized and frozen. Only the top layers of skin are sloughed off, but the treated area may look swollen and scraped for a few days until a scab forms. The scab and redness may remain for a few weeks but after that the new skin, without acne scars, should have formed.
Laser Resurfacing
This technique is most suitable for shallow acne scars. It is a controlled burning off of the top, scarred levels of skin, with lasers. You may need several sessions of laser resurfacing before you have a skin texture you are happy with.
None of the above procedures should be carried out by anyone but a dermatologist who is trained and experienced in the particular procedure. However, if your acne scarring is very mild, there are some over the counter acne scar removal kits that you can purchase. They all work on the same basis as a chemical peel, although they are much milder than the one you can expect a dermatologist to perform. You need to decide for yourself if your acne scars are enough of a problem to you to need the assistance of a dermatologist; as you can see above, there are several options that such a professional could offer you.
Acne Scar Surgery
Anyone who has ever has a pimple knows how annoying they can be. It’s like you just have to squeeze them. There is something quite satisfying about the pop and that pus oozing out… well, isn’t there? …Come on, most of us are guilty of squeezing a spot at some time in our lives. We are convinced that if only we can get all of that stuff out, we will look tins better. But it doesn’t work like that. Squeezing and picking spots can leave scars from acne that last for years and in fact, never fade. That is why people go for acne scar surgery.
There are several options for acne scar surgery. Let’s look at a few of them now:
Subcision
Subcision can be used for quite severe acne scarring, and is especially useful as really the only method to deal with scars where the skin has formed fibrous bands like rolls in the skin. These scars are then lumpy when formed. In subcision, after a local anesthetic, a beveled needle is pistoned in and out to cut the fibrous tissue so they can lie flat. This treatment usually requires several sessions to be successful. Bruising may occur but this will soon disappear.
Dermal fillers
These basically are injected into the skin to fill and plump up acne scars so that they lie flat with the rest of the surface of the skin. Fat and collagen can be used, or sometimes a manufactured product. The effects are good, but not permanent as the substances used as fillers get broken down and absorbed into the body.
Laser surfacing
Thus is the most popular way of dealing with acne scars. It can also be used to treat age spots and wrinkles. In laser resurfacing, the top layers of skin are burned away to be replaced by healthier, smoother skin. A few treatments may be necessary, but this is a very effective method for getting rid of acne scars.
There are good sides and bad sides to all of the acne scar surgery options detailed above. None are sure-fire guarantees of totally clear skin and all involve a degree of discomfort. Some are permanent, others not. Some methods of acne scar surgery are not suitable for deeper or more uneven scarring. That is why, if your acne scarring is severe enough that you feel you cannot live with it and the mild, over the counter chemical peels, then you need to consult a dermatologist and talk through your options for acne scar surgery.
Make sure your dermatologist is qualified in a particular acne scar surgery technique. Talk through with him or her all the implications of this surgery; this might be the costs, the procedure, recovery time and chances of success as well as the degree of permanence that a particular surgery offers, as well as finding out of the treatments need to be repeated or are successful after one-off procedures. If you equip yourself with all this information you can choose the best acne scar surgery for you, in discussion with a specialist who really knows what they are talking about.
Improving your Acne through Diet
You are what you eat, certainly as far as acne prone skin is concerned. There is a link between certain foods and the prevalence of acne outbreaks. However, it is not as simple as:
greasy food = greasy skin = acne
No, it is more complicated than that and is more to do with the effect that food has upon the production of hormones in the body. It is these hormones which increase the sebum production in your skin so that the pores become overloaded and can shed excess oil and dead skin. This means that bacteria breed in the pores of your skin, spreading pimples and worse. So the link between food and acne is less direct than some people might think, but it is still there.
To help to control your acne, you do need to cut down on unhealthy saturated oils and fats, but you also need to go easy on the sugars. That way, your insulin levels won’t peak and dip dramatically like they do for many people. These differing insulin levels trigger the production of male hormones which in turn trigger the production of sebum in the skin – and it is this excess sebum which is a real problem in causing acne.
So a good diet for acne sufferers is a good diet for us all – a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals and especially antioxidants. You need to cut down on red meat and processed food as they contain the hormones that are most likely to inflame your acne and make breakouts of pimples more likely.
It is true that for some people, acne is caused by an allergy and this may be to a certain food. If you suspect that your acne is made worse by certain foods then try eliminating that food completely from your diet for a couple of weeks to see if your skin condition improves. Then introduce the suspected culprit back into your diet to see if your acne worsens once more. If it does, it looks like that food is an acne trigger for you and you should avoid it in the future.
If you don’t have a particular allergy, focus on a healthy diet centered on vegetables and fruit. Cut down on meat, pastas and breads. You need to focus on foods with a low glycemic index rating, which will avoid the insulin spikes that trigger acne-inducing hormones. Even within fruit and vegetables, some foods will be higher than others on the glycemic index but there are plenty of books and internet sites which will help you find low glycemic index foods around which to base your diet.
Aside from that, you need plenty of vitamin rich foods and lots of still mineral water to flush out acne-causing toxins and excess hormones from your body. This kind of a diet should help you to keep control of any acne outbreaks, lessening their severity and occurrence through controlling the hormones in your body. That is the real link between food and acne.
