Easy Skin Treatment

Archive for the ‘Acne’ Category

Getting rid of acne scars is a battle that’s hard to win. But you can fade out or eliminate your scars in some cases; you just have to know which treatments to choose. Picking just one never guarantees success, however. I will help you choose which treatments are most effective and worth the money.

Getting rid of acne scars is an uphill battle for many teens and adults. It’s already bad enough that you have the acne in the first place, but then once you get rid of it, you can’t take away the red marks and scars your pimples left behind unless you shell out for some pretty expensive treatments.

Now granted, some of these treatments are very effective. If you have severe acne scarring, it takes more than just some scar treatment cream to reverse the damage or reconstruct new skin. However, if they are mild or moderate, you can get by with less drastic (and less expensive) treatments.

Let’s take a look at some of the scar treatment options you have available to you.

1. Chemical peels: Getting rid of acne scars with chemical peels requires at least four treatments, spread out by a few weeks or even a month apart. Basically, a chemical peel sort of “burns” away the top layer of skin, exfoliating it, and then regenerates new skin to take the place of the scars.
2. Microdermabrasion: This process involves a small, hand-held tool with a crystal-covered head that spins at high speeds across your face. It removes and sucks off the top layer of skin, exfoliating the dead scar cells and encouraging new growth. Like chemical peels, you’ll need a treatment every couple of weeks or once a month until you see results.
3. Laser treatment: This slightly painful process feels like a rubber band snapping your skin as it moves across your scars. There are varying levels of this treatment as well, depending on how bad your scars are. This is one of the most expensive treatment options available. Some laser treatments cost around $100 apiece while others charge $1200 for a package of four or five treatments. You’ll need several treatments, especially if your scars are severe.
4. Scar treatment cream: Getting rid of acne scars with scar treatment cream is a bit of a long shot. However, you can lighten and fade red marks – which are a type of scar, almost – using this cream every night. Granted, this cream isn’t cheap either – some run about $50 per bottle – but when you think of the benefits you’ll receive from using the cream, you’ll realize it’s worth it to get your normal skin back.

You can also use creams to help prevent scarring with your current acne. This is one of the best ways to keep from having the problem in the first place.

Sometimes, though, getting rid of acne scars requires more than just a treatment – it requires a small lifestyle change that can greatly enhance the possibility of getting rid of the acne in the first place, before scars ever appear. I highly recommend Acne No More, which is also an all-natural treatment, but gives your zits a little more oomph in shoving them out the door and off your skin.

Have you ever tried an “acne diet” to get rid of your acne? Some acne sufferers swear by it, but others are more skeptical. If you’re smart, you should be skeptical, too, as an acne diet is generally nothing more than a gimmick.

The whole idea behind the “acne diet” method is that, what you eat will eventually effect what comes out on your skin. And while this is a logical idea, it’s not medically sound. Most doctors and dermatologists discredit the idea as needing much more research.

Why would a diet for acne possibly work? Because the foods that go into an “acne diet“, like leafy greens, carrots, fish and nuts, contain ingredients or supplements that may fight acne in some respect. However, most of these foods don’t contain enough of each supplement to make it worth your while.

Additionally, taking out foods that might be acne triggers, like greasy fried chicken or drinks high in caffeine, is thought to get rid of acne as well. Thus, by removing “bad” acne foods and replacing them with “good” acne foods, it’s plausible that one could control or get rid of acne this way.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t usually work like that. However, there are some supplements you can take that act almost the same as if you were on an acne diet – except they deliver more of the needed supplement and don’t require you to make a huge lifestyle change.

1. Vitamin A: Vitamin A is perhaps one of the most popular topical supplements to treat acne. If you’ve heard of retinol, tretinoin or Retin-A, then you’ve heard of some very popular acne treatments that really do have a positive effect on ridding your skin of imperfections. By taking it internally (albeit in small quantities, as it is rather potent) you can potentially help rid your skin of acne. But you might want a Vitamin A cream from your doc to treat it topically as well.
2. Vitamin C: This supplement is great for your overall health too, not just your acne. Taking it internally can help kill germs in the body before they make their way to your skin. You can take it in several different quantities, but if you’re an adult, you’ll probably need at least 1,000 mg per day to notice a difference.
3. Vitamin D: This vitamin helps with hormone balance. Since acne is generally related to a hormonal imbalance, it goes to reason that it can help acne as well. You can get vitamin D in the plain old sunlight, but taking it internally will reduce your risk of skin cancer.
4. Zinc: Zinc supplements, coupled with using a Pyrithione zinc shampoo like Head and Shoulders, helps rid your skin of acne, since it’s a potent antibacterial agent in the body. I’ve been using zinc for several years now, mostly for acne and good immune system health, and I’ve noticed a great difference in how much acne I get.

Before you get snookered into paying for some kind of high-priced acne diet program, consider scaling back and just taking the supplements designed to help acne. But unless you know what to look for, you might just be wasting your time. The free supplement guidelines at Acne No More tell you exactly which affordable supplements to look for, and how they can help you get rid of your acne from the inside-out.

Taking tetracycline for acne may be the best thing you can do for your skin, but it’s one of the worst things you can do for your digestion. As it turns out, tetracycline can really do a number on your esophagus and stomach, giving you hiatal hernias and acid reflux if taken for extended periods of time.

Tetracycline is an internal antibiotic designed to zap your zits from the inside out. When you use creams and washes and they don’t work or quit working when they used to work before, doctors and dermatologists often prescribe tetracycline.

This prescription is super-cheap and generally pretty easy to come by. You can usually buy a bottle of tetracycline tablets for about $4 at a pharmacy. Thus, using tetracycline for acne is easy on the wallet. It’s just too bad that it’s so bad for your body otherwise.

So what is it about tetracycline for acne that makes your esophagus and stomach act up so badly? Here’s the thing: Dermatologists often tell their patients to drink a little liquid with tetracycline at night, right before bed. Stupid, stupid, stupid. You know why?

Because the minute you lay down, that tetracycline is going to start dissolving and traveling back up your esophagus. You know what that does? It starts irritating your esophageal lining. It might even irritate your stomach lining.

Enough of this, and you’ll eventually get acid reflux. You’ll notice it gets hard to swallow your food and drinks. You’ll burp huge, dry, empty burps a lot and wonder why. You might feel stressed out a lot, too.

All that’s probably related to taking tetracycline for acne. It seems like such an innocent drug, but in the end, it’s not.

Realize that this can still occur if you don’t take tetracycline for acne at night. The harshness of the antibiotic can take a toll on your body as it dissolves naturally, and you can still get just regular heartburn.

So what should you take instead? I don’t recommend taking other antibiotics, especially not minocycline, which is also a drug used to treat acne.

Alternately, you can also take antibiotics on the outside only. Things like minocycline, clindamycin and erythromycin come in topical formulas and don’t affect your inner organs nearly as much.

Instead of taking tetracycline for acne, I recommend getting Acne No More, which is less expensive than buying pills month after month. Plus, it’s natural, so it’s better for your body. You won’t get damaging heartburn from it. You can learn more about Acne No More right here.

Have you ever heard of taking minocycline for acne? It’s not the first medication that pops into your head when you think of taking prescriptions for acne. But nonetheless, it is something to consider if you’re at a doctor’s office and are discussing the various medications available to you.

What is minocycline for acne?

Minocycline belongs to the tetracycline family. It’s an antibiotic that is sometimes taken internally and other times used topically, but it’s most commonly used internally. It is designed to kill the bacteria that’s causing your acne before it even gets a chance to reach your skin.

Is minocycline effective?

For being in the tetracycline family, it’s surprisingly not that effective, at least according to certain studies. That’s not to say those with moderate acne shouldn’t use it, but if you have a lot of acne, it’s not necessarily your best bet.

Minocycline for acne has been known to treat some moderate acne effectively, but let’s just say it’s not the number one prescription doctors recommend for their patients.

Is minocycline safe?

Its close relationship to tetracycline makes it a possible trigger for causing heartburn when taken at night. Depending on when you take it, it might not be safe for your esophagus and stomach. But instead of taking it before bed as some (less educated) doctors might recommend for tetracycline, this can be taken with food.

In a government study, two people died from taking minocycline internally. However, many people die from medications that are effective, so this alone should not discourage you if you find out that it works for your needs.

What side effects are there?

It depends on how you take the minocycline for acne – internally or externally. If you take it internally, it can upset your stomach, causing nausea, vomiting, headaches, yeast infection and a host of other problems. Most side effects aren’t experienced unless the patient has a severe reaction.

Over time, it can build up in your body and create purplish spots that look like bruises, even though they aren’t. If you take minocycline internally, your doctor will require checkups so he can determine if it’s building up abnormally and clear the problem.

These spots will go away if noticed soon, but it might take several months to a year.

As far as external side effects go, the usual topical reactions apply. Rash, redness, sun sensitivity, allergies and itching are on the list, as are a host of other skin-related problems.

Is minocycline for acne a good choice of medication?

Personally, I would try a non-prescription product like Acne No More first. It’s a lot safer, and you don’t need a doctor’s appointment to procure it. It also costs less over time, as minocycline is more expensive than tetracycline.

If you want to find out more about Acne No More and how it is better than prescriptions like minocycline, click on this link.

Want to know how to prevent spots effectively? Let’s start with some tips that work for everyone and every part of the body.

Keep your skin clear as much as possible

It might surprise you, but wearing snug clothing and sweating in it can actually create spots and allow them to fester all over your body. For example, if you’re a girl and you’re wearing a bra outside while you work in the garden, you could be getting spots that way.

Similarly, if you’re a guy and you’re wearing a snug baseball cap outside, the band could rub on your forehead, irritate your skin and create spots.

Wash your body after sweating for long periods

Sweating for more than five minutes makes your “how to prevent spots” campaign take a nosedive pretty quickly. Getting sweaty after working out, after biking or any other type of activity will cause the pores on your skin to get irritated and produce acne.

It’s best to shower directly after a sweaty activity. If you’re outside all afternoon in the summer sun, make sure you get that sweat showered off you immediately, then change into clean clothing.

Cleanse with an acne body wash

Want to know how to prevent spots in the best way possible? Start out by preventing them with benzoyl peroxide washes. Even washes that contain micro scrubbing beads are quite helpful. Anything that refreshes and renews your skin, thereby preventing spots, keeps cysts and whiteheads from taking up residence on your skin.

Sleep in clean sheets and dry off with clean towels

One of the best ways to know how to prevent spots is by taking this advice to heart: Keep your cloths clean! That means the sheets and pillowcases you sleep in, the towels you dry with and the washcloths you wash with.

These things all harbor bacteria, especially when wet. This bacteria can rub off onto your skin and cause pustules to form if used over and over again. So change your sheets weekly, your pillowcase every other night and your towels every few days.

Take care of existing spots properly

How to prevent spots without fail comes from caring properly for the spots that are already on your skin. Keeping your fingers away from your spots is really the best way to keep from irritating them once they’re out in the open. If you must pop them, use cotton swabs to press against your skin instead of your fingers.

Don’t overdo it on the cleansers and spot treatments. If you use a spot treatment mask, don’t follow up with a drying benzoyl peroxide. Overdrying your spots can cause your spot prevention techniques to backfire.

Use an Acne No More product

The best way to know how to prevent spots is found in Acne No More, a product that I always highly recommend to anyone who consults me about their acne problems. If you want to know more about this, check out Acne No More right here.