Ladies Acne Remedies. Clear Skin Can Be Yours

Women sometimes have breakouts and large spots, but others can suffer ongoing reoccurrences right from puberty.

Some women experience regular breakouts with their menstrual period, with spots developing around the time of ovulation only fading once her period has begun.

Women who are most prone to acne will tend to have overproducing oil glands in their skin along with a greater tendency for the lining of the skin pores to block. These two problems combined will enable bacteria on the skin to be trapped, usually causing an outbreak of closed comedones (whiteheads), open comedones (blackheads), spots and in some cases cysts.

So what can we do to reduce or prevent these mild forms of acne?
Firstly, there is no proven acne remedy. If you asked a doctor they would probably recommend buying an over the counter skin wash that contains a substance called benzoly peroxide liquid to control your symptoms. Ask your pharmacist for advice about the best type to try. Ensure you use this preparation twice a day, in the morning and before going to bed.
If your skin is excessively oily, start with a product containing a 10% solution, otherwise if your skin is dry or sensitive, try a 5% solution to avoid excessive drying and irritation. Notice how your skin is reacting after a week of regular treatment. If your skin is clearing up well, then you may only need to apply the solution to new acne spots as they start to develop rather than treating the whole face.

As part of your daily skin care routine you could try using a cleanser that contains a mild amount of salicylic acid. Again, ask your pharmacist for advice if you are unsure about which acne remedy products contain these ingredients.
Some women with mild acne can also notice small breakouts on their chest or back during the menstrual cycle. These spots can also be successfully treated with these products.

Among all the acne preparations you will find lined up on the pharmacy shelf will be ones that contain glycolic acid. There are a lot of gels, lotions and creams on the market manufactured under different brand-names. Take your time to read the ingredient labels to establish what levels of glycolic acid the product contains. What you are looking for is a preparation that contains 8% glycolic acid in their formulation. This should be applied to the face after first washing and drying, making sure you avoid the eye areas.
Glycolic acid works by preventing dead skin cells from building up on your skin and blocking pores, thus reducing or preventing fresh acne breakouts.

Once you have your acne under control, it may be you are worried about the marking left behind on your skin, then you could try using a skin bleaching cream. These are available from pharmacies, but do remember that these will not work on acne scars.

Follow a good routine for keeping your skin cleased, toned and moisturised each day, and you should be able to keep the problem under control. Use an oil-free moisturiser if you need one at all. Read the label if you are not sure, and replace it with an oil-free one if needed. Women with greasy skin may not need a moisturiser at all, but those who have combination skin, with the familiar ‘oily T zone’ across the forehead, down the nose and chin, but with dry skin elsewhere, may need a moisturiser formulated for combination skin.

If you wear make-up every day, go for oil-free products that are labelled ‘non-comedogenic’ or ‘non-acne-forming’ which do not block up your pores.

To squeeze or not to squeeze?
Resist the temptation to squeeze spots and blackheads! Squeezing is definitely not an acne remedy! This will only make your acne spots look worse by aggravating them and causing the area to become more inflamed.

While a spot is healing, dab it with an anti-bacterial gel to keep the surface moist. Most people will have heard that air is good for healing cuts and grazes, so often don’t apply plasters to these wounds to aid healing. By exposing your acne spots to the air, you will encourage the damaged skin to dry and form scar tissue. Keeping a spot moist while it’s healing will go a long way to reduce the chances of scars forming once the spot has gone.

Do not be tempted to pick at your acne scabs!!
I know it is very tempting to pick at scabs, especially if they are on your face, but don’t do it! Picking or knocking off a scab before it is ready to drop off by it’s own accord will only result in a scar forming – and you don’t want to encourage that do you?

Speed up healing with vitamin C
It is common knowledge that vitamin C is important in repair and formation of body cells, including the skin, Making sure you eat plenty of vitamin C while your skin is healing will help greatly. Now I’m not telling you to run out to the store to buy up all their oranges, but if you want to add extra fruit to your diet, you cannot go wrong with a couple of oranges a day. If you don't like eating fruit, they you could take a vitamin C tablet twice a day instead, one with breakfast and one with dinner aiming at about 500mg vitamin C per day.
Vitamin C is water soluble, so taking it twice a day will ensure there is enough available throughout the day for your body’s repair systems.

How to deal with acne scars
A scar can be defined as a raised or depressed section of fibrous tissue caused by the healing process of the body. Most women would describe them as a permanent pain in the neck!
By picking away at acne spots we are effectively damaging the epidermis, or top layer of the skin, leaving a mark behind on the skin once the spot has gone, and can disappear completely. However, if we damage the deeper layer of skin called the dermis, we can leave behind a scar after the spot has healed.

Cover-up tactics with make up can be used to deal with existing scars, for example, using a good quality foundation can cover up uneven discolouration from reddened or light scars. If you are not sure what shade of make up you should use, ask the sales assistant for help choosing the correct shade for your skin. Make-up sales assistants are usually trained in applying make up, so you can always ask for tips about applying make up for the best effects.

For deeper acne scars there are products on the market that use collagen fillers. You may have seen these being used on TV adverts to fill lines and wrinkles, but they can also be effective in covering acne scars and evening out the skin surface. This will also help when you apply other make-up such as blushers and face powders, and will prevent clumping.

These are just some tips to get you started, but there is a whole host of other helpful advice revealed by a team of experts in the management and treatment of acne in my new ebook, available for acne sufferers no matter what your age. See my Author Box for more details.

M Newbold is a prolific writer who enjoys writing about family life, health, fitness and sports. Get a free Acne mini ebook by visiting http://www.acne-home-remedies.weebly.com
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