About Acne - What Can You Do to Cure or Alleviate Acne?

Acne gives the combination of symptoms like greasyyou can do yourself to prevent or treat acne:1. Some
skin, white heads, black heads, pimples, inflammationadvices about diet that may help prevent and cure
and scar formation. Acne mostly affects youngacne:- Do not consume a great amount of fat.
people in the age 14 - 25, but also sometimes older- The fat you add to the food should be natural oils.
persons, like women in their menopause. MostOlive oil is ideal, but use other types of oils too, like
teenagers experience outburst of acne, some onlywalnut oil, sunflower oil and soy oil. However, do not
little, but for others acne may develop into a serioususe only soy oil as many tend to do. Using only soy
skin ailment with great cosmetic impact.THE SKINoil will give you too much of some fatty acids and
ANATOMYTo understand the acne process, sometoo less of others.
knowledge about skin anatomy and physiology is- Eat much fish, seafood and not so much meat.
essential:The skin has there layers: The outer layer- Eat food with a high fiber content to regulate the
called epidermis consists of epithelial cells. Under thisdigestion, like vegetables, whole cereals, full corn
lies the dermis consisting of connective tissue. At thebread and fruit.2. Here are some things you should
bottom there is a layer called the hypodermisavoid.- Do not use greasy or heavy cosmetics that
consisting mostly of fat cells.The skin has narrowclog your skin and are difficult to wash away.
pores extending from the surface down to the top- Do not use strong irritating antiperspirants.
of the sub-dermis, called hair follicles. A hair extend- Do not wash with strong soap or cleaners that dry
from a growth zone in the bottom of each hairup your skin and take away all the natural oily
follicle and out at the skin surface. Around the hair inprotection in your skin.
the dermis, there are small glands called sebaceous- If you perform body-building, do not use anabolic
glands. These glands produce a fatty substance,steroids or other hormonal supplements.
sebum, which empty through the follicle opening and- Use clothes that allow air to reach your body
lubricates the hair and the skin.THE ACNEsurface to avoid collection of humidity and
PROCESSAcne starts by the glands in the hair folliclesoverheating of your skin.3. Use of rinsing milk or
increasing their sebum production. This will in thesolutionsYou can rinse your skin with mild products
beginning only cause greasy skin. Eventually theespecially made to dissolve the plugs in your pores,
sebum in the entrance of the follicles mixes withand to make the environment in your skin unfriendly
dead epithelial cells. This mix reacts chemically toto bacteria causing infection. Some of these products
forms hard props, comedones that close the poreare just products to wash your skin with one ore
entrances. According to the color of the comedones,more times a day; others should be on during night
they are called blackheads or white heads.Then theand flushed away in the morning.Salicylic acid is a mild
closed hair follicle gets filled with sebum and swell.ingredient often used in these products to dissolve
The swollen follicle then gets infected by bacteria.the comedones. The products usually also contain
The bacteria and the accumulated sebum cause theingredients that work antibacterial and stimulate the
follicle and the surrounding skin to get inflamed,skin's own cleaning activities, like Tea tree oil or
forming a pimple. At last the inflamed follicle burst andEchinacea extract.4. Use of gels and creams to treat
empties its content. Eventually the affected areaacne and protect your skinAfter the rinsing, you
heals. Sometimes the inflammation reaches deep intoshould apply some treatment gel, cream or lotion
the skin surrounding the follicle and destroys skinonto your skin to achieve these effects:- To make
tissue. This will cause more or less distinct scars thatyour skin soft and elastic.
may reside permanently. Typically an affected person- To protect your skin against the environment.
will have follicles in all these stages of the process at- To acts further to dissolve the clogging of your
any given time.THE CAUSES OF ACNEThe increasedpores.
hormone production in the puberty stimulate to- To soothe and alleviate inflammation.
increased sebum production. The male hormone,- To kill the bacteria causing infection or make an
testosterone, seem to contribute most. Also girlsenvironment hostile for the bacteria.
begin to produce more testosterone in the puberty.- To stimulate the skin to clean itself.
Also in other periods, altered hormone production- To stimulate the skin to heal.
may give acne, for example by women in the- To be used as a isolating layer between the skin
menopause.Since not all teens get acne in anyitself and cosmeticsIn order to protect, make the
degree, the increased hormone level cannot be theskin soft and further dissolve the comedones, many
whole cause of the increased sebum production. Theproducts contain natural plant oils that are easily
follicles of affected persons must for some reasonabsorbed into the epidermis, like Tea tree oil, Rose
react stronger upon the higher hormone level.Dietaryhip oil, Lavender oil and Olive oil.Ingredients used in
factors, like eating too much fat, too much sugar orproducts to reduce inflammation and to stimulate
the wrong kind of fat may aggravate acne by somehealing may be: Aloe Vera extract, Viola Tricolour
individuals. Lack of vitamins, minerals and essentialextract, Rose hip oil, Vitamin E and Vitamin A.Tea
fatty acids may also contribute to development oftree oil and Grapefruit seed extract are natural
acne.Poor digestion, lazy colon and constipationantibacterial agents used in many of these products.
aggravate acne in some individuals, probably due toIn other products artificial compounds like Benzoyl
productions of toxins in the intestines. Lazy colonperoxide are used.5. Oral supplements to fight the
may be caused by dietary faults, like lack ofacne process and nourish the skinSupplements taken
fiber.Very frequent washing and use of strong soapsby mouth to nourish your skin may be useful. The
aggravate acne, and does not alleviate the conditionpurpose of these supplements is more or less the
as many think. Rubbing, scrubbing or squeezing thesame as that of nourishing creams.- To make the
skin may also aggravate acne.Here are some othersebum more fluid so it drains more easily.
factors that may contribute in causing acne or- To stimulate the substance exchange and cleaning
aggravating the condition.- Stressprocesses in your skin,
- Some contraceptive agents- To stimulate your skin to heal,
- Environmental or domestic pollution.- To give your skin building nutrients necessary to
- Humid environments.heal.Ingredients often used in these supplements to
- Some antidepressants.stimulate the cleaning and healing processes in the
- Testosterone and anabolic steroids used forskin are: Vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B3, B6, C, D, E, Folic
treatment or by body-building.acid, Beta carotene, Bioflavonoids, Magnesium,
- Use of some types of greasy cosmetic products.Copper, Zinc, selenium, anti-oxidants from Green tea,
- Some antiperspirant products.Metylsulfonyl methane.Nutrient found in these
- Exposing the skin for chlorine or other halogens, orproducts used as material to rebuild damaged skin
medicines containing halogens.and to give a sebum with better consistency are:
- Women may get aggravated acne 2-7 daysEvening primrose oil, Olive oil, Flax seed oil, Borage oil,
before menstruation.WHAT CAN YOU DOSoy oil, Wheat germ oil and Lecithin.Gum guggul
YOURSELF TO AVOID OR TO TREATextract used in oral products has an anti-biotic effect,
ACNESometimes Acne is so severe that specialand helps against spreading of the acne infection and
medical treatment is required, and sometimes thethus helps against scar formation.Knut Holt is an
causes of acne necessitate medical treatment. Butinternet consultant and marketer focusing on health
you can do much yourself also. Here are listed thingsitems.