When I was younger, you had to have very severe acne before your doctor would recommend acne medications. Most of them agreed that over-the-counter products and a good skin care regime would do the trick. Now all of them seem to be pushing drugs, creams, pills, and other chemicals even at young kids. It’s a bit scary.
Another concern I have about all of the medications and products being sold to help treat acne is that some of these things are pretty harsh on the skin. That can actually do more damage and can be really destructive. That’s not a good thing and could make acne worse. Plus, it could lead to permanent skin damage.
Did you know that water can affect your acne outbreaks? Dead skin cells, as you know, are one of the things that can clog your pores and cause these outbreaks. But if you don’t keep yourself hydrated, you could end up not begin able to flush away those dead cells effectively so they end up being left behind to clog your pores and lead to pimples. That’s a good reason to grab that bottle of water!
Lots of people do have oily skin but they often deal with it the wrong way. If you pick up one of those products intended to dry out your skin, you’ll probably end up over drying it. That’s bad because it can make you more vulnerable to breakouts by inflaming your skin and inviting bacterial infections. Instead, you need to use a more gentle product like acne complex that doesn’t over dry.
Since stress can be a big trigger for outbreaks, you should consider finding some ways to relax. Deep breathing and meditating are great ways to relax. Exercising is also good because it releases endorphins into your body that give you a feel good rush. These useful techniques can help you control stress and limit your acne outbreaks.
Did you know stress is supposed to be connected to outbreaks? That makes sense to me since stress can impact your hormones and your hormones can make it more likely for you to develop acne. What a crazy process, huh? And it can go full circle, too! You can be stressed, have a breakout, worry about your breakout, and make it worse! It just doesn’t seem fair.
The good news, I think, is there are better methods for dealing with acne breakouts. You don’t have to take hormones or start taking prescription medications. You just need a good skin care routine: cleaning you face with a gentle cleanser and lukewarm water twice a day, keeping your skin from drying out thanks to moisturizers, and using over-the-counter treatments at the first sign of a breakout.
During at least the first three months on birth control pills, you do experience some side effects. I know I did! For starters, I gained about 25 pounds and also had some pretty significant mood changes. That’s to be expected because hormones do affect your mood. But the bigger threat is blood clots and that’s something harder to deal with and their risk doesn’t usually go away after just a few months. That’s one of the main reasons I wouldn’t recommend using them for acne treatments.
It seems like many birth control pills on the market today are really hyping the acne treatment aspect of their use. I just don’t know if that’s such a good idea. I mean it is probably true that the estrogen and progesterone in those pills can do great things for a woman’s skin but the pills do have side effects. I’m not sure it would be my recommendation for my daughter.
One of those make-up people in the mall told me another good secret: exfoliate twice a week. Exfoliating basically removes dead skin cells from the face so they can’t clog up the pores and lead to pimples. When I combined exfoliating with Murad acne products, I started having much clearer skin.