The problem of acne is not a new one, and yet we find ourselves at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century still without a genuine, permanent cure for the condition. Acne is a problem which persists for a large number of sufferers due to the lack of strong, substantial research aimed at delivering a cure, and a preference for lotions and potions which may well clear up the external symptoms for some weeks at a time, but do little to affect the overall condition. This ensures that in good time, a return to the old problems will occur, and the sufferer will need to start again in their search for a cure.
As it is widely felt that the major root causes of acne are internal, it is puzzling that the majority of the cures which are commercially available treat the condition from the outside. For the sufferer this simply means that they will need to spend the same money over and over to achieve the same short-term effect. There is little point in doing this from a common sense point of view, as the sole substantive effect is to clear the skin to make room for more symptomatic lesions and blemishes to fill. Treating the condition from the inside is really the only sensible approach. This can be achieved in consultation with a doctor, but if possible you should also consult a dietician to find what steps you can take to regulate your body’s production of sebum, along with observing a rigorous cleansing regime.
Acne is a real cosmetic problem. Many of the acne patients sometimes feel that they would never get rid of acne. With latest treatments, if you have patience, you can treat your acne successfully. But what if you also have oily skin?
Oily Skin – What is it?
Our skin has sebaceous glands. These glands produce sebum. This sebum keeps our skin well moisturized and protects skin from microbial infections. The sebum is mainly made of lipids and dead skin cells. The skin constantly produces the sebum.
If you don’t wash your hair for few days you will find that your hair is oily. That is sebum. What if your body produces more than required sebum? You get oily skin.
Oily Skin – Why some people get it?
Why some people have it? As we saw, the sebum makes the skin oily. Some of us have overactive sebaceous glands. That is mainly because of hormones that trigger excess sebum production. That is the reason many women get more oily skin during their menstrual periods. Apart from regular care of the oily skin, talk to your doctor about any method to control the androgens that trigger sebum production.
Acne and Oily Skin -
Oily skin is the right environment for the P.acnes bacteria to flourish.
With more oil in the glands and on the skin, these bacteria infect many glands and produce acne. If you have oily skin, please manage it properly, otherwise your chances of getting acne are high.
This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.
If you woke up one morning and looked in the mirror only to find your face flushed with red, you may have rosacea. Although there are a number of products available to alleviate your rosacea symptoms, there are a number of things you can do to help keep your rosacea under control.
What is Rosacea?
I never knew much about rosacea until I talked to a couple of friends. One is a 40 year old woman who I thought just had a sun burn. The other, a good buddy who I thought was suffering from high blood pressure and would have a heart attack right in front of me some day, also had a red swollen nose. He looked like W.C. Fields, a film actor going way back to the 1920′s. W.C. fields famous bloated red nose caused him to struggle his whole life with rosacea.
Anyway, rosacea is a relatively common yet chronic skin condition characterized by the redness of the facial skin which is sometimes accompanied by pimples. If you’re lucky only your cheeks or forehead will be affected. I say lucky because the larger the area on your body affected by rosacea, the more expensive will your treatments get and the more time it will take to keep your rosacea under control.
Not wanting to make matters worse, but if left untreated Rosacea can get even worse than it really needs to be. Although treatment options are available, rosacea is still not understood very well but progress is being made. As long as it does not affect your eyes, as would be the case for ocular rosacea, the redness of your skin is a relatively harmless condition that seems to affect more women than men.
Watch this video where Brady Barrows of The Rosaceans talks about rosacea and can not only explain it, but will give you some great tips on how to deal with it.
Rosacea is estimated to affect more than 16 million Americans and a good number of Canadians as well. Yet, with all the people that have rosacea, many of them still don’t know it. As a matter of fact, a Gallup survey revealed that 78 percent of the people living in the United States who have rosacea not only have never heard of rosacea but they don’t know how to to recognize it, or how to deal with it if they do have it.
The bad news is that currently there is no cure for rosacea; at least not yet. The good news is that you can treat your rosacea skin condition. There is a myriad of rosacea products on the market whether they be medicine prescribed by your doctor or natural rosacea remedies to help you keep your rosacea under control. Believe it or not, one of the best ways you can use to help treat rosacea is to start making some healthy lifestyle changes.
Although rosacea seems to affect Caucasians between the ages of 30 and 60, other ethnicities also are vulnerable. If you found yourself suffering from this skin condition, you may have noticed how mildly it started; first with cheeks that seem to glow red, then progressing to your nose, chin, forehead, neck, and other parts of your body.
Rosacea is a progressive disease and can get much worse if not treated. The sooner you treat it while your condition is still mild, the more effective the treatment will be. If left untreated, your rosacea skin condition can cause bumps and as stated above, pimples can also develop which will only exacerbate the rosacea.
The National Rosacea Society (NRS) recommends several actions to keep your rosacea at bay in their “Understanding Rosacea Guide“:
Always protect your face from the sun, however I am a strong advocate of at least 10 minutes of sun exposure every day.
Stay inside, in air-conditioning cool, on hot and humid days.
If you must be outside when it’s hot, be prepared with cold drinks and do not over-exert yourself. Chew on ice chips to lower facial temperature and/or continuously spray your face with cool water.
In the cold weather, cover your face with a scarf.
In the winter, use a moisturizer daily.
Take steps to reduce stress.
Take care of yourself by eating healthy foods like fruits and vegetables.
Get plenty of exercise.
Get getting lots of sleep.
Do not drink too much caffeine.
When feeling overwhelmed or stressed, try deep-breathing exercises, use visualization techniques, stretch out and relax all your muscles.
Eating (and drinking) right for rosacea suffers means avoiding hot soup or drinks, spicy foods, and alcohol.
Other foods that you might want to avoid if you notice flare-ups after consumption include cheese, sour cream, yogurt, citrus fruit, liver, chocolate, vanilla, soy sauce, yeast extract, vinegar, eggplant, avocados, spinach, broad-leafed beans and pods, and foods high in histamine or niacin.
While exercise is a good thing overall, if you suffer from rosacea, you might be better off toning it down a bit, and do not get too overheated.
In facial cleansers or moisturizers, avoid all ingredients that sting, burn, or cause redness. Some of the main culprits include alcohol, witch hazel, menthol, peppermint, eucalyptus oil or clove oil.
Of all the above tips, my favorite is on eating healthy foods like fruits with high antioxidant value in them. Although you may have to watch the type of fruit you eat, foods with lots of antioxidants in them help to fight free radicals in your system and help to improve your immune system.
Hopefully this article has been helpful in your understanding of what rosacea is and how you can treat it. Remember to consult a doctor or dermatologist before trying and medication or treatment for this condition.
When you kissed goodbye to your teens, it wasn’t just the end of an era of freedom and happiness. No, for many of us the end of adolescence was marked more by the departure of the majority of our skin problems. It is pretty galling when they then return as we enter our thirties and prepare to enjoy the decade that should be our prime. Having to spend time getting rid of the acne and blackheads all over again feels like such a waste of time when you have an adult life to lead. No matter – with what you learned as a teenager and what you know now, this time you can beat it once and for all.
Spotting acne before it goes too far is the first thing you need to do. Generally the first outward sign of an acne breakout is the appearance of blackheads. As oil and dead skin collects in the pores of your skin they mix with bacteria and air and turn black. These can be removed with a good exfoliant, massaged across your face gently but firmly. Pore cleansing strips are also excellent for getting out the pesky hard-to-get ones.
Additionally, now that you are an adult you may have a bit more cash in the bank. This could well be put to good use at the spa, where trained beauticians will give you a facial that clears away the bad stuff on the outside. As for the bad stuff inside, stress and hormonal imbalance are your enemies. Look for a de-stressing method, and speak to your doctor about options for stimulating or retarding the production of a troublesome hormone.
Adult acne seems like the most unreasonable thing that mother nature can throw at you as you move into your late twenties and thirties. As trade-offs go, having to hold down a job and pay bills is probably a fair price to pay for not having your teen acne bringing you down. But then adult acne shows up and all of a sudden you have the worst of both worlds. What is going on? Your voice broke years ago, you aren’t getting any taller and you’ve stopped blushing at the most inopportune of times. So why are you all of a sudden dealing with blackheads and zits again?
The chances are that you fall into one or more of three categories. The main three causes of adult acne are hormones, stress and genetic predisposition. Hormonal imbalances can be caused by a number of different factors, some of which are environmental and others which are down to more specific factors. Either way, it can trigger a case of acne. Alternatively you may be experiencing a great deal of stress in the workplace or in your personal life. Stress causes the overproduction of stress hormones, which are a guaranteed way of causing acne.
Finally, genetics are known to play a part in causing adult acne – if your parents, or one of them, were prone to it then you may well be too. In fact, if even one of your parents was a sufferer of adult acne, the chances that you will be as well quadruple. Hardly fair, is it?
