5 Acne Treatment Tips You Can Use Today

Dealing with acne can be embarassing at any age. Luckily, there  area number of things you can do everyday to make sure your skin is lessprone to flare ups. Here are five tips for taking control of youracne starting today.

• Exercise - Keeping in shape can help fight acne by fighting offnegative stress levels that can come from negative self-esteem anddepression. However, some safeguards need to be in place to ward offacne that can result from your workout routines. Watch what you puton your body with regards to clothing, sports gear and equipment. 

• For example, tight lycra and nylon exercise outfits might lookgreat in the movies and on magazine models, but if you aresusceptible to acne problems, avoid these syntheticfabrics that tendto trap in body moisture and heat resulting in a bacteria frenzy.Instead, choose loose clothing made of cotton or natural blends toallow more air to get to your skin.

• And when you are finished with your workout, get out of clothing wetfrom perspiration or water sports. Shower and change into dry, cleanclothing. And keep your sports gear and equipment clean, too. Dirtyheadgear, for instance, can irritate forehead areas prone to acneproblems. So toss headbands into the washing machine after workoutsessions.

• Cosmetics  - To avoid pore-clogging and skin irritations that aresimilar to acne and that can contribute to acne, use products labelednoncomedogenic or oil-free. Shimmering facial colors can contain aflaky mineral called mica that can cause skin irritations and clogpores. Other additives in coloring that can cause similar reactionsare coal tar derivatives, carmine and heavy cream in blushes.

• More preventative measures include using a lip gloss that promotes amatte finish instead of a high gloss for less pore-clogging; note themore the shine, the more then comedogenic content and the more  thepores can clog. Beware that eye creams can contain heavierconcentrations of moisturizers than regular creams and lotions,meaning they have greater potential to clog pores in the surroundingfacial areas. 

• Diet - Studies show that diet does not play a role in either thecause or the treatment of acne. However, what is recommended for acnepreventative care is this: what is best for your body is best foryour skin, especially since your skin is the largest organ of yourbody. So remember to watch your diet and consume healthy vitamins,minerals and other supplements. This will help to prevent and helpconquer acne breakout.

• Hygiene - A healthy skin regimen should include no harshscrubbing or over-washing, because this can cause possible skinirritation or possible over production of oil to replace what haswashed off, clogging pores in the process. Products with gentleexfoliation ingredients are OK to use; i.e. not scratchy nut or fruitshell pieces that can tear skin. And skip alcohol products whenpossible; these can take off the top layer of your skin and causeyour glands to product more oil, clogging pores in the process.

• If you do spot acne-troubled areas, do NOT mess with them. Rememberthat these are already weeks in the making, and squeezing or pickingblemishes can force the infected area to regress back inside, furthertroubling the region and possibly leave a scar. If necessary, seekhelp from a dermatologist for alternative treatments.

• Shaving - Shaving for both genders is actually an excellent wayof exfoliating or removing dead skin to help with the prevention andspreading of acne instead of leaving the remains to clog pores. Andfor some light acne cases already in process, shaving can help ridwhiteheads and blackheads from the face. A word of caution: for areaswith infection or high inflammatory activity (redness,sensitive,open acne, sores, etc.), do not shave. Or at the very least, use ashaving cream for sensitive skin!