Acne Control Basics

The average teenager has enough on his or her plate without having to worry about acne control. Fortunately for some people, acne is only a concern during their teenage years, while for others it is an affliction that plagues them for their entire life. Regardless of a person's age or of the severity of the acne, there are many methods to treat acne.

The acne sufferer must both keep the pores of the skin unclogged and work on unclogging already infected pores. One must keep at bay the bacteria that cause the infection and redness of acne and reduce any redness that is already present. The best line of attack is to apply preventive measures to avoid an acne breakout altogether.

Gently washing your face with soap and warm water a couple of times a day will help prevent your skin pores from becoming clogged. Using benzoyl peroxide, which is the active ingredient in Oxy Pads and in many other cleaning wipes, will also help to clean your skin as well as to dry it out. One of the great advantages of benzoyl peroxide is that it can be used together with other products to treat acne.

Using exfoliation has become a common technique in acne control. The removal of dead skin cells through exfoliation can help prevent them from clogging the pores of the skin, which in turn aids in preventing acne. The skin revealed by exfoliating is new, smooth, and much more healthy looking. It is important to know, however, that many of the agents found in exfoliating products can be very irritating to your skin. Before using them on your entire face, a small area of your skin should be tested to check for any negative reactions to these agents.

Many of the products available to treat acne have a dual function: the exfoliating agents which remove dead cells from the skin can also kill the bacteria associated with acne and reduce the inflammation of the skin. Therefore these products not only help to prevent acne, but also reduce the swelling and redness associated with an acne breakout.

Checking your acne products will reveal sulfur and azelaic acid as commonly used ingredients. It is always best to test acne products on a small patch of skin prior to using it everywhere, just to check for any adverse reaction. If you find that salicylic acid listed as one of the ingredients in acne product, you should be careful; even though salicylic acid works well in keeping your pores unclogged, it has been found to be very irritating to facial skin.

For very persistent or severe acne a consultation with a dermatologist may be needed. The dermatologist can help set up an effective cleansing routine. He or she may also use lasers or write a prescription to fight tougher cases of acne. Acne medications can be very harsh, and you should be made aware of any possible side effects by your doctor.

If the idea of prescribed treatments from a dermatologist concern you, give the over-the-counter products a try. They are readily available, less expensive, and just might work for you. Since these products are applied externally, you will also avoid ingesting any acne medications and suffer the possible side effects that they can cause.