Acne, blemishes, breakouts, whitehead, blackheads, zits, and pimples, can be embarrassing and hard to deal with at any age. With so much information about how to get rid of acne, how to correct acne-prone skin, and a slew of organic acne products, natural acne treatment, at home remedies for zits, and active acne treatments, how do I know which acne treatment is best for me?
We cannot tell you exactly the best acne or blemish treatment routine or plan, but we can go over a few common mistakes people make when treating or having a breakout.
- Not trying the acne treatment long enough – It is common that many discontinue treatment after a few days when no improvements can be seen. Patience is extremely important when treating acne. Even if the acne comes very fast, the skin reacts very slowly to treatment and it takes usually 1 to 3 months to see and feel improvements. It is also very common that the skin even gets worse before it gets better.
- Over-cleaning the skin – It is very common that people with oily and acne prone skin over-wash and over-scrub the face. Acne is not due to dirty skin and scrubbing the skin may actually worsen the acne. When over-cleaning the skin, the protective barrier gets destroyed which cause irritation and trigger the production of sebum. Unbalanced skin due to using cleansers that dry out skin as a treatment to prevent acne or oily skin actually cause the skin to produce even more oil.
- Popping pimples – It is very tempting to pop a pimple, unfortunately popping the pimple does not actually correct the problem. However, this may prolong the healing process and the pimple may get even worse. Popping the pimple can push the pus and bacteria, that caused the pimple in the first place, further into the skin which will result in more blemish redness and swelling around the area where the zit was present. When you pop a zit, the risk of permanent scarring is increased, through permanent pits or scars on the skin.
What should I do instead of popping pimples?
- Treat the zit quickly, with clean hands.
- Opening the pores by laying a warm washcloth across the affected area for one minute.
- Cleanse with a cleanser that will not dry out the skin but can remove bacteria and unclog the pores.
- Apply a favorite zapper or acne facemask.
- Allow your skin to breathe and correct itself. Try to avoid putting excess product, touching, and make-up.
- Play with a puppy - keep your hands busy and your mind distracted.
- Watch your favorite tv show - stay distracted and do not touch the zit.
- Go for a walk - give your skin an extra boost of fresh oxygen.
- Scroll through Instagram - keeping your hands and mind busy.
- Do a project, like cleaning out your closet or laundry that you have been avoiding - keep your mind and hands busy and away from the blemish!
- Buy an imitation acne popper and trick yourself into believing you popped the one on your skin, but seriously, leave YOUR zit alone no matter how good you become at this addictive thing. Remember it's more satisfying to pop a fact zit then one on your face, avoid scarring and discoloration. Pop it Pal.
- Tanning – Even if it feels like the sun can help correct acne prone skin, the long-term effect of UV-rays are very dangerous. Most treatments for acne contain ingredients that make the skin more sensitive to the sun. It is extremely important to use sunscreen to protect the skin while using acne treatment products. Even after the acne heals, the new skin cells that are formed are very sensitive to the sun and can easily and quickly be damaged. If sunscreen or a SPF product is not used, the risk of getting hyperpigmentation is very high. Hyperpigmentation is when patches of skin become darker in color, through an excess of melanin depositing the brown pigment that produces normal skin into the newly formed skin, which makes the area darker than the surrounding skin.
