Posts Tagged How To Get Rid Of Acne

Effective Medical Treatments For Acne For Clear Skin

If you have tried home remedies and haven’t been able to successfully control your acne then it is time to talk with your doctor or a dermatologist about starting medical treatment for your acne. There are several options available to you and your doctor can help you determine which treatment option is the best for your skin needs and situation.
The first option most doctors will recommend is topical antibiotics and antibacterials. Drugs in this category include erythromycin, clindamycin, sulfacetamide and azelaic acid. A second option is the use of Retinoids. The most popular option is Retin-A which has been around for awhile and offers a mild and gentle solution while still being effective. Two newer retinoids available through your doctor include adapalene and tazarotene. Both of these medications do well when unclogging pores but some side effects including irritation and a mild increase in sensitivity to the sun. However, you can still use these products on sunny days as long as you use proper protection.
If topical products aren’t effective your doctor may recommend trying oral antibiotics. Typically a doctor will start with tetracycline or a similar product such as doxycycline and minocycline. Other drugs that have been proven useful for acne treatment include cefadroxil, amoxicillin and sulfa drugs. Some allergic reactions can occur with these drugs such as gastrointestinal upset and increased sensitivity to the sun. Doxycycline can also cause esophagitis which is an irritation of the esophagus that causes discomfort when swallowing and an increased chance of sunburn.
While many are concerned about taking oral antibiotics for long periods of time there is no risk of a weakened immune system from taking antibiotics orally for months or longer. You will not be more susceptible to infections or unable to use other antibiotics when necessary just because you are taking antibiotics for your acne. The only risk from long-term antibiotic use was found in recent studies of breast cancer, but further study is still necessary.
Consider laser acne treatment:
For serious cases of acne or scars then laser treatments can be a good option. During recent years reports have shown good success with lasers and similar devices to treat acne either by itself or along with photosensitizing dyes. These treatments are also very safe and effective, but it isn’t yet known how long the effects last. Laser treatment is still considered an adjunct to regular acne therapy and is not yet a substitute.
Lastly there is the option of chemical peels. There are superficial peels using glycolic acid that are done by estheticians and then there are deeper chemical peels which are done in the doctor’s office. However, chemical peels will only offer you modest, supportive benefits and are generally not considered a substitute for regular acne treatments.
There are many medical treatments for acne available and one of them should help you get rid of your acne issue. However, it is always important to discuss the issue with your doctor so they can tell you of all the side effects and help you choose which acne treatment option will be best for your individual needs.

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Acne Light Treatment – an Acne Cure

Acne light treatment is rapidly becoming a popular acne remedy because it is a fairly easy and a drug-free way to help heal blemishes. As you know, many topical medications contain strong ingredients that damage sensitive skin, resulting in peeling, redness, and increased sun sensitivity. Ouch ! But, Blue light (not the beer, if you are a Canadian) therapy is widely regarded as an excellent alternative to most acne medications. Some individuals have expressed concern over the safety of this procedure, becuase this procedure used to use ultraviolet (UV) light that was harmful to the skin. Fortunately, modern Clearlight treatments have been FDA approved and free of UV dangers.

The FDA approved blue light therapy for acne in August of 2002. In studies, two 15-minute exposures a week for a period of four weeks produced a 60 percent reduction in acne in 80 percent of patients. Reported remissions from acne lasted as long as three to eight months. The first approved system of treatment, ClearLight, is now available through dermatologists. This method involves a new therapeutic blue or red light that uses what is called Acne PhotoClearingTM – APCTM technology. It targets and destroys the surface of the acne and quickly and easily repairs it. It is also known to be effective in clearing inflamed acne in one month.

So how does blue light therapy work?

Basically, patients are exposed to a low intensity blue light source (405 nm to 420 nm) for 15 minutes twice per week for 4 weeks. Each session costs between $50 and $150, making a full course of treatment an average of $800. But, wouldn’t you know it, acne light treatment is considered cosmetic and is therefore not covered by insurance.

Another form of acne light therapy that is used more and more is known as pulsed light and heat energy (LHE) therapy.

LHE therapy uses both light and heat to eradicate the root causes of acne. Very much like blue light therapy, LHE therapy uses light to destroy acne-causing bacteria. It also uses heat to reduce the production of sebum and to help shrink sebaceous glands. It is an attractive option for many acne sufferers because it promises fast results. Usually, improvement in the symptoms of acne can be seen in as little as 30 days. Not surprisingly, this is becoming popular because it is a fast treatment, with most sessions done in just over 10 minutes. The FDA has approved LHE therapy for the treatment of mild to moderate acne.

While different kinds of light therapies may seem attractive, they can also be expensive, and may not be covered by most health insurance plans. If you are looking for an answer that is milder and less expensive, consider the many herbal therapies that are available. Some acne sufferers swear by certain herbal supplements, including black currant seed oil, evening primrose oil and others. Follow the instructions on the bottle or ask your pharmacist or doctor for advice. Also, never take any herbal medication if you are taking prescription drugs as their could be side effects. Consult with your Pharmacist or Doctor first.

Visit a skin specialist or dermatologist for more information on acne light treatments.

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Is There an Acne Cure Diet That Works?

Acne Diet and The Money Factor: You Can’t Sell a Healthy Diet

Ask any medical doctor if there is a connection between diet and acne and almost all of them will claim there is no connection. Quoting from the Journal of the American Medical Association:

“Diet plays no role in acne treatment in most patientseven large amounts of certain foods have not clinically exacerbated acne”.

With years of medical education and clinical experience behind these claims, how can we the simple folks who suffer from acne challenge these statements and think otherwise? The answer is: doubt. Doubt, if its stays in the borders of reason, can open many doors otherwise will stay forever shut. Believe it or not, doubt can change reality. Doubt can cure your acne and doubt can even save your life.

Fact is, countless of acne sufferers have reported that their acne seemed to get worse when they consumed certain foods and saw dramatic positive change over their acne condition when they eliminated the same foods from their diet and when certain foods with specific nutritional value were incorporated into their diet.

So why do dermatologists so stubbornly insist that diet does not cause acne? The answer: you can’t make as much money as you could make by selling drugs and over the counters. There is a huge pressure upon doctors coming from the drug and pharmaceutical companies to prescribe expensive medications and lotions that create dependency. The truth is, that your doctor is in a way, a hostage by the trillion dollar drug companies. Did you know that the drug companies, who have no interest in producing something that they cannot control financially, sponsor most medical schools?

The right diet, although not a solution by itself, can, in many cases, dramatically reduce inflammation and even completely clear one’s acne (if you’re one of the lucky ones who’s acne is triggered by allergic response to food). There are less profits for the drug and pharmaceutical companies when promoting a clear skin diet.

The truth is that conventional medications will never cure your acne, simply because they are pre-designed NOT to fix the internal cause of acne. They are pre-designed to deal with the external symptoms of a disease as they create more and more dependency and more dependency means making more money all at our expense and ignorance.

The Theory That Diet Doesn’t Cause Acne Is A Myth

The dogmatic theory that diet does not cause acne and that acne is merely an incurable genetic disorder was based upon two dated researches published in 1969 and 1971 that were aimed at studying the connection between diet and acne.

These studies were the foundation of the ‘acne symptoms treatment strategy’, meaning, because acne is a genetic disease that cannot be prevented, the only way to deal with acne would be to tackle its symptoms (bacteria, inflammation, puss, redness, greasiness), by applying creams, antibiotics, taking prescription drugs and over the counters.

Surprisingly enough, years after the above studies were published, clinical trials and in depth researches experimenting the acne diet link have found that the studies from 1969 and 1971 had came to the wrong conclusions and were in fact seriously flawed.

Recent studies have clearly found a significant connection between diet and acne. It appears that the wrong diet is now thought to be one of the leading acne contributing factors that can negatively affect hormonal regulation and the natural process of toxic elimination, which can seriously aggravate one’s existing acne.

Diet Shapes Who You Are (Including Your Acne)

In the same way that crashing waves shape beach cliffs and just like the wind shapes the canyon walls, slowly and methodically over time, so does eating shapes and effects our physic, our internal system, our physical and mental being, from the organ down to the cellular level.

The idea that an object foreign to our body that is inserted by the food that we eat, has no effect on us, or has no impact on chronic conditions such as acne is absurd. Diet is the primary thing that affects and shapes who we are.

Diet has cumulative effect on our bodies, and that includes our skin condition and acne, which is a manifestation of a chronic internal problem slowly shaped and built by the wrong daily dietary choices over the years.

Acne Diet and The Kitavan Islanders

While in the U.S, more than 80% of teenagers between 16 and 18 have acne and more than 17 million Americans suffer from some form of acne, there is an interesting evidence that native people that live and eat in traditional ways, have significantly lower to no occurrences of acne.

In 2002, Dr. Cordain and his colleagues published a landmark study that examined 300 people living in the Kitavan Islands off the coast of Papua New Guinea that showed that none of the islanders had even one blemish on his or her face. Similar to the Kitavans, no case of acne had been observed when the same experiment had been conducted upon the South American Indians called the Ache, living in a remote jungle in eastern Paraguay.

The natives of Kitavan and the South American Indians had no access to the latest over the counters, topical creams or conventional acne medications and they had no dermatologist to consult with. The only vast difference between them and American or European citizens is their diet.

Acne Diet and Sugar: The Sweet Poison

Did you know that sugar is a 100% pure chemical with zero nutritional value? Recent studies have clearly shown a connection between the consumption of sugar and the aggravation of acne.

When you consume any form of refined carbohydrates (white sugar, white flour, white rice) here’s what happens: right after you insert that ’sweet poison’ into your body, it rapidly spikes up your blood sugar levels. Your body needs to bring those levels down so it secrets a surge of insulin, other male hormones and an insulin-like growth factor called IGF-1. The excretion of these hormones overwhelms your liver and your internal system in general. The excess of male hormones encourages the skin to excrete large amounts of sebum oil: The greasy substance that encourages the p.acne bacteria to grow, resulting in the aggravation of your acne.

Acne Diet and Dairy Products: Got Milk? Got Acne

Milk (all dairy products included) is the most harmful, mucus forming, allergenic and acne aggravating food you can find. If you thought sugar can aggravate your acne, here’s another major nutritional player in the formation of acne: behold the miracles of milk. Surprised? I thought so. After years of constant brainwashing by the media, who can blame us for thinking milk is good for strong bones and healthy teeth? The truth is: every sip of milk contains 59 different raging hormones, (which trigger the hyper-production of sebum oil resulting in more acne), saturated animal fat, steroid hormones, dead white blood cells, and cow pus in abundance!

Did you know that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows 750 million pus cells in every liter of milk (about two pounds) produced in America? Think about it, the next time you pop a pimple.

Scientific studies already point the finger at milk as one of the worst acne aggravating foods: “As pointed out by Dr. Jerome Fisher, ‘About 80 percent of cows that are giving milk are pregnant and are throwing off hormones continuously.’ Progesterone breaks down into androgens, which have been implicated as a factor in the development of acne…Dr. Fisher observed that his teenage acne patients improved as soon as the milk drinking stopped.”

If there’s one element you should remove from your diet in the quest for clear skin make it this one. Not only will you see an immediate improvement over your acne, you’ll feel a huge weight has been lifted from your body. If you worry about calcium intake, don’t! Milk being acidic forming food creates a leeching effect where calcium is taken from your bones to balance the acidity. Milk actually deprives your body from its calcium resources. Green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds are not only excellent sources of calcium they also have the powers to help you fight your acne symptoms.

Diet Is Only One of The Factors That Cause Acne

Dairy products and sugar are not the only acne aggravating foods. The two above cannot sum up the list of western made acne triggering foods. There are several other foods you should clearly stay away from if you ever wish to clear your acne. The good new is that there are tons of other foods such as essential fatty acids that are not only excellent for your skin, they can actually help you clear your acne, by re-balancing your body and promoting to an acne-free environment.

The right nutrition plays an important part in the complex process of acne formation. When doctors claim there is no link between diet and acne because certain individuals can eat specific foods and get acne while others eat the same foods and don’t, these doctors have failed to realize that there are several factors involved in the formation and aggravation of acne and diet is only ONE of them.

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Different ways to get rid of cystic acne

All of the above cystic acne information not only will help learn how to get rid of acne, but will make you healthier as well.

Topically: After washing with a mild soap, use tea tree antiseptic cream. It can be bought or ordered at a health food store. This acne remedy is very antibiotic, also it is incredibly anti-inflammatory so all the redness and swelling goes down and as a side effect it moisturizes and leaves your skin baby soft. This acne cure can be an absolute miracle for you and it is especially good for after shaving.

Internally: Eat as close to a natural foods diet as possible avoiding chemicals and preservatives and additives as much as you can. Never drink chlorine always drink lots and lots of filtered, distilled or spring waters. Always use a Laundry detergent that is free of perfumes and dyes. Normal scented detergents remain on the clothes after drying and we absorb the chemical scent through our skin and it aggravates our skin. Also absolutely never use fabric softener especially those poison dryer sheets.

Take garlic capsules with every meal, garlic is highly antibiotic and will eventually work better than all those Immune system compromising drug anti-biotic the MD’s have been pushing on us. Also crush 1-2 fresh raw cloves and mix it in with each meal in plenty of food. The garlic must be raw not cooked. The pills work good but fresh, raw, crushed garlic with food is simply amazing.

Start using lots of extra virgin olive oil on everything, again raw. Pour it on salads, on pastas (after they are on your plate). This kind of food is like gold for your skin and liver. Heating it will turn it into toxic grease. Also deep fried foods have toxic grease so avoid them.

These therapies are two parts: Antibiotic both internal and external to kill off the infection which as you guessed is a major deep skin problem especially in the case of cystic acne. Also the therapies are purifying, when we have a toxic system the liver and Kidneys become taxed and clogged up and we throw off toxins through the sweat glands. While it’s the oil glands that plug up the sweat pores it’s the toxemia of the sweat glands and the Inability of the Liver to break down hormones that causes excess oil and a poorly functioning pore.

Don’t forget to exercise and reduce stress although it’s difficult when the cystic acne is there, but stressing about it will make it worse. Best wishes and a speedy cure.

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Acne Cures – Is It Really Possible To Cure Your Acne?

Acne is one of the most persistent problems that people have to endure right from young adolescents years and for many into adulthood.  There is not any particular type of person that gets acne, the people who suffer from acne are quite varied and this is one of the reasons that make it hard to find an acne cure.

Because of this there are several different kinds of cures for acne and depending on the severity of your acne problem, you may find some acne products don’t work for you.  You may have to try a few before you find one that does the job you are looking for.

The common acne products are:

Topical Antibiotics – which include most of the over the counter acne medications that act directly on the infected areas.Topical Bactericidals – these products contain substances such as benzoyl peroxide which may work on mild to moderate acne.Oral Antibiotics – these are less commont than the antibiotics that are applied direct to the acne.Hormonal Treatments – this is more commonly used in adult/adolescent women with acne.Phototherapy – this is where light is used to treat the acne on the skin.Along with these traditional medications there are also many other treatments available for acne, such as cortisone injections, aloe vera, tea tree oil and many other natural type treatments.  These methods have many people vouch for their effectiveness although they may not work for everyone.

It is really difficult to know which type of treatment to try unless you know the cause of your acne.  One treatment that has a high success rate is Acnezine which helps to treat your condition from the inside – in other words it keeps you healthy on the inside which then keeps your skin healthy and reduces or even eliminates acne.  So although there is no acne cures, Acnezine is one treatment that comes closest to it.

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Using an Acne Forum to Find the Best Acne Cure

If you suffer from various acne problems you are sure to look for the right treatment option to treat your acne. In addition to acne treating products, there are also many forums on the internet that prove effective in helping you cure acne.

There are many forums on the internet, which you have to browse through to find the best forum. However remember that when browsing, you are sure to find some negative opinions on certain matters.

This is because an option that worked for one person will not work effectively for another person. There are also some people on the forums, trying to sell their miracle cure either as their own product or as an affiliate marketer.

Basically, acne stems from various conditions and issues. You may find that poor diet, a change in the environment, stress and even mild allergic reactions can induce an acne attack.

So when you go looking for the right acne cure forum, it is better to use the forum where there are people suffering from problems that are similar to yours. This is because you will be able to discuss similar conditions and problems that you all are going through because of acne.

You also have to understand all information that is propagated through the acne forum. This is to ensure that you don’t try out solutions that will only worsen your problem. Like there are some astringent face creams which cause problems on skin that is more than raw.

Also ensure that the free acne cure forum has an environment that you are comfortable in. this is where you have to state your symptoms, your experiences in your worst outbreaks, problems you have undergone and all the treatment options you have tried.

Remember that many a time, meeting other people and discussing your problems work at getting rid of your problems. The same point is implemented in acne cure forums where you discuss your problems to reach the best solution to treat and cure it.

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Acne – Treatment for Acne

Getting the right treatment for acne is of huge importance, and it is also important to understand that not one treatment is going to be the right treatment for everybody. Because of this it then becomes confusing when trying to find out what is the best course of action to treat your acne with, because we are bombarded with sales messages from pharmaceutical companies, and well meaning (but still sales) advice from holistic companies, so what we want to do here today is try and explain some of the common information you will find, which will hopefully help you decide the correct treatment for acne for you. First of all lets briefly cover what causes acne outbreaks the majority of the time.

Your body naturally creates an oil called Sebum. Sebum is very important for your skin as it is needed to protect and waterproof it and this in turn prevents your skin from becoming dry, brittle and cracked. Unfortunately though, if for whatever reason your body produces too much sebum, and this excess oil then combines with any dead skin cells that are naturally found on our body, this then causes the pores to clog up and in turn you have a resulting acne breakouts.

The first thing that you can try and do is more prevention rather than cure. By that I mean trying to regulate the amount of sebum your body is creating by watching what you eat and drink. In a nutshell to do this you want to try and eat your five portions of fruit and veg a day, whilst cutting back on processed or fast food. Also make sure you drink plenty of water, at least eight large glasses per day and cut back on fizzy drinks and caffeine. This will help to clear your skin and keep on flushing out toxins. The beauty of following this advice is that not only will it help control your acne but as a side benefit you will actually be healthier and you will feel that in your everyday life too.

However, if you already have an acne outbreak as well as diet there are other treatments for acne that you can use, which we will cover next.

Antibiotics are used to reduce bacteria and inflammation that cause acne, and one of the most commonly prescribed treatments is minocycline. Unfortunately though, this drug can be more expensive than other similar antibiotics treatments that are out there, plus there are concerns about its safety. But, on the whole, antibiotics generally do a decent job of clearing inflamed acne spots, and any surrounding skin inflammation. However, they have little effect on unplugging blocked pores, this results in you still suffering from whiteheads and blackheads.

If you would rather go for an over the counter type cream or lotion for the skin, then you will probably get one that contains Benzoyl peroxide. This ingredient is a very common and effective topical acne treatment and because of this it is probably the most widely used ingredient in acne medications. Available in varying strengths both over-the-counter and by prescription, Benzoyl peroxide kills bacteria and slows down the action of skin glands.

For people suffering from really severe acne, then another treatment for acne to consider is laser treatment. Although not cheap, laser treatment is becoming extremely popular because it has the potential to be more precise than the other techniques in the treatment for acne as it is hitting the specific areas that need treating. Another use of laser treatment is for removing the scars that can be left behind by acne. This is done by using the laser on the outer layer of the skin which causes the under layer to heal tightly and more smoothly.

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