Thursday, April 12, 2007

Budget Friendly Acne Home Cures


Acne scars, like any type of scarring, can seldom be permanently removed. Fortunately, there are several acne treatments now available that can help the scarred area return to a more "normal" appearance.

The most common "trigger foods" for acne are milk and all dairy products, wheat and most grain products, and refined sugar. Avoiding these foods is usually not enough to completely remove acne, however. Most people need to eat the most natural diet for humans to completely control and eliminate acne.

There are 2 ways to treat acne, topical (applied to the skin) or systematic (taken by mouth). Both over the counter (OTC) (meaning no prescription is necessary) remedies are available. The goals of treatment are to heal existing lesions, to prevent new lesions forming, stop scarring, minimize psychological stress and embarrassment caused by the disease. Drug treatment is aimed at reducing several problems that play a part in causing acne: abnormal clumping of the cells in the follicles, increased oil production, bacteria, and inflammation.

One popular ingredient in some of the leading acne treatments out there, such as Proactiv� and Neutrogena On-The-Spot�, is the antibacterial agent Benzoyl Peroxide. Benzoyl Peroxide, or BP for short, works by attacking the p. acnes bacteria that build up in your pores, and is very effective for most people at clearing up current acne (note that BP does not prevent acne from forming, and acne products based on BP are not being honest if they make this claim). For most cases of acne, purchasing BP alone and applying it is just as effective as using expensive name brand products.

Acne treatments can be done with the help of benzoyl peroxide, proactive solution, antibiotics, tretinion, isotretinion, contraceptive pills, salicylic acid, adapalene, laser treatment, blue light treatment and herbal remedies. 90% of adolescents have acne. Acne can be treated in various ways. Exfoliating the skin, using topical bactericidals, topical antibiotics, oral antibiotics, hormonal treatment, external retinoids, oral retinoids, and phototherapy are some of the methods of treating acne. The non inflammatory acne can be treated with azelaic, salicytic acid, topical retinoids and benzoyl peroxide. The mild inflammatory acme can be treated with topical antibiotics. Isotretinion and topical retinoids are used to treat moderate inflammatory acne. Contraceptive pills with cyproterone can be used by females with virilization to treat severe inflammatory acne.

Although there are some topical skin care products and medications that can improve mild scarring and acne problems, almost all of them are artificial and invasive methods. For example, acne scars usually are treated with a combination of surgical procedures and skin resurfacing. On the other hand, natural products only have natural ingredients and biological substances. Such is the case with tea tree oil, green tea extract, Vitamin E, rapeseed oil, Aloe vera, and some of the essential oils, which had long been proven to act upon blemishes on the skin.

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