If Only My Acne Would Go Away

Acne is one of those little irritants and a major cause for loss of self esteem and self worth for youth as well as adults.  While it can occur at any age, it is frequently during your years as a teenager that acne becomes one of the most frustrating conditions you can have.

As a teenager, I personally fought with acne.  I didn’t know what caused it and there were myths all over about too much candy and chocolate, or too much stress, or preservatives in foods, sweating from exercise, etc.  There are probably hundreds of wrong statements about the causes of acne and just as many home remedies that don’t live up to their hype.

Acne is caused by an excessive amount of oil on your skin that traps dirt and clogs your pores. If not treated, it will ultimately result in an infection, which produces the pimple and all the redness and swelling associated with it.  A blackhead is simply a pore that has been partially plug by oils or dead skin but still is mostly open and hasn’t developed an infection.

The best acne treatment is probably your ability to control the body oils that are present on your face, neck and shoulders. As a teenager, the increased amount of hormones are the cause of some of this overabundance of oil on your skin and in your hair.  So it is important to keep your hair and skin as clean as possible to help reduce the amount of oil you have on your face and shoulders. 

As a teenager, I had very oily hair and had acne on my shoulders. I tried many things and even had sought doctors help, but the one thing that finally got it under control was cutting my hair shorter and making sure it was washed at least once a day. I also made every effort to keep my face as clean as possible by washing with mild soap and water.

If you have problems with pimples, you should try not to pick at and pop your pimples. While you might think this would help to remove the ‘infection’, what you are actually doing when you pop a pimple is spreading the infection to other pores in your skin and forcing the infection even deeper into that pore. 

You should also remember that acne can also be caused by some medications. So, if you’re taking the correct steps to control your bodily oils and it still hasn’t worked, you may be taking a medication that is the main cause.  Be sure to consult with your family physician as he should know of the side effects of your medication and adjust if necessary.

This site provides valuable information on How To Get Rid of Pimples and Acne.