Step 1:  Control Your Acne By Washing Your Face

The first step in getting your acne under control is by making an effort to wash your face regularly.  While this sounds easy, a lot of people who have acne problems struggle here because they don’t incorporate it into their routine.  Acne is created by oil (known as sebum) being secreted from your pores.  This greasy gooey oil can clog up the holes in your skin causing them to swell up.  This is where your black-heads and white-heads come from. When your pores get clogged, this provides the perfect condition for bacteria which love to feed on this oil to grow and multiply.  Your skins defenses go off and begin to fight the infection.  This is where the redness comes from.  The most important thing when it comes to taking control of your acne is to make sure that this oil doesn’t clog your pores and if it does, that it is washed away quickly.

The number one problem that folks have when trying to get rid of acne is they don’t maintain a routine.  Acne, particularly in adolescence becomes a problem when the skin kicks oil production into overdrive.  If the oil isn’t removed quickly, pores become clogged and acne sets in.  Just forgetting to wash your face one time can allow conditions for clogged pores.  The #1 recommendation I can make is that you set up a routine to where you wash your face two to three times daily.  It can be between meals, regular intervals, whatever fits into your life style, but consistency is key!

Here are some tips I’ve found that proved to be useful as far as washing your face goes:

1)  Wash your face before or after every meal – This suggestions is useful because its purpose is to get you into the routine of washing your face.  I for one know it can be hard to remember to wash up all the time when it hasn’t been something I’ve done a lot before.   By washing your face before or after every meal, you ensure that you actually get it done.  After all, you’ve got to eat don’t you?

2)  Find a face wash that you can use often – This is trickier than it appears because everybodys skin is different.  When looking for a face wash, you’re going to want to find one that isn’t medicated.  There are plenty of other products out there that you can use that can apply the same medication, but by leaving the meds out of your face wash you can ensure that it is soft enough on the skin to be able to be used daily.

3)  A little bit goes a long way – Face it, acne products are expensive enough as it is.  Reading around, I find that a lot of people are under the wrong assumption that by using more face soap, you do better for your skin.  This isn’t true at all.  As far as most face washes go, you really only need a pea sized amount to get the job done.  Using too much product on your skin can cause your probles to get worse instead of better!  Be sure to follow the directions on the bottle and remember that you can always add more soap, so be stingy!

4)  Don’t scrub too hard – You can’t just scrub your acne off your face.  By scrubbing hard you break the skin and leave yourself open to infection.  Plus, sebum can seep through your skin to other parts of your face and cause acne there as well.  When washing your face, work the soap into a nice lather and gently massage your face.  As hard to resist as it is, the less you come in direct contact with your acne, the faster it’ll get better!

5)  Pat dry your face with a towel – This goes hand in hand with the tip above.  You want those pimples to heal on their own and not spread their oil, so pat dry your face.  This prevents any friction that can cause the pores to open prematurely.

6)  Don’t Over Do It! – Some people like to go in guns a blazin’ when trying to take control of their acne problem.  There is such a thing as over doing it!  If you’ve got face wash, face spritz, face lotion, face mask, facial pads, medications, and everything else under the sun each with a host of ingredients not only are you not going to clear all your acne but you can create for yourself a whole host of other problems due to over drying and over medication.  Pick a product or two and follow accordingly.  You can see good results without a laboratory full of chemicals.

7)  It takes time to control your acne – If there were a product out there that could clear your acne overnight it would be an instant billion dollar success.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a product out there that can do this and you shouldn’t expect it.  People want instant results, but acne is an injury on your skin and injuries take time to heal.  In fact, during the first few days of treatment, acne can even get worse!  What is important is that you stick to the plan.  As long as you don’t miss a beat and you’re not over doing it as far as treatment is concerned, you’ll see your acne begin to clear up in a week or two.  If you don’t see improvements after a couple weeks, then its best to talk to a dermatologist and determine a new method of treatment.

8)  Don’t stop now that you’re clear! – A mistake that a lot of people make is that after they see significant improvements in their acne, they stop what they’re doing and the problem comes back!  The increase in sebum takes years for the hormones to balance out and throughout the entire time you need to be continuously vigilant in your treatment.  All the medications and products out there  clear pores and kill bacteria.  They don’t cure the cause of the acne which is the oil production.  Until that balances out on its own, you need to keep treatment going.  If it doesn’t balance out on its own after adolescence, hormone therapy can provide treatment.

When it comes to controlling your acne, it’s a tough undertaking.  Integrate your routine into the normal flow of your life and you’ll find that its not too difficult to get into the acne fighting routine.  Persistence, dedication, and a bit of patience are the keys to success in controlling acne.