Acne Prevention Basics

The first thing you should know about preventing acne is that it is an ongoing process.  The problem with keeping your acne under control has to do with the root cause of acne which is increased hormone production. During adolescence, various hormones in the body begin to increase, the most important being testosterone. In addition to causing many of the physical changes we go through while becoming adults, testosterone is also the cause for a large increase in the production of sebum (skin oil). When our sebum production is in overdrive, our body can’t expel our skin oil faster than it accumulates and this leads to blocked pores, bacteria infections, and acne. It takes years during our teenage years for these fluctuations to resolve themselves and thus we must keep up our acne treatment throughout the entire duration of hormone production for it to be effective

How To Prevent Acne in 5 Basic Steps

Wash Your Face At Least 3 Times A Day:  The number one most important thing you can do to prevent acne is wash your face often.  Most dermatologist recommend that you wash three times a day.  Human beings are creatures of habit and if you have any chance at all of sticking to the 3x a day plan, you’re going to need to get a face washing routine going.  The best way that I personally found to incorporate face washing into your daily routine was to make an active effort to wash up before every meal.  I generally eat three times a day so it worked out great.  Missing once in a while isn’t so big a deal but going more than 12 hours or so without washing your face greatly increases the probability of an acne break out.  Some studies suggest that it only takes a few hours for a pore to become clogged and just six or eight hours more for bacteria to start multiplying. When going out to look for a face wash you want to make sure of two things.  One, that it is mild enough on your skin to use three times a day and two, that it doesn’t contain any oil based ingredients.

Exercise:  You can add preventing acne under the near countless benefits of daily exercise.  Exercise is known to help prevent acne through two very important means.  First, when you exercise you sweat a lot and the sweating process acts as a cleansing system for your skin, bringing up dirt and debris from your pores to the surface.  Secondly, there have been several studies done that confirm that exercising helps your body to regulate hormone production.  Remember!  Hormone irregularities are the primary cause of acne in the first place so bringing these levels down helps!  One thing you want to make sure is that whenever you exercise you hit the showers.  Sweaty pores are the perfect breeding ground for acne worsening bacteria so you want to make sure that you wash away the sweat and all the gunk it brought up with it as soon as you’re done.

Eat Healthy Foods:  Thankfully, due to recent studies, the myth that acne can be caused or made worse by fried foods, chocolate, or any other food has been debunked.  There is clearly no link between what you eat and the pores in your skin getting clogged.  But just because acne isn’t caused by foods doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat healthy to help prevent it.  Fruits and vegetables that are high in Vitamin C are a great place to start.  Vitamin C supports a healthy immune system and you need a healthy immune system to keep bacteria infections under control.   Essential Fatty Acids which are responsible for healthy cell membranes for all the cells in our body can be found in fish, nuts and seeds.  More importantly though is proper hydration.  Think of water as a purifier for the body.  Drinking water directly hydrates our skin which leads to less infections and defects and no body disagrees that getting sufficient water helps the skin to appear much more healthy and beautiful.

Get A Little Sunlight:  This is a touchy subject because a lot of people bring sunning and tanning to the extreme, but it is a known fact that getting a little sun will help fade your acne spots away.   The real crutch is knowing how much sun is too much sun, as getting too much sun will make your acne problems worse through blistering and could lead to even more serious health defects.  When it comes to sunning or tanning it is important to gradually increase the amount of sun you get over time as being in the sun too long when you’re Casper white is going to lead to some painful burns!  If you’re tanning, the receptionist should be able to start you off on the right foot but as a general rule of thumb you’ll want to only tan for 5 minutes or so your first few times unless you’re naturally dark to begin with.  Remember!  Whenever going out into the sun, wear sunscreen!   Then wash it off as soon as you go inside!

Patience and Perseverance:  When it comes to preventing acne, it really isn’t difficult in and of itself, the most difficult part is keeping at it for the years that it takes for hormone production to smooth itself out.  The thing about acne problems, especially if you’re a teen is that no matter what, you might end up with a pimple or two despite your best efforts.  It happens to the best of everyone!  The key is to take care of the pimple and not get discouraged about your goals.   By sticking to the advice given on here

and throughout the website, you’ll be able to keep your acne breakouts to an absolute minimum and have good healthy skin when it comes to dealing with them.  Remember that acne prevention is an ongoing process, so stick to the plan!

How To Prevent Acne Tips

Here are some additional tips to keep your skin clear and your acne at bay.

• Wash Your Bedding Often:  When it comes to close intimate contact, nothing touches us more than our own bedding.  We spend a third of our life in close contact with our bedding and most of it acts as a sponge absorbing anything we secrete.  Wash pillow cases at least once a week since they come in direct contact with our face.  Laying on a pillow case that hasn’t been washed in a long time is no different from laying on an oil cloth.  The pillow case literally acts as a sponge.
• Moisturize, Especially in Dry Climates or Winter:   There are a lot of people out there that are afraid to moisturize because they fear it’ll cause acne.  Moisture doesn’t cause acne, clogged pores do.  Your skin needs moisture to maintain itself or else it can become cracked, peeled, and faded.  This particularly goes for areas with low humidity or the north during the winter months.  Use a moisturizer that doesn’t contain oil based ingredients and don’t over use it and you should be fine.
• Honey Works Great:  A honey mask is a great way to purify the skin and leave it feeling soft and hydrated.  A honey mask is simply making a mask out of honey.  The ancient Egyptians and Romans first used honey to purify the skin and heal wounds thousands of years ago and its healing properties are well confirmed.   Just make sure you’re not allergic to honey before making a mask out of it.
• A Little Benzoyl Peroxide Goes a Long Way:  If you’re having excessive skin oil problems, you might want to consider some medicated facial pads or facial soap.  Even if you don’t have acne, using benzoyl peroxide once in a while will help during the times when skin oil production is really in high gear.  Make sure you use a product with a very low dosage of the medicine (1-2%) is great and only use it occasionally.  Skin oil production can fluctuate a lot and if you pay close attention you can catch those peeks and nip at them before they cause problems.
• Wash That Makeup Off Pronto:  Makeup is a major source of acne problems in females.  Makeup by its design really covers up the skin which can lead to clogged pores if left on too long.  I’m not going to tell anyone not to wear their makeup but I will advise you to wash it off as soon as it is no longer necessary, particularly before going to bed.  Also, the less oil based makeups that you use, the better as these types of makeup are particularly bad for causing acne.
• Take It Easy:  It’s a well-known fact that stress can lead to acne or at least help set the perfect conditions for it.  As mentioned previously in this article your immune system is key to keeping bacterial infections at bay.  When you’re stressed out, your immune system takes a hit and doesn’t function as well as it could.  In addition, because of the stress, your body focuses on taking care of other priorities and skin health takes a back seat.  If possible, reduce the stress in your life.  Your stress free attitude may be rewarded with blemish free skin!

If we can leave you with anything today, it is that acne prevention is in the doing, not the knowing.  As long as you’re actively trying to keep acne at bay by incorporating it into your routine EVERY DAY and incorporating some of the tips above, you shouldn’t have a problem with your acne.  And when the one or two pimples that manage to squeak by do appear, you’ll be in perfect condition to get them under control quickly.