Article best acne treatment

Acne gives the combination of symptoms like greasy skin
white heads
black heads
pimples
inflammation and scar formation. Acne mostly affects young people in the age 14 - 25
but also sometimes older persons
like women in their menopause. Most teenagers experience outburst of acne
some only little
but for others acne may develop into a serious skin ailment with great cosmetic impact.


THE SKIN ANATOMY

To understand the acne process
some knowledge about skin anatomy and physiology is essential:

The skin has there layers: The outer layer called epidermis consists of epithelial cells. Under this lies the dermis consisting of connective tissue. At the bottom there is a layer called the hypodermis consisting mostly of fat cells.

The skin has narrow pores extending from the surface down to the top of the sub-dermis
called hair follicles. A hair extend from a growth zone in the bottom of each hair follicle and out at the skin surface. Around the hair in the dermis
there are small glands called sebaceous glands. These glands produce a fatty substance
sebum
which empty through the follicle opening and lubricates the hair and the skin.


THE ACNE PROCESS

Acne starts by the glands in the hair follicles increasing their sebum production. This will in the beginning only cause greasy skin. Eventually the sebum in the entrance of the follicles mixes with dead epithelial cells. This mix reacts chemically to forms hard props
comedones that close the pore entrances. According to the color of the comedones
they are called black heads or white heads.

Then the closed hair follicle gets filled with sebum and swell. The swollen follicle then gets infected by bacteria. The bacteria and the accumulated sebum cause the follicle and the surrounding skin to get inflamed
forming a pimple. At last the inflamed follicle burst and empties its content. Eventually the affected area heals. Sometimes the inflammation reaches deep into the skin surrounding the follicle and destroys skin tissue. This will cause more or less distinct scars that may reside permanently. Typically an affected person will have follicles in all these stages of the process at any given time.


THE CAUSES OF ACNE

The increased hormone production in the puberty stimulates to increased sebum production. The male hormone
testosterone
seem to contribute most. Also girls begin to produce more testosterone in the puberty. Also in other periods
altered hormone production may give acne
for example by women in the menopause.

Since not all teens get acne in any degree
the increased hormone level cannot be the whole cause of the increased sebum production. The follicles of affected persons must for some reason react stronger upon the higher hormone level.

Dietary factors
like eating too much fat
too much sugar or the wrong kind of fat may aggravate acne by some individuals. Lack of vitamins
minerals and essential fatty acids may also contribute to development of acne.

Poor digestion
lazy colon and constipation aggravate acne in some individuals
probably due to productions of toxins in the intestines. Lazy colon may be caused by dietary faults
like lack of fiber.

Very frequent washing and use of strong soaps aggravate acne
and does not alleviate the condition as many think. Rubbing
scrubbing or squeezing the skin may also aggravate acne.

Here are some other factors that may contribute in causing acne or aggravating the condition.

- Stress
- Some contraceptive agents
- Environmental or domestic pollution.
- Humid environments.
- Some antidepressants.
- Testosterone and anabolic steroids used for treatment or by body-building.
- Use of some types of greasy cosmetic products.
- Some antiperspirant products.
- Exposing the skin for chlorine or other halogens
or medicines containing halogens.
- Women may get aggravated acne 2-7 days before menstruation.


WHAT CAN YOU DO YOURSELF TO AVOID OR TO TREAT ACNE

Sometimes Acne is so severe that special medical treatment is required
and sometimes the causes of acne necessitate medical treatment. But you can do much yourself also. Here are listed things you can do yourself to prevent or treat acne:

1. Some advices about diet that may help prevent and cure acne:

- Do not consume a great amount of fat.
- The fat you add to the food should be natural oils. Olive oil is ideal
but use other types of oils too
like walnut oil
sunflower oil and soy oil. However
do not use only soy oil as many tend to do. Using only soy oil will give you too much of some fatty acids and too less of others.
- Eat much fish
seafood and not so much meat.
- Eat food with a high fiber content to regulate the digestion
like vegetables
whole cereals
full corn bread and fruit.


2. Here are some things you should avoid.

- Do not use greasy or heavy cosmetics that clog your skin and are difficult to wash away.
- Do not use strong irritating antiperspirants.
- Do not wash with strong soap or cleaners that dry up your skin and take away all the natural oily protection in your skin.
- If you perform body-building
do not use anabolic steroids or other hormonal supplements.
- Use clothes that allow air to reach your body surface to avoid collection of humidity and overheating of your skin.


3. Use of rinsing milk or solutions

You can rinse your skin with mild products especially made to dissolve the plugs in your pores
and to make the environment in your skin unfriendly to bacteria causing infection. Some of these products are just products to wash your skin with one ore more times a day; others should be on during night and flushed away in the morning.

Salicylic acid is a mild ingredient often used in these products to dissolve the comedones. The products usually also contain ingredients that work antibacterial and stimulate the skin's own cleaning activities
like Tea tree oil or Echinacea extract.

4. Use of gels and creams to treat acne and protect your skin

After the rinsing
you should apply some treatment gel
cream or lotion onto your skin to achieve these effects:

- To make your skin soft and elastic.
- To protect your skin against the environment.
- To acts further to dissolve the clogging of your pores.
- To soothe and alleviate inflammation.
- To kill the bacteria causing infection or make an environment hostile for the bacteria.
- To stimulate the skin to clean itself.
- To stimulate the skin to heal.
- To be used as a isolating layer between the skin itself and cosmetics

In order to protect
make the skin soft and further dissolve the comedones
many products contain natural plant oils that are easily absorbed into the epidermis
like Tea tree oil
Rose hip oil
Lavender oil and Olive oil.

Ingredients used in products to reduce inflammation and to stimulate healing may be: Aloe Vera extract
Viola Tricolour extract
Rose hip oil
Vitamin E and Vitamin A.

Tea tree oil and Grapefruit seed extract are natural antibacterial agents used in many of these products. In other products artificial compounds like Benzoyl peroxide are used.


5. Oral supplements to fight the acne process and nourish the skin

Supplements taken by mouth to nourish your skin may be useful. The purpose of these supplements is more or less the same as that of nourishing creams.

- To make the sebum more fluid so it drains more easily.
- To stimulate the substance exchange and cleaning processes in your skin

- To stimulate your skin to heal

- To give your skin building nutrients necessary to heal.

Ingredients often used in these supplements to stimulate the cleaning and healing processes in the skin are: Vitamins A
C
B1
B2
B3
B6
C
D
E
Folic acid
Beta carotene
Bioflavonoids
Magnesium
Copper
Zinc
selenium
anti-oxidants from Green tea
Metylsulfonyl methane.

Nutrient found in these products used as material to rebuild damaged skin and to give a sebum with better consistency are: Evening primrose oil
Olive oil
Flax seed oil
Borage oil
Soy oil
Wheat germ oil and Lecithin.

Gum guggul extract used in oral products has an anti-biotic effect
and helps against spreading of the acne infection and thus helps against scar formation.