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Pretty Close To All You Need To KnowFeb 07 '02 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Personal Care
The Bottom Line Information can help you find a treatment that will help clear and prevent breakouts on Your unique skin.
How to choose a treatment for blemished skin? Those who suffer from acne or frequent breakouts know how devastating it can be to your lifestyle and to your self-esteem. This is not a silly problem in any way. For some it can affect everything they do and how they present themselves. It can cause withdrawl and even depression. As anyone who has done some research on acne knows, there is NO one remedy or treatment for every person. I would immediately dismiss anyone who told me otherwise. There can be different causes for breakouts and different people react differently to the same treatment. This review will go over some important information that can help you in deciding which type of treatment is right for you. My background: I began having breakouts in my early teens, coinciding with puberty, I guess. It wasn't severe and deforming acne, but it was persistent and constant. I was embarrassed and shy about it, attempting to treat it with OTC (over the counter) products here and there. I wasn't consistent with any one treatment, and I often would not wash or treat my face before going to bed. I did not buy make-up products that were non-comedogenic, but rather ones that would provide the best coverage. I don't fault myself on this, I was just a kid and did not know any better. I wish I had spoken up to my parents, for help with this problem, so that I could have seen a dermatologist for help. That would have prevented a lot of scarring that I have today. Instead, I wore foundation to cover the breakouts, and for about 6 years I went to tanning salons daily. Tanning made the scars and breakouts less noticeable (temporarily), and made me feel better about my appearance. However, it never helped my acne, and I am sure I did a great deal of damage to myself in the process. Not only for greater risk of skin cancer but also due to premature wrinkling. I can't take any of that back, but I would in a heartbeat. I was under my parents' health insurance back then, and dermatological visits would have been covered. I wish my parents would have noticed my skin problem and my embarrassment to get help, and intervened. I strongly suggest to any teen or parent in a similar situation to do as I wish I'd done. If you have a teen with breakouts, just approach them nonchalantly. "Hey, I noticed you've had some breakouts, so I scheduled a dr's visit for you. Let's get that taken care of, so you don't have to worry about it anymore." If you are a teen with breakouts, don't feel that you have to deal with it alone. It IS embarrassing, but it can be made much better, if not cured by seeing a doctor. Take charge of it by telling your parent that you would like to visit your doctor about your skin breakouts. Your regular doctor can help or recommend a dermatologist that is under your health coverage. I have rarely had health coverage since I was 18, mostly because it wasn't offered but if it was, it has been just far too expensive. (Health coverage is this country is sorely lacking, I wish we would have more options.) I did pay to see my regular physician about my skin, and tried Azelaic Acid for a while. When that didn't work to my satisfaction, I went back to OTC products. There were times I certainly could have afforded a dermatologist, but put the money towards make-up or products. If I had every dollar I've spent treating or hiding this problem, I'd probably have enough for ten years of Accutane. (Not recommended length of time, of course.) For the last five years I have been pregnant or nursing. It is for this reason that I have not gone to a dermatologist since then. My skin problems still annoy me, but the safety of my children is more important, so I will not go on any prescribed routined until I am no longer nursing. It is my choice to avoid both antibiotics and Accutane when I do visit a dermatologist. (I believe they would adversely affect the health of other systems and organs in my body. Whole-body health is my goal.) I will probably be limited to Differen Gel because of these objections. So I have done a lot of research on treatments, especially herbal, natural, and OTC. What I know: OTC Products to treat acne from the outside Benzoyl Peroxide: (BP) A bleaching and drying agent. Has anti-bacterial properties. Has been used in the treatment of acne for decades and is considered very safe. It can easily cause redness and irritation. Generally bacteria does not become resistant to it, so if it works day One it will work just as well on Day Thousand. (Resistance is the reason that many treatments that work in the beginning don't seem to work a year later. No, it's not just your imagination, the product may not work anymore, and you will need to switch for a period of time if not forever. This reaction Will Not occur with BP. A very good quality.) Important Things to Know About BP: BP comes in different strengths nowadays. In addition to the old standby 10%, you can find 5% and 2.5%. Studies show that the lower percentage formulas are Just As, if not Better, in effectiveness. Why? Because irritation is counterproductive to treating acne. The 10% BP is the most irritating, and therefore that gets in the way of treatment. To prevent irritation and redness, and facilitate good results with BP use a lower strength formula. Find a moisturizer that is gentle, oil free, non-comedogenic and hypo-allergenic, and use it in conjuction with the BP treatment. You may not need a moisturizer normally but it is necessary when you are using BP. BP is best used on existing and emerging breakouts. Tea Trea Oil: (TTO) Essential Oil used as a germicide. Accelerates the healing of skin disorders. Some studies show that TTO is as effective as BP at treating acne. It can be purchased in pure form, or in products. If it is purchased pure, as an essential oil, it should ALWAYS be diluted, a few drops in a cream or water. TTO has a very very strong smell, and is oily. For these reasons, it's not as commonly found as BPO or SA. Salicylic Acid: (SA) A fungicide, antiseptic, and skin sloughing (exfoliator) agent. It fight the infections that can cause breakouts in your pores, and also serves to exfoliate old skin cells that can cause build-ups and breakouts. Generally comes in .5 - 2.0 %. SA is considered a Beta Hydroxy Acid. I find it to be more gentle than the Alpha Hydroxy Acids (lactic, glycolic, fruit acids, etc.) Basically both Alpha and Beta Hydroxy Acids exfoliate, helping your skin shed its top dead layer. This allows young and alive cells to show, making for a clearer and more glowing complexion. The trend was to include these acids into moisturizers to help diminish light wrinkles. For this reason, you can sometimes find SA in moisturizers meant to reduce the signs of aging. If the product isn't acne causing (non-comedogenic means generally it won't clog pores), one could use the anti-aging formulas if so desired. SA helps to clean and minimize clog pores. This means it will make your complexion appear brighter and more youthful. It will allow clogged pores (acne waiting to happen) to surface hopefully without a breakout. You want your pores kept clear, clean, and swept away when they are no longer alive. SA helps with these things, and can also help early wrinkling to some degree. A nice bonus. SA doesn't work as quickly at existing breakouts. Sulphur and Resorcinal: I have only seen a few products that use any noticeable amount of these products. (Murad and Acnomel are the only two I can recall.) I link them together for this reason. They are both mildly drying. My skin tolerated both products well, but I never saw any amazing results, either. The FDA has contested some uses of Sulphur and Resorcinal as not doing what they claimed. Perhaps this is why they are not as common as BP and SA. Other products Aloe and witch hazel are old treatments for skin conditions. They are both gentle and well tolerated, though I've found them to be of little help. Hydrogen Peroxide and Rubbing Alcohol are Not recommended for frequent use. Although both are germicidal, they can damage skin. Hydrogen Peroxide can break down skin cells if used to often. Rubbing alcohol is just far too damaging, and doesn't prevent future breakouts any way. Some people swear by Hydrogen Peroxide as a toner. I can't recommend this unless it's very diluted, or only used occasionally. It's not meant for daily use anywhere. These are some of most popular ingredients in the OTC war on acne. Each different product you might buy has other (non-active) ingredients, which can Really affect how they work. Take note of the non-active ingredients, and look for what might irritate your skin or clog your pores. It's rumored that certain brands of acne products actually contain non-active ingredients that will clog your pores. Why? Because the active ingredient will treat your breakouts, making you a happy user. But the non-active ingredients are meanwhile clogging your pores. Thereby creating a Cycle of you using the product indefinitely! Hard to believe any company would stoop so low, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least. So be a smart consumer, pay attention to what's in the products. Take note of what works and what doesn't, and keep in mind that it takes 3-6 weeks for results to truly show. Any results before then (good, bad, or indifferent) are not necessarily indicative of what's really happening inside your pores. Of course if strong irritation occurs, discontinue any product immediately. Acne is often hereditary. Or from products we have used on our faces in the past. It's very much from the Inside out, usually. But topicals can help with what's going on outside. Internally there are things one can do as well, besides eating well, avoiding stress (haha, easy to say, hard to do with acne), drinking lots of water and all the rest of a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, 3 Internal Treatments: If you are a woman and experience menstrual cycle hormone related breakouts, certain types of birth control pills can help clear your skin. Although I had flawless skin while pregnant, I did not have the same results with birth control pills (interestingly enough). There are risks with going on the Pill and side effects. I've found that some people have great results from choosing this route, while others (like me) have no luck at all. Only certain brands of Pill are proven to help some acne cases, so be sure to ask your gyn. which one would be right for you and your skin. Accutane is the Mother of all acne routines, in that it has an amazing success rate. It comes with very drastic possible side effects, and is generally considered last resort. If you are considering going on Accutane, please research online as much as you can about it and the risks involved. It also is very expensive if not covered by insurance. I have seen it work wonders on people, although I personally would not go on Accutane due to the side effects, short and long term. But if I had truly severe cystic acne that was disfiguring, I probably would weigh the risks differently. And finally, there is amazing information coming out about B5 (Pantothenic Acid) for the treatment of acne. B5 is a vitamin that can be bought in health food stores under the name Pantothenic Acid. The treatment being tested is unchartered waters, and requires many times the recommended daily dose of the vitamin. Although there are only minor side effects being reported, no one KNOWS the long term side effects of taking large doses of this vitamin. It is water-soluble, so theoretically a user would just urinate the excess amounts out. I will be trying this method as soon as I am no longer nursing a child. I think it really shows promise, and would appear to be not only almost a cure, but much cheaper and safer than Accutane. I recommend Anyone with acne check out the information on B5 and Acne. Two places to do that are: In the newsgroup Alt.skincare.acne If you don't have a newsgroup server, you can access it here: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&group=alt.skincare.acne Or search the web for "B5 Acne" such as: http://google.com/search?hl=en&q=b5+acne Two of my product reviews (Clean & Clear products, Daily Pore Cleanser and Oil Free Dual Action Moisturizer) detail the product regime I currently used. It is available from products you can buy at any drugstore, is comparable to a Proactive type of treatment, and is half the cost. I've had very good results from using the combinations detailed in the reviews. Of course, reading this alone won't cure anyone's acne. But I hope the information presented gives you the tools to find the treatment that is best for your own skin.  |
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