PEOPLE WITH ACNE face a number of challenges that affect their
daily lives. Acne care involves taking careful steps to improve,
rather than worsen, acne symptoms as well as avoiding activities
that can harm the skin. At the same time, people with acne must
deal with emotional issues that acne can cause. Meeting these challenges
helps people with acne lead happy lives.
Practicing Good Health Habits
One important thing people with acne must do in order to reduce
their acne symptoms and lead happier lives is to practice good
health habits. Although this is an important step for everyone to
take, it is especially important for people with acne. For people
with acne, practicing good health habits can keep bacteria from
spreading, increase circulation and oxygen to the skin, help balance
hormone levels, and reduce inflammation and infection.
Keeping the Skin Clean
Perhaps the most important good health habit that people with
acne can practice is keeping their skin clean. Having clean skin
keeps bacteria from spreading, reduces excess oil, and helps the
skin shed dead cells. For acne patients this involves maintaining
a delicate balance between cleansing the skin without irritating
acne lesions, drying the skin, or spreading bacteria. This is accomplished
through a carefully prescribed regimen that begins with
gently washing the face no more than two to three times a day.
Although many people think that frequently scrubbing acneinfected
areas stops acne outbreaks, this is not true. In fact, washing
too often or using ordinary soaps can make the skin dry and
sore, which worsens acne symptoms. Instead, acne patients use mild facial cleansers, which are specially formulated not to irritate
the skin. Ordinary soaps, on the other hand, contain harsh ingredients
that can irritate inflamed acne lesions and dry out the skin.
If the skin becomes too dry, the sebum glands overcompensate
by producing even more oil, which exacerbates acne outbreaks.
Not only do acne patients use gentle soaps, they also use disposable
washing pads or their fingers rather than a washcloth or
loofah to cleanse acne-prone areas. The reason for this is that when
a washcloth or loofah is used more than one time, it can trap and
spread bacteria. In addition, washcloths and loofahs made from
scratchy fabrics can irritate acne lesions and worsen inflammation.
For the same reasons, acne patients use a fresh, clean, soft towel
to gently pat, rather than rub, their skin dry once they are finished
cleansing. Then, once acne patients have cleaned and dried their
face, they can apply topical treatment. An acne patient recalls:
When I first started breaking out, I scrubbed my face all the time
with the same washcloth that hung in my bathroom for weeks,
and the same soap that I scrubbed my hands with after I worked
on my truck. Then I rubbed my face dry with the same towel I
used on my hands. The only thing all that cleaning did was turn
my blackheads into pusy red zits. Once the dermatologist
straightened me out, I stopped using all that stuff, and my skin
started to improve right away.
