How Can I Get Rid of Acne Fast At Home? - MY BLOGS

 HOW TO TREAT ACNE AT HOME

Acne is the most common skin condition in United States.

According to the Academy of Dermatology mild to moderate acne affects 40 to 50 million Americans per year and while acne usually begins in the puberty and affects almost 90% of teenagers acne is not restricted to any age group in fact acne affects 20% of adults between the ages of 25 and 44.

The most common bacteria that is involved in acne is the Propionibacterium acne which is the gram-positive bacteria present on human skin as a part of normal flora as well in the oral cavity in the large intestine conjunctiva and external ear canal.

Meaning that this bacteria is a normal bacteria on our skin and only in conditions where acne formation is favored this bacteria colonizes and causes inflammation.

So to understand acne in the first place you will have to understand about this structure in your skin and this is known as the pile of sebaceous unit.

Look at all the small hair shafts on your face these hair shafts correspond to this structure in the illustration of a pile of sebaceous unit.

Here you can see a cut section of the skin showing the pile of sebaceous unit now look at the water itself pile of sebaceous it is made up of towards by low meaning hair and sebaceous because this structure also contains a sebaceous gland which is connected to the hair follicle.

The sebaceous gland is a small oil-producing gland of her skin which does the job of lubrication of our skin.

They secrete an oily secretion known as sebum and in addition to his role as protective barrier that reduces skin dehydration sebum also possesses antibacterial properties.

DISTRIBUTION OF SEBACEOUS GLANDS

 

The sebaceous glands are distributed over the entire body with the exception of palms and soles they are most abundant on the scalp and face.

Under normal circumstances small amounts of sebum is produced which is necessary to keep your skin moist.

Another factor that contributes to the development of acne is skin shedding.

Our skin cells are shed continuously with a cycle of about 56 days the same shedding of cells also occurs in the topmost portion of the hair follicle.

This is important as this contributes to one of the important factors why acne develops. Now let's understand how acne is formed from this pile of sebaceous unit.

HOW ACNE DEVELOP?

 Age is a very important factor for the development of acne as soon as you hit puberty your testosterone levels go like this and just like we discussed earlier testosterone is one of the main hormones that controls the amount of sebum produced by the sebaceous glands.

The amount of sebum produced by the sebaceous glands increases when you hit puberty.

Next comes the role of bacteria and other pathogens in the formation of your acne these include Propionibacterium acnes species and many others but Propionibacterium acnes is the most abundant.

So to summarize up till now we have identified many factors as to why acne develop age being the driving factor which leads to an increase in the levels of testosterone in your blood. 

Skin cells shedding also occur and then we discuss about the role of bacteria in acne.

Now what happens is that when glands produce too much oil the pores can become blocked and dirt bacteria and cells build up the blockage is called a plug or a comedone.

On if the top of the plug is white it is called a Whitehead and at the top of the plug is dark it is referred to as blackhead.

Black color is due to keratin plug that gets fixed on the poor of the pile of sebaceous unit.

A white head is due to us all collection of pus in the follicle opening once the plug occurs Propionibacterium acnes starts to grow in the follicle.

The bacterium then sets off a cascade of inflammation and the plug becomes red and bigger and ultimately turns into a pimple.

When the inflammation doesn't stop the acne becomes even bigger and goes deeper into the skin ultimately becoming assist.

So this is how acne is formed upon reaching a certain age your hormone levels start to rise which triggers an increase in the sebum production by the sebaceous glands.

This combined with follicular plugging by shed skin cells and infiltration of bacteria into the pile of spacious unit leads to formation of acne or in layman's language a pimple.

Now I wish it was that simple because in this way all of us should have acne males have high levels of testosterone at the time of puberty females also have many types of hormones like DHEA s testosterone etc.

Do by that logic almost 100% of people should have acne but there is a big but here.

There are many other factors that also determine whether you will develop acne or not some of them are clearly known and some of them are being still researched for example stress oily and unhealthy foods dairy products skipping meals cosmetics are some of the well-known exaggerating factors for development of acne other factors which are known to cause acne include food allergies that can include allergies to dairy products iodine gluten or biotin.

Underlying health problems can also cause acne these include thyroid problems PCOS diabetes digestive imbalances and metabolism issues but some factors are still debatable or questionable as many factors are considered to be a cause of acne but most of them are not scientifically proven.

GRADES OF ACNE

 So now we have understood how acne is formed we have understood some of the exaggerating factors and before we jump on to the treatment of acne it is very important for you to understand the four grades of acne.

Acne is divided into four grades with increasing severity of the lesions.

• Grade one includes comma downs and few papules, papules being raised lesions less than one centimeter.

• Grade two Acne includes whiteheads, Whiteheads are also known as pustules which are small pus filled acne but that we commonly known as whiteheads.

• Grade Three Acne when you start developing few nodules along with whiteheads, Nodular lesions are more than one centimeter and are solid red raised lesions which have active inflammations in them.

• Grade Four is when you get the uglier looking type of acne and these are the nodules and the cysts inflammation is marked and there will be a lot of papules and pustules over the face plus scarring is permanent in this grade.

So by now you would have probably put yourself in grade 1 grade 2 or grade 4 depending upon the acne you have.

 TREATMENT

Different treatment options for different grades of acne.

Topical medicines you can apply on your face.

Face hygiene, and oral medicines, the treatment depends upon the severity of the acne and that is why I introduced you to these various grades of acne as different grades of acne have different treatment options let's start with the basics.

Grade 1 Acne

Your basic treatment options are only topical medications that you can apply on your face I recommend a simple topical retinoid cream and a salicylic acid face wash to be applied twice daily.

The night time application of any cream is more beneficial as it gives the cream more time and space to absorb deeply into your skin retinoid normalize the cell cycle of the keratinocytes and also do a host of other things that are beneficial for a person who has acne on the face.

The most commonly used are adapt lean in the concentration of 0.1 to 0.3 which is applied twice daily on the face it comes in gels creams and lotions for you to choose from and from the day you start application you will see the results in a few weeks.

Salicylic acid face wash is important as it helps to peel off the topmost layer of cells on your face as well as it also reduces the stickiness of individual cells with each other.

COMEDONE EXTRACTION

In comedone extraction or comedone on extractor instrument is placed central to the comedone on and affirm downward pressure is applied as a result unwanted material then comes out from the comedone.

FACIAL HYGIENE

 A very important topic for the management of acne and that is face hygiene.

This includes washing your face two to three times a day with a good salicylic acid containing face wash and depending upon the skin type using a particular moisturizer.

Washing your face in the night is particularly important as it cleanses your skin and then you can apply a moisturizer and then the subsequent topical medications.

After that you are not exposed to sunlight or any form of pollution so the medicines that you can apply on your face get ample amount of time to work in your skin.

Not touching your face with your hands as this transmits several pathogenic bacteria from your hands to your face these tips are to be followed in all grades of acne.

So most of the grade 1 acne you respond to this minimal treatment of simple facial hygiene and topical medications and show a good response within 2 weeks of treatment.

GRADE 2 ACNE

 Next we move on to the treatment of grade 2 acne and if you remember grade 2 acne is when we start seeing whiteheads and onward blackheads and in this also you can follow the same treatment we used for grade 1 acne in addition to topical retinoids.

There are several topical medications that can be used in grade 2 acne.

These include PPO or benzoyl peroxide, topical antibiotics and as azelaic acid.

Let's look at them one by one and see which one you should follow BPO or benzoyl peroxide is a very good topical antibacterial agent that is effective against Propionibacterium acnes and other bacteria that cause infection in the pilo sebaceous unit.

It is available in 2 point 5 to 10% formulations for you to choose from.

Choose a good face wash that contains BPO and salicylic acid in balanced combination that gives you the best result.

The combination of 0.1% atop lean and 2.5 percent benzoyl peroxide provides much better and faster results as compared to the individual drugs alone.

As a leak acid is a potent anti-inflammatory topical drug that you can apply for acne I recommend 20% concentration which is the best.

Then there are several topical antimicrobial creams that are available but the most commonly used is topical clindamycin it gives a good result.

GRADE 3 ACNE

 If look at grade three acne from here onwards things get serious.

You have not used on your face now and you have to start taking oral medications and the most commonly used drug worldwide are as I threw my sin roxas I clean minocycline or isotretinoin among others.

Now which drug you should take depends upon a lot of factors that is why I'd made simplified I always recommend consulting your local practitioner or MD dermatology before taking any medicine now topical medicines are the same as that of the previous two benzoyl peroxide in combination with salicylic acid as azelaic acid and retinoids like adapalene applied twice daily on your face.

GRADE 4 ACNE

If you have grade four acne you need to consider taking oral isotretinoin this is the main drug for the treatment of these type of acne and is usually started at ten to twenty milligrams per day and gradually increased up to 40 milligrams.

In addition to isotretinoin you should also take oral antibiotics like tetracycline or macrolides like azithromycin.

In stage 4 acne we you also use intralesional corticosteroids which are basically using a very small syringe to inject steroids like tramps and alone directly into the acne cyst.

Other treatment options for severe acne include oral dapsone oral contraceptives for females and comedone on extraction.

So this was in a nutshell how to treat acne, Now let's look at some of the best lifestyle changes and add home remedies that you can do and that will help you to decrease the severity of your acne reduce a number of outbreaks and if you are taking medicines for acne these lifestyle changes will definitely improve your results of the medication and the first one of them being your diet. 

DIET

Let’s directly look at some of the food that worsens acne and or causes new outbreaks dairy products especially skimmed milk spicy food fast food whey protein powder refined sugars carbonated soft drinks they all cause acne or they can exaggerate your already existing acne avoid these foods in your diet and find a good replacement.

HOME REMEDIES

 Now let's talk about some of the powerful home remedies for treating mild to moderate acne at home.

Conventional acne treatments can be expensive and often have undesirable side effects like dryness redness or irritation.  

5 HOME REMEDIES

1. Apple Cider Vinegar

  Applying apple cider vinegar to your face.

apple cider vinegar is made by fermenting apple cider or the unfiltered juice from press apples like other vinegars it is known for its ability to fight many types of bacteria and viruses apple cider vinegar contains several organic acids that have shown to kill Propionibacterium acnes it contains lactic acid and succeeding acid which are known to suppress inflammation caused by this bacteria and also help to dry up the excess oil that causes acne in the first place.

HOW USE IT?

Mix 1 part of apple cider vinegar and 3 parts of water.

Use more water for sensitive skin after cleaning gently apply the mixture to skin using a cotton ball and let it sit for 5 to 20 minutes and then rinse with water and pat dry.

Repeat this process one to two times per week as needed it is important to note that applying apple cider vinegar to your skin can cause burns and irritation.

So it should always be used in small amounts and diluted with water.

2. Take a Zinc Supplement

 Zinc is an essential nutrient that's important for cell growth hormone production metabolism and immune function.

It is also one of the most studied natural treatments for acne research shows that people will acne tend to have lower levels of zinc in their blood and then those with clear skin several studies have shown that taking zinc orally health reduce acne in one study 48 acne patients who were given oral zinc supplements three times per day after eight weeks 38 patients experienced and eighty two hundred percent reduction in acne the optimal dosage of zinc for acne has not been established but several studies have shown a significant reduction in hackney using thirty to forty five milligrams of elemental zinc per day.

3. Make a Honey and Cinnamon Mask

Studies have found that applying antioxidants through the skin is more effective at reducing acne than benzoyl peroxide and rig know it's honey and cinnamon also have the ability to fight bacteria and reduce inflammation which are two factors that trigger acne.

HOW TO MAKE HONEY AND CINNAMON MASK?

You just have to mix two tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon together to form a paste after cleaning apply the mask to your face and leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes rinse the mask off completely and pat your face dry.

 

4. Take a Fish Oil Supplement

Omega-3 fatty acids are incredibly healthy fats that offer a multitude of health benefits you must get these fats from your diet but research shows that most people who eat a standard Western diet don't get enough of them.

Fish oil contains two main types of omega-3 fatty acids.

• ECOSAPANTENOIC ACID
• DOCOSAHEXANOIC ACID

eCos aprenden weak acid and docosahexaenoic acid EPA benefits the skin in several ways including managing oil production maintaining adequate hydration and preventing acne high levels of EPA and DHA have been shown to decrease inflammatory factors which may reduce a risk of acne.

5. Exfoliate Regularly

 The number fifth tip that you can follow in your home is to exfoliate regularly.

Exfoliation is a process of removing the top layer of dead skin cells and it can be achieved mechanically by using a brush or scrub to physically remove the cells.

Alternatively it can be removed chemically by applying an acid that dissolves them.

Exfoliation is believed to improve acne by removing the cells that clog up pores it is also believed to make acne treatment for the skin more effective by allowing them to penetrate deeper once the topmost layer of skin is removed.