Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Acne Treatment: Options For A Solution For Young Women

There are many options for acne treatment. If you are like most, you have tried many and have not found the right solution to your needs. This is common for individuals simply because they do not know what they should be doing. Will the over the counter products work on your acne? Will you need to have a laser treatment in order to make it finally go away? The problem with acne treatment is that what works for one individual will not work for someone else.

What Do I Do?

The first thing that anyone that has acne needs to do is to have a good face cleansing regimen. Acne skin care is vital to getting rid of the acne in the first place. For this, you will need a good quality facial cleanser at the very least. Consider where acne comes from and you will understand this idea. Acne is caused by bacteria that get into the warm, wet pores in your face. They multiply there and the body reacts. The actual acne is an infection on the skin. So, proper acne skin care can help simply by removing the bacteria from your face.

But, that is likely to not be enough. Often, you will need to use an acne medication or an acne treatment. These can be purchased over the counter to be used. The fact is that something that works for you may or may not work for someone else. The acne treatment can be hit and miss then. Another option that you have that has shown great progress is that of using natural acne treatments. These too can be found throughout the web.

Acne skin care is essential to your health. What is the best acne treatment? That will depend on your specific need and your body’s chemistry. You’ll find that there are acne medications that do work and they work very well. Take care of acne now can help you to avoid needing acne scar removal later.


About the Author:
Oliver Turner
We have made a research to find the best acne treatments. Find it only on the Best natural acne treatments reviews website. All about acne treatments on LeanderNet - www.leandernet.com
Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

What Are The Causes Of Acne?

Acne is perhaps the most common of all skin conditions, particularly in young adults and teenagers. While acne is usually little more than an embarrassing nuisance, severe cases of acne can result in some of the pimples becoming cystic, which can be quite painful.

Acne is typically caused by excess oil production and bacterial infection. While it was once believed that eating certain foods, such as chocolate and greasy French fries, was also a cause of acne, this has been by and large proven to be incorrect.

The occurrence of acne in infants is a common condition. Infant acne will generally occur on the babys cheek but may often cover the forehead and also the chin. If the condition persists it is advised that a physician examine the infant, to determine if there exists a genetic predisposition in acne development.

The American Academy of Dermatology has stated that there are several reasons for the cause of acne in teenagers. One is the result of excessively productive sebaceous glands and also bacterial reproduction at an abnormal pace. Treatments can involve using antibiotics, which are efficient in destroying propionibacterium acnes, which is the primary cause of acne.

During puberty, excess reproduction usually occurs in teenage boys due to hormonal changes in the body. This increase in sebum production may often result in skin lesions. Consequently, it is considerably possible that teenage boys are more likely to experience this form of acne.

Adult acne may often get worse during pregnancy because of hormonal changes in womens body. In several cases, oral contraceptives are often applied as treatment to improve conditions dealing with adult acne. Alcohol, emotional and psychological stress and hot foods can intensify the condition.

There are a number of over the counter treatments for acne. Special cleansing agents can be purchased that reduce the amount of facial oil. This may have some beneficial effect on the occurrence of acne, but they can also damage the skin and cause rashes that result from excess dryness.

Topical antibacterial creams can sometimes be more effective, as they kill the actual bacteria that cause pimples and blackheads. More severe cases of acne can be successfully treated using oral antibiotics as well as other oral medications that gradually reduce the production of facial oils.

In addition to medical treatments, there are a number of acne home cures and remedies that, while never scientifically proven to be effective, are nevertheless commonly used. While some of these might actually be useful, most are a bit dubious. One common home cure is to combine ground nutmeg with milk and apply to the site of the acne for one to two hours.

Another popular acne home treatment is to apply a mixture of honey and cinnamon to the site of the acne and let it remain overnight. While this sounds like a nice topping for toast, whether or not it can actually treat or prevent acne is not one that is likely to be answered.

Home remedies for acne have been around for years, but none have been found to be seriously effective. The best treatment for acne is to consult with your physician to determine which course of treatment would be most effective for your particular situation.

Disclaimer: All content within this articles is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other health care professional. Always consult your own doctor if you're in any way concerned about your health.

About The Author:
John Ward Is The Webmaster at the Acne Relief Guide Site. Subscribe NOW For Free Acne Report " Acne - Truth and Myths!"Click Here NOW For More Information On Acne Treatments
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Monday, January 08, 2007

Natural Herbal Acne Cures

Do natural herbal acne cures work? Check your PC, and you'll find that over-the counter and prescription acne remedies can all have possible unpleasant side effects.

So its tempting to believe that you can better manage those troublesome spots with 'pure natural herbal' acne treatment.

But is this the case?.

Lets have a look at some of the most popular herbs that have been touted - sometimes for hundreds of years around the world - as safe, effective acne cures, plus any scientific research done on them.

If you decide to purchase any of these as preparations, be sure to use them exactly as advised. Consult beforehand with a professional if you are pregnant, breast feeding,or suffer from any medical condition likely to be aggravated by usage.

Also - we all have individual reactions - discontinue use of any herbal acne remedy immediately if you suffer any bad reactions whatever. Treat them as you would any other acne medication.

OK, Here are some top contenders

1/ Burdock The herb burdock (Arctium lappa), popular in US, Asia and Europe for hundreds of years as part of a popular drink as well as an acne treatment. Be warned, its bitter on its own! Can be bought as an extract, tablets or in combination with other herbs like yellow dock, and red clover. There is evidence the tablets do have an internal cleansing action, but no solid scientific evidence, it does act as an acne cure.

Though its a common weed, don't collect it yourself, and only buy from reputable sources- the roots of burdock closely resemble those of belladonna or deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), and there is some risk that amateur burdock preparations could become contaminated with these potentially dangerous herbs.

There is also some evidence that burdock can lower blood sugar. Hence those with diabetes should avoid burdock as an acne treatment.

2/ Tea tree oil - this popular leaf extract from one species (Melaleuca alternifolia) of the Australian tea tree does seem to act as a natural acne cure. A scientific trial compared skin application of 5% tea tree oil to the most common acne treatment, 5% benzoyl peroxide (normally sold over the counter at 2-5%) for common acne.

Although the tea tree oil acted more slowly than benzoyl peroxide on spots, it had far fewer unpleasant side effects and was regarded as more effective overall.

Also, unlike benzoyl peroxide, tea tree oil doesnt bleach your clothes! It has caused allergic reactions in some people,can dry the skin when used alongside other acne remedies, and should not be taken by mouth.

3/ Aloe - This herb has gained world wide popularity a natural acne herbal remedy.Can be applied as juice gel or ointment,or drunk (bitter again), but does have a drying action on the skin, so should be used with a moisturizer. Said to be slow acting, taking 6 months or more.

So far there is some evidence that its good for the bowels and has some anti-inflammatory and wound healing action, but no conclusive evidence aloe is an effective herbal acne treatment

Side effects? Nothing major externally, but if taken internally, it's a laxative- so do not take high dosages

4/ Wild Basil Oil (Ocimum gratissimum) . Not so popular with the herbalists, but a study showed a 2% alcohol solution of Brazilian Wild Basil Oil was a better acne treatment than 10% benzoyl peroxide lotion!

You can already buy basil oil fro a herbalist, or boil the leaves and apply a cooled poultice of the 'tea' to the affected parts.

I'm looking into herbal remedies for acne further...

So should you. Good luck!

About the Author:
Michael madigan
To read the other part of this report ,and gain further information on acne treatment and acne remedies, visit Mick Madigan's Acne Index at http://www.m1mart.co.uk/acne/acneindex.htm
Added: 20 Oct 2006
Article Source: http://articles.simplysearch4it.com/article/39961.html