If you’ve spent any time learning about teenage acne products, then you likely already know how many of them are out there. Each product makes claims to be the end-all of cures, and yet, only some of them seem to help even to a small degree. When you further research acne itself, it isn’t just products that vary; there are also many different ideas about the causes and effects of this common teen affliction.

The simple truth of it is that, without a clear understanding of what acne is and what causes it, it can be difficult to find an effective teenage acne treatment. Worse than that, without an effective method of reducing acne, the psychological effects can be quite devastating; the emotional and social impact that a bad case of acne in your teen years can leave you with a complex that follows you far into your adult life.

To begin to understand the problem let’s look at what acne is, what causes it, and then we will move on to some simple ways that you can reduce acne in your teen years.

What is Acne?

Acne is a skin condition that is caused by over-production of oil in the skin by the skins oil glands. Plugged pores, blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, and even cysts can be the result of when the oil from these glands gets trapped in oil-ducts beneath the skin. Cases of acne can range from mild, where only a few pimples or blackheads form on the face, to much more severe cases, in which sores cover the entire face, neck, back and shoulders.

Although most prevalent in teens acne can affect anyone. The problem usually starts in the teen years when a child reaches puberty (commonly between 10 and 13), and it commonly last for five to ten years. Teenage acne normally goes away during the early twenties, but not always. Even as an adult you can suffer from this condition.

When it comes to information about acne, there are many conflicting resources, and ideas. To really get a start in preventing teenage acne, a basic knowledge of its real causes is required.

What are the causes of Teenage Acne?

The causes of acne are sometimes argued, but research into the subject gives us an understanding. Let’s first talk about what doesn’t cause acne. This will help to get rid of some common myths surrounding acne.

Diet does not cause acne: Eating greasy foods, potato chips, or chocolate bars will not give you acne. Some studies link diet to aggravating acne, but what you eat will not cause it in the first place.

A healthy sex drive does not cause can: Another common misconception is that sex causes acne. This simply isn’t true. Birth control pills may trigger, or aggravate acne in women, but even then it’s not the root cause of the issue.

Exercising will not cause acne: You’ve likely heard it said that if you sweat, you might get zits. Again this isn’t true. Exercising will not make your face start to pop out all over, and it is an important part of your overall health that you do exercise.

Dirt does not cause acne: A dusty or dirty face will not cause acne. Although keeping clean is important, washing your face every 10 minutes will not prevent or even help with your acne. Washing too much may even cause further skin irritation. Poor hygiene may aggravate your acne, but again it is not the root cause.

The real cause of teenage acne is in the oil glands in your skin, in your hormones. In your teenage years hormones such as, testosterone and other androgenic hormones kick into high gear. This usually happens around the same time that a child hits puberty. These hormones trigger the oil glands (the sebaceous gland) in your skin to produce more of a substance known as sebum.

When functioning properly, sebum’s job is to transport dead skin cells and bacteria to the surface of the skin. With the increase in production, however, your body produces too much sebum and it clogs your pores. These clogged pores then lead to blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, and even cysts that can get infected below the skin.

With an understanding of how acne starts, it’s time look at how to reduce teenage acne.

The Simple Way to Reduce Teenage Acne

The simple fact is that you can’t control your body’s hormones. You can, however, control the health of your skin. By ensuring that you keep your skin healthy, you increase the chance of everything functioning properly, thus reducing the chances that you will suffer from acne.Studies have shown that the best way to treat teenage acne is to keep your skin healthy. The right treatment along with avoiding the things that aggravate acne is the best cure. There are skin care products intended for acne prevention and reduction, such as our own teenage acne treatment, that can effectively reduce the severity and duration of breakout. These types of treatments are all-natural and aren’t harsh on your skin.

Now that you know a little more about acne, you will be better able to control it; and you will be able to choose products that actually work in your pursuit of clear skin.

About the Author Johanna Curtis is a licensed skin care professional (esthetician), who works with parents and teens in their struggles with teenage acne. She is the creator of teenage-acne.net ; a community-based site, created to support those with acne problems. Johanna suggests the non-damaging topical treatment, Acnezine, as a first step in teenage acne treatment

About the Author

Milos Pesic is an expert in the field of Skin Care and has helped thousands of acne sufferers cure their condition. He runs a highly popular and comprehensive Acne Treatment web site. For more articles and resources on Skin Care related topics visit his site at:

http://allacne.info

Some acne cases require more advanced treatment methods. In some individuals, the motivation isn’t just the severity of the acne as much as the desire to avoid side effects from medication. Whatever the motive, advanced acne treatments offer an alternative that is attractive to many. Among the most popular are light and laser treatments.

In decades past UV was used as a light source. It has the beneficial effect of killing the Propionibacterium acnes bacteria that plays a role in acne formation. But, when studies showed that UV can increase the odds of skin cancer, the treatment became much less popular.

Other forms of light don’t have that problem.

Blue Light

One form is called ‘blue light therapy’, where the name derives from the color of the light used. The main effect is to kill the bacteria, but there is some effect on the skin oil. It can cause a slight dryness. The narrow band light contains a negligible amount of UV wavelengths.

Patients receive treatments twice per week over a period of about a month. It’s effective on forms other than more severe acne, such as those that produce nodules or cysts. The latter can actually be made worse with blue light treatment. Improvements ranged from complete remission to about 40% decrease in the number of lesions, in several studies. About two-thirds saw between a 59% to 67% reduction of inflammatory acne lesions.

Pulsed and LHE (Light Heat Energy)

Other forms of light therapy, such as LHE, have similar effects - they kill acne bacteria - but do so by a different means. LHE also tends to decrease sebum (the natural skin oil). Excess sebum production is considered one of the major factors encouraging acne development. This green light tends to shrink sebaceous glands.

The therapy is approved by the FDA for treating mild to moderately severe acne. Both inflammatory and non-inflammatory acne can be reduced by two treatments per week over a period of one month. Drug-based treatments tend to take two or three months or longer.

In some cases, though, light treatments are combined with the use of prescription medications.

ALA (5-aminolevulinic acid)

ALA is a compound applied to the skin. It doesn’t have any of the antibacterial properties of standard acne treatments like Accutane. It works by making the skin more sensitive to light, thus increasing the effectiveness of light treatment.

It’s kept on for 15 minutes to an hour, during which the patient receives blue or red light treatment. The jury is still out so numbers are sketchy, but early results suggest the treatment is safe and effective.

Lasers

Normal light contains waves that scatter in all directions. Laser light is called coherent because the waves all move in an organized train in the same direction. That’s one of the reasons lasers can do all the things they’re used for.

The chief difference, though, between different lasers (just as it is with other forms of light) is the wavelength. In the case of acne treatment lasers, one popular type produces waves of 1450 nm (nanometers, a billionth of a meter). This type is particularly safe and effective.

In one study, one treatment reduced acne lesions by nearly 40%. Two treatments decreased them by nearly 60% and with three the number rose to over 80%. There is some mild pain associated with the treatments, however, so a topical anesthetic is used during the procedure.

About the Author

Milos Pesic is an expert in the field of Skin Care and has helped thousands of acne sufferers cure their condition. He runs a highly popular and comprehensive Acne Treatment web site. For more articles and resources on Skin Care related topics visit his site at:

http://allacne.info

It is a well known fact that men and women have different kinds of skin, and they are often plagued by different kinds of skin problems. However, there are also common skin problems that both sexes encounter, and one of these is acne. Skin care for acne prone men may be slightly different from the women’s in a few distinct ways. While women are more prone to acne due the make-up and lotions they put on their faces or skin, men are prone to acne because of the activities that they indulge in, and also certain factors in their environments.

Finding the right kind of skin care for acne prone men is actually not that hard, and it is actually somewhat similar to what women would do to get the products that will effectively make their skin clean and healthy. One of the things that both sexes share when it comes to taking care of acne problems is the cleansing and maintenance of the skin. The kind of products you use to take care of acne prone skin is also important. Always use a mild kind of skin care product when you are cleansing your skin, and you should very well avoid scrubbing. Since men are usually used to scrubbing, they should remember that the right skin care for acne prone men requires that they do not scrub the acne prone parts of the skin to avoid breakouts. Another tip that men will do well to follow is to clean their faces with their fingertips only. While some men may think that this cleansing method may be a bit too feminine for their masculine tendencies, it is one of the right things to do if they truly want to have proper skin care.

While men may not wear makeup on their faces, there are some who will use certain male cosmetic items that may come in contact with their skin. Included in the list of cosmetic items that men should be careful of are aftershave lotions or splashes that may contain certain substances that can cause acne, hair gel or hair spray or any hair styling substances, shaving cream that is not non-comedogenic, and facial cleansers and toners that may cause breakout. You may also need to consult a dermatologist to get the right kind of skin care products that can be used as proper skin care for acne prone men.

Also associated with the dos and don’ts of skin care for acne prone men is the method by which men shave themselves. Carelessly shaving off facial hair can scrape or nick certain acne lesions, and this can cause possible scarring. If shaving is unavoidable, you can use safer methods of shaving, like using electric razors or making sure that the hair you are about to shave off is soft enough for easy shaving.

About the Author

Milos Pesic is an expert in the field of Skin Care and has helped thousands of acne sufferers cure their condition. He runs a highly popular and comprehensive Acne Treatment web site. For more articles on Skin Care related topics visit his site at:

http://skin-care.need-to-know.net/

There are a lot of products in the market for those who need acne treatments and those who have acne prone skin. What some people may not know is that there are actually acne skin care recipes you can use to make your own skin care solutions. These acne skin care recipes are created from ingredients that can be easily found around your house and in your kitchen.

Since acne is often caused by the production of excess oils in a person’s skin, one of the acne skin care recipes you will need to create is a facial wash that will help remove the dirt that is clogged in your pores as well as remove the excess oils that are found on your skin. One such ingredient that will help get rid of the excess oils is apple cider vinegar or any naturally fermented vinegar. Of course, since vinegar is pretty acidic, you will need to be careful with it and use it in a diluted form. You will need to mix one part vinegar, one part apple cider or any other natural vinegar, and around 8 to 10 parts water to get the kind of safe mixture you will need to cleanse your face with. You can use a piece of cotton or a cotton ball dipped in this solution to wipe off excess oils on your skin as well as remove deep seated dirt from your skin.

Another one of the more commonly used acne skin care recipes that you can create in the comfort of your own home is an egg-white mask. This simple mask consists of nothing but a couple of stiffly beaten egg-whites. All you need to do is beat a couple of egg-whites until they are nice and fluffy and smear them on your face. You will have to let this mask sit for a few minutes or until it dries out, and then wash it off with clean, warm water. Then, pat dry with a clean towel. Other acne skin care recipes that use egg-whites sometimes use dry oatmeal in the mixture to help draw out the excess oils in the skin. You can use this egg-white and oatmeal combination on your skin, but you must be careful not to use it more than once or twice a week since this may easily dry your skin out as well.

You can also create acne skin care recipes or combination recipes based on ingredients that are known to help kill bacteria as well as remove the elements that cause acne. You can add baking soda to your egg white mixture or your vinegar solution, or you can use baking soda mixed with a little distilled or purified water as a gentle exfoliating agent for your acne prone skin.

About the Author

Milos Pesic is an expert in the field of Skin Care and has helped thousands of acne sufferers cure their condition. He runs a highly popular and comprehensive Acne Treatment web site. For more articles on Skin Care related topics visit his site at:

http://skin-care.need-to-know.net/

Readers know that we believe the cause of acne lies within ourselves. Acne is a inflammatory skin condition caused not by what rub on the outside of our skin, but by what we have going on inside. Flareups are caused by pore blockage, which are in turn, caused by hormonal activity, internal body detoxification, and other various internal processes. It’s these activities that eventually lead to whiteheads, blackheads, and other rough acne patches.

Starting in the 1970s, detox diets became fashionable. There were several kinds, including the no-meat diet, the Celebrity Fit Diet, the Fat Smash diet, and lots of others. Nearly all of them began with a few week of detox diet, which would serve to shock and flush your system of anything harmful that it already had inside. There are also liquid-based detox diets, which use fruit and veggie juice as their core. These diets were based on reducing free radicals in your system, which would make your body healthier all around.

These diets were intended to be just that, diets. They were intended for weight loss. As with all weight loss programs, they had mixed success. Not every metabolism is the same, not everyone has the same willpower or tolerance for eating the foods and sticking the regimen. However, as a side effect, many people found that while they didn’t lose as much weight as they hoped, they found that they felt much better, and that their skin was much clearer. This has given more credence to the idea that when it comes to acne, what goes on inside is more important that what goes on outside.

By going on a detox diet, which is often very challenging, you are getting the benefits of cleansing the whole body. This includes the digestive system, which may also be of benefit to the skin, even though that wasn’t the original goal. In ancient chinese medicine it is believed that some problems that are started in the bowels and colon ultimately lead to skin disorders and additional inflammation. The toxins that your system can’t flush out that way have to leave through your pores.

Detox diets therefore have a two-fold benefit. Not only do they make you healthier, and help with your digestive tract, but they also will help your skin. Control the inside, and you control the outside.