Experts explain
Dermatologists estimate that 30 to 50 percent of adult women suffer from acne conditions such as blackheads, whiteheads and cysts. "Adult acne is mainly caused by a genetic predisposition to the condition, combined with a change in hormones," says Katie Rodan, M.D., a dermatologist in San Francisco. How it starts: First, shedding skin cells form a plug in the pore. Then hormones trigger the production of oil that gets stuck in the clogged pore. This creates an ideal environment for the bacteria to thrive, And given that we have about ten thousand pores on our faces, there's plenty of opportunity for bacteria to grow.
The resulting inflammation rears its head as a pimple. According to Rodan, it takes two weeks for a pimple to develop into a full-blown zit--meaning that the chocolate bar or fried chicken you ate yesterday has absolutely nothing to do with your new breakout.
Treatment tips
* Your best acne defense is a good offense. "You can't just treat one pimple at a time," Rodan says. "The key is to treat your entire face on a continuous basis."
* For mild to moderate conditions, Rodan recommends a three-pronged approach that includes an exfoliator to unplug pores, a toner to cleanse away excess oil, and benzoyl peroxide to heal blemishes.
* For severe acne, Accutane remains the gold standard in treatment. It's the only prescription medication that has potential to "cure" cystic ache. However, side effects such as extremely dry skin, a possible link to depression and birth defects in babies make this treatment a last resort.
* The pros swear by combination treatments: Kate Somerville of Kate Somerville Skin Health Experts in Los Angeles (Janet Jackson's aesthetician) extoliates the skin and unclogs pores with an enzyme scrub, then carefully applies a warm cloth to the skin for two minutes before using a lance or two cotton swabs to extract blemishes.
* To maintain results between spa visits, consider a dally or nightly application of a benzoyl-peroxide product on blemishes and a weekly application of an acne mask. Clean & Clear, Neutrogena and Noxzema are readily available and affordable lines that carry such products.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Essence Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
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The Acne Sufferers Bible
Copyright 2006 A J Hunter For those people who suffer from acne (and that is probably most of the population) it is important to follow some sort of regime in order to keep the condition in check. The following advice should form the basis for a daily routine and can quite easily be labelled 'The Acne Sufferers Bible' as it should become more a way of life than a treatment. However, in keeping with anything of a medical nature it is strongly advisable to consult with your doctor before embarking upon any form of proprietary medicine as you can cause further damage if using medications not suited to your particular skin type.
1. Wash your face gently both morning and evening with a mild cleanser making sure to cover the whole face from your hairline to under the jawline making sure all areas showing signs of the condition are treated (you should also wash after doing any heavy exercise). Your doctor can advise you of the correct type of cleanser that will be compatible with your skin type. Try to avoid using strong soaps or scrubbing the skin too harshly as this may worsen the condition. Astringents are not recommended unless your skin happens to be very oily but even then should only be used on the oily areas.
2. Try to avoid touching and rubbing the skin particularly where there are pimples or spots. There is a common tendency to squeeze and pop the spots in an attempt to make the eruptions less obvious but there is a very real danger of causing blemishes or scars as a result so this temptation should be avoided at all costs.
3. Men can sometimes have problems with shaving as a result of heavy blotching and spots so it is really a case of trial and error to find which form of razor (safety or electric) is the most comfortable. Particular care must be taken when using a safety razor, as it is undesirable to nick spots and pimples so a sharp razor and good shaving cream to ensure softening of the beard is the order of the day.
4. Many of the topical medicines used in the treatment of acne can make your skin more prone to sunburn. This can appear to be beneficial in that a darker skin hue can help make the blemishes less obvious. However, benefits such as these are only temporary and excessive sun exposure is known to have risks such as more rapid skin aging and the very prevalent risk of developing skin cancer.
5. For women it may be necessary to change some of the cosmetics you use daily ensuring that any foundations, blushes, eye shadow or moisturisers are oil free. It is best to look for products labelled noncomedogenic as these do not promote the formation of closed pores that cause the formation of spots and pimples. Even using these particular products some women may find their condition worsening. Additionally, it may be difficult to apply foundations during the first few weeks of treatment as the skin may become red or scaly, particularly with the use of topical tretinoin or benzoyl peroxide.
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