Here are some hygiene and medication suggestions you can follow that may help keep your skin looking healthy and free of most acne problems.

Acne Hygiene Prevention

Tip #1 – Don’t Squeeze or Pick Your Zits: Squeezing and picking your acnes — either with fingernails, pins or anything else —forces bacteria deeper into the skin, causing greater inflammation and infection. Additionally, this will increase the damage to the surrounding skin and the blemishes are more likely to leave a permanent acne scar.

Tip #2 – Hands Off! Propionibacterium acne (bacteria that causes breakouts) is a normal resident of the skin and doesn’t cause acne breakouts until it gets trapped inside the hair follicle. Excessive rubbing or touching of the skin will drive these bacteria deep into pores where it begins the process of creating an acne breakout.

Tip #3 – Don’t Over-Wash: Excessive scrubbing and washing won’t make your acne go away. When possible limit yourself to two washings per day —more than that may turn healthy skin into dry dry, and may further irritate already acne-prone areas. Additionally, over-washing can stimulate increased oil production, which may result in increased acne breakouts.

Tip #4 – Work Out, Wash Off: Exercise movements generate heat, while clothing and equipment cause friction. Heat and moisture are thereby trapped against the skin, creating an ideal breeding ground for the creation and spreading of bacteria. Showering immediately after exercising will help prevent these “overly athletic” bacteria from getting trapped in pores and reduce the chance of an acne attack.

Tip #5 – Skip Harsh Scrubs: Exfoliate is okay, as long as, you use a gentle formula with small, smooth grains. Always try to avoid products with almond or apricot shell fragments, since these can irritate or even tear the skin and further aggravate acne.

Tip #6 – Say NO To Alcohol: Should you choose to use a toner, avoid products with high concentrations of isopropyl alcohol, or common rubbing alcohol. Alcohol is a strong astringent that strips the top layer of the skin and causes the sebaceous glands to produce more oil, which results in dry, red skin and possibly more acne blemishes.

Acne Medication

Most cases of mild acne can be improved with “over-the-counter” products, or products that don’t require a prescription from a doctor. There is a wide range of treatments available, and there’s a good chance one will work for you. Starting treatment before acne gets severe may help avoid physical and emotional problems down the road, but when acne gets worse or lasts longer than a couple of weeks it’s time to see a dermatologist.

Here’s a listing of some of the most common products used to treat acne:

• Benzoyl Peroxide: kills the bacteria that cause acne.

• Proactiv® Solution: a dermatologist formulated Combination Therapy® acne management system.

• Salicylic Acid: unclogs pores and encourages skin renewal.

• Tretinoin (Retin-A®): promotes healthy sloughing.

• Antibiotics: kills bacteria and reduces inflammation.

• Oral Contraceptives: helps regulate hormone levels.

• Anti-Androgens: inhibits the body’s production of acne-causing hormones.

• Isotretinoin (Accutane®): treatment for severe cystic or nodular acne.

Alphabet Soup of Medication and Acne Side Effects

Unfortunately a number of prescription medications are known to cause acne. Consult your physician to discuss alternative treatments, if you routinely take any of the following drugs (or drugs like them) and have problems with acne breakouts. Your physician should be able to recommend something that results in fewer side affects.

Anticonvulsants (like Dilantin) are prescribed for the treatment of epilepsy and other types of seizures. Most medications in this group list acne as a common side effect.

Disulfuram (or Antabuse) is prescribed to help chronic alcoholic patients who want to remain in a state of enforced sobriety. When mixed with alcohol, this drug causes a range of unpleasant symptoms intended to discourage further mixing. Unfortunately, regular use of Disulfuram (even when not drinking) can cause acne in some patients.

Immuran. Like other immunosuppressants, Immuran is used to suppress the immune system in patients awaiting an organ transplant. It can help prevent organ rejection; it can also suppress your body’s natural ability to fight the bacteria that cause acne.

Isoniazid (or INH) is typically used to treat tuberculosis, or TB. Thought to be largely eradicated, TB experienced resurgence in the late 1980s among the homeless population and in patients suffering from AIDS. It continues to be a problem today.

Quinine is prescribed as a precaution against — or treatment for — malaria. If you’re traveling to a part of the world where malaria is a risk, be sure to ask your doctor about alternative solutions.

Thiourea and Thiouracil are thyroid preparations used to stimulate the thyroid gland in patients with low thyroid function, and are known to trigger acne breakouts. In addition, large amounts of iodine, which also helps to regulate thyroid function, can cause acne breakouts as well.

Acne No More

Regardless of age, unsightly acne breakouts are always a source of embarrassment. In most cases acne improves and goes away over time on its own with a little tender loving care. And don’t stress out about it when simple acne hygiene prevention doesn’t’ do it for you and you have to resort to acne medication.

Everyone seems to suffer a bout of the acne blues at some point in their life, including those super models you see in magazines; only they have a team of make-up artist and Photoshop experts to cover up and prevent their acne from being seen by their millions of fans.

Rarely does acne cause any life long problems and if you’re worried about your acne, then talk to your doctor sooner rather than later. Attack your acne issues now and live a healthier, happier life in your years to come.

An Overview of Baby Acne

Newborn babies often develop acne because of the lingering maternal hormones after delivery, which may cause stimulation to the baby’s sebaceous glands. Your baby receives these hormones from the placenta, after the delivery.  There are various aspects related to baby acne that are different from acne that affects other age groups.

Infantile acne is gender-biased. Male babies are more affected than their female counterparts. Normally babies begin showing signs of acne attacks around the age of three (3) weeks old. Some babies have it from the time of delivery. Generally the types of acne you find in infants are papules and pustules. Papules are red bumps and pustules are whiteheads. Often there is a collection of pus when baby acne is present.

Some babies also have acne on the scalp. The lesions will take care of themselves within a period of few months. Take care of the baby’s acne areas as you would take care of its other body parts.

Treating Baby Acne

First things first, the treatment for baby acne is not the same as acne treatment for any other age group. Acne in babies usually does not require extensive treatment. Use mild baby soap and gently clean the face once a day with water. Do not try harsher methods, like using oils and other lotions, which you think are good for adults. They may at times, worsen the condition. Know for certain that infantile acne will typically disappear when it ready to.

If your family pediatrician feels that your baby has severe acne, consider treating it with benzoyl peroxide, keratolytic agents or topical creams like retinoids. Make sure you don’t start these treatments on your own, only start these after being instructed to by a qualified medical practitioner.

Baby Acne Anxiety

In your anxiety to photograph your baby, don’t plaster his or her cheeks with cosmetics. Consider the Photoshop method of correcting baby acne before trying to fix it with chemicals. Or even work with your baby to strike an imaginative pose to hide those little blemishes.

The ways of baby acne are indeed mysterious. If you have a history of acne in your family, that doesn’t mean that your baby will have acne. And just because your baby has acne, it doesn’t mean they will suffer from acne attacks, as they grow older. Acne has its own way of working itself out.

New moms, and dads, need to remember they weren’t the cause of junior’s baby acne. Just sit back and enjoy the arrival of your little precious and get as much sleep as you can.

Regardless of age, young or old, acne is a condition that we never outgrow.  No matter how old we get, acne still finds its way to embarrass us. Studies estimate that adult acne breakouts affect 20% of men and 30% of women in the 20 – 60 age group; as well as older adults too.

Natural Causes of Adult Acne

Just like in your teen years, adult acne is a condition where the sebaceous glands, that are attached to your hair follicles, produce too much of an oily substance called sebum. The sebum, along with dead skin cells, clog your pores, attract bacteria, become inflamed and “voila” an acne lesion is formed.

Unfortunately for some it’s not just sebum that causes their acne woes.  Adult acne breakouts can also occur in individuals that are over sensitive to certain hormones. The overproduction of androgen, a male hormone, and estrogen, a female hormone, can cause adult acne as well.

Not So Natural Causes of Adult Acne

These over production of natural, internal variables like sebum and hormones are not the only causes of adult acne. External factors like foods, chemicals, and pharmaceutical products may also be a cause of adult acne for some individuals.

Foods: long considered a cause of acne by many, there are those that just don’t buy it. However, tell that to folks who eat chocolate or greasy foods and seem to breakout. Maybe there isn’t a ton of scientific evidence to prove the acne diet connection, so the debate will continue. Until it’s resolved, if certain foods seem to make your adult acne breakouts worse, then just try to limit them the best you can.

Chemicals: these things are in just about everything we use on the outside of our body, as well as, ingest into our body. Sodium 
Laureth 
Sulfate and Sodium 
Lauryl 
Sulfate are cleaning detergents; both of which are in most of your common hair care shampoo and conditioning products. These “engine degreasers” leave a nasty film on your skin that can close your pores. Sadly, these are just a few of the thousands of chemicals and fragrances that we come into contact with daily the mess with our skin.

Pharmaceutical: better known as medications, can induce adult acne. Unfortunately as many people grow older their intake of drugs increases, as does their adult acne because a nasty side effect of some drugs is acne. Drugs known to induce acne in adults include anabolic steroids (sometimes used illegally by athletes to “bulk up”), some anti-epileptic medications, the anti-tuberculosis drugs isoniazid and rifampin, lithium and iodine-containing medications. Also, drugs that mess with your hormone levels, such as those used by women during menopause tend to cause acne breakouts as well.

Adult Acne Isn’t the End All

If you never had acne as a kid growing up, then a dermatologist who can investigate the underlying cause should examine acne that appears for the first time in adulthood. Let your dermatologist know if you’ve started any new medications first, since these were probably prescribed for other health reasons. Next work through changes that you have made to your diet recently and then talk about any new products you might be using.

At the end of the day your adult acne is just that, acne. It’s not the end of the world and with treatment and care can be controlled. Don’t let your adult acne embarrass you and keep you locked away.