Diet
Food doesn’t cause acne. However, if certain foods seem to make your acne worse, try to avoid them. For a small percentage of people, milk/dairy (especially skim milk ; almond or whole milk appear to be fine), or whey protein or nuts may aggravate acne and low glycemic diets and increased fish intake appear to be helpful in reducing acne for some patients. A lower BMI (Body Mass Index) appears to also result in less acne.
Cleanliness
Acne has very little to do with poor hygiene. In fact, overwashing and overdrying the skin will lead to more redness, dryness and inflammation in the skin. The best approach is to gently wash your face once or twice (if you wear makeup or play lots of sports) a day with a mild cleanser rather than soap, pat dry rather than rubbing with a towel, and ideally after waiting 30 minutes (minimum 10 minutes), apply your medicated acne treatment. Acne is more caused by genetics and hormones than by not washing your face enough.
Acne is only a cosmetic problem
Acne is not just a cosmetic condition. Acne problems will affect the way you look and feel, but thankfully with no risk to your overall health. However, there is no question that acne can leave emotional as well as physical scars, often permanent.
Let acne run its course
Acne is very common, but that doesn’t mean it should be tolerated. In this day and age when we have so much information and great treatments for acne, there is no reason to have to suffer the effects of acne and the potential for acne scars.
Talk to a skin care expert about the right acne regimen tailored specifically for you, from a daily cleansing & moisturizing routine, to prescription creams & gels, pills, or other options such as chemical peels, microdermabrasion, or laser treatments.
Moisturizer should not be applied to acne or acne-prone skin
People with acne-prone skin do not necessarily have extra oily skin, so moisturizer is important for your skin. Hydration is the key to clear and calm skin. You’ll want to find a “noncomedogenic” moisturizer and sunscreen that will not clog your pores and in turn, make your face breakout.
Acne can be cured
Since there is no single cause for acne, there is no single cure. Some treatments work well in some people, while they do little in others. At the same time, acne medications may be well-tolerated in one person, and cause an allergic or other adverse reaction in another person. Unfortunately, both acne and the treatments for acne are sometimes unpredictable.
Make sure you have a consistent and effective skincare regimen designed by a skin care expert, with the appropriate acne treatment plan that has the right balance of effectiveness and safety, and at the right budget for you. While acne can clear up or go away for many years or in many cases permanently, there are unfortunately others who suffer from acne their whole lives; it is very difficult to predict how any one person’s acne will behave.
