Acne Treatments Explained, Making Sense of the Array of Choices for Treatment Options
By Melanie Vasseur
Many people suffer with the skin condition known as acne or Zits; but there are now many treatments available which can help the condition so it is more bearable. Scientific research into this area is intense; this is good news with the range of effective skin care treatments improving all the time. The type of acne skin care products you might use would come under three general categories:
* Internet or Drugstore: Treatment that helps prevents condition
* Over-the-Counter: Treatments for conditions that do not require prescription
* Prescription only: From a doctor or dermatologist for more serious conditions
Those that fall into the preventative category are based around general skin conditioning to help stop acne from forming; these products can be anything from skin cleansers to makeup removers. Many people use products similar to this every day as part of their skin care regime; often this is irrespective of whether or not there is a problem condition. There are acne skin care products that are more specialized in there approach; they clean out the pores to help stop sebum or oil which can clog these areas. These products prevent the oil from getting trapped in pores and can hamper the growth of bacteria, this can lead to the bad skin condition.
Other skin care treatments can help exfoliate the skin; most can even be purchased over the Internet in addition to normal outlets. This type of peel helps reduce the chance of oil clogging up the pores as well as removing other skin impurities; this can reduce the bacterium growth on your skin. Many different, specially formulated acne skin care products designed to reduce the problems have now been made available without prescription. These products have benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid as ingredients which cause a bad reaction in the bacterium. they work by removing the excess oil from the skin and halt the growth of acne.
It is often a good idea to start with a product that has lower concentration of benzoyl peroxide (e.g. 5 percent) to see how the skin responds; if a reaction occurs, a cleaner or cream containing alpha hydroxy acid should be safe. Because we all have different types of skin, more than one type of acne skin care product may need to be tried; if none of them work then you would be advised to contact your skin specialist. Products that your dermatologist or doctor will recommend will only be available on prescription, they may include a course of antibiotics or topical ointments.
In some case your doctor may suggest the pustules are drained of harmful contents under local anesthetic; however, sufferers are warned never to attempt this as it could lead to serious skin problems. An alternative that has been shown to work well is hormone therapy; hormone changes can be responsible for acne but hormone therapy can be very effective when used under prescription. Science has produced many effective treatments for this unkind condition.
Esthetician, chemist and spa owner, Melanie Vasseur has been producing her own line of skin care products for over 25 years. For more information on her holistic line of skin care products please visit www.vsskin.com. She may be reached at Melanie@vsskin.com or 619-236-9095.