8 Ways to Get Rid of Acne

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If it is one thing that ruins a teenager's life is dealing with acne. With all the pressures of high school: algebra test, essays, power point presentations on the Boston Tea Party, and the all important social life you can see why skin care is one of the last thing on a fifteen year old boy's mind. Unfortunately the ruling factor in high school life is the social life. In order to have a healthy social life you need to have confidence, which is derived from self-esteem, and it is tasking to have high self-esteem with acne. Luckily there are a myriad of products to help combat that pesky bad skin. Starting with the mildest form of treatment there is topical benzoyl peroxide. It can be found in face wash, soaps, and creams. Benzoyl peroxide is a mild bleach and works by getting rid of dirt, oils, and bacteria that clog pores. Benzoyl peroxide can be used for mild to moderate acne. Essentially you are to apply the benzoyl peroxide to the affected area at least twice a day. The draw back of utilizing benzoyl peroxide is that it can dry out the skin. Dryness can be combated with oil-free moisturizers.

Topical antibiotics can be used to combat bacteria that can be harbored in clogged follicles. Topical antibiotics such as erythromycin, clindamycin, or stiemycin, or tetracycline work just as well as oral antibiotics, but you don't have to deal with the nasty side effects that can encompass upset stomach and it won't deactivate your contraceptive pill. Unfortunately, as quickly as two to three days after you stop application break outs will occur. Oral antibiotics work similarly to the topical except in the case when you stop treatment. Oral antibiotics will continue to work for weeks after treatment has ended.

Women have the option of taking hormonal treatments. There is an overwhelming amount of hormonal contraception available. Cortisone for example is an injection that immediately gets rid of the redness and swelling of really stubborn pimples.

Most hormonal contraception is pill form and also act as birth control. Topical retinoids work to regulate the cell follicle life cycle. They are generally related to vitamin A and have mild side effects. Topical retinoids can cause skin irritation. Over a period of 4-6 months oral retinoids can achieve long-term results. Doctors have to closely watch patients who decide too take oral retinoids as a form of treatment because of their side effects. Some side effects are dry skin, dry mucosa, and nosebleeds. There are some reports of these types of drugs damaging people's livers and also reports stating that they lead to depression. Another form of acne treatment is phototherapy.

Phototherapy involves using violet light (405-420nm) twice a week. Receiving treatment twice a week results in 64% reduction of lesions. What occurs is free radials attack P. acne (Propionibacterium acne) when hit by 420nm or less wavelengths. Phototherapy can also be done with red light also know as visible light which has longer wavelengths than violet light. If one exposes the affected with 660nm daily they will achieve up to 76% reduction. Side effects are rarely experienced and clear skin can be enjoyed for longer periods after treatment than both oral and topical bacterial killers. Bad skin is incredibly difficult to deal with, but at least there is more than just one way to deal with it.