Well, if there’s one thing that everyone, whether at the age 13 or 30, dreads, it has to be Acne. Ring any bells? If you happen to be one of those lucky fews who haven’t experienced acne in life, well, good for you and yes we envy you for that! But, if you are one of those who have and who have constantly had nightmares of acne taking over the life of your face, then all we can say is that we feel you. Acne can be, for one, quite disturbing to look at (quite literally!) and for two, it can really pull you down. But today we are going to talk about it in detail so you know what are the root causes of acne and how you can treat it from within so that one fine day we can finally bid it adieu for good. Let’s first talk about what it really is. Read on…
What is Acne?
Well, to begin with, a well known fact about acne is that it tends to be mostly common with people in their teens and tweens. For most of us, looking the best in our teens and twenties is what we hope for but unfortunately, acne shows its ugly head (literally) when we don’t want it. The typical spots of acne are on the cheeks, t-zone (which covers the forehead, nose and the chin) and sometimes even on the upper shoulders.
If you are wondering what caused acne on your skin, well, for acne to happen, we’ll have to look at three things namely oil or sebum that is produced by the oil glands in our skin, bacteria (of which there’s no dearth) and last but not the least, hormones. Moreover, acne is such that if any antibiotic you buy over the counter and if it doesn’t work on any one of these things, it will be ineffective.
Causes of Acne
Excessive Oil
As a teenager, because of the immense hormonal surges that one gets, sometimes the amount of oil secreted by the oil glands is so excessive that blocks or clogs the pores. Now when the pores get blocked, obviously the oil has no way of getting out. As a result of this, the oil engorges itself in a big sack of oil underneath the skin and it keeps growing, eventually popping up above the surface of the skin
Bacteria and Germs
Because bacterial loves to make its home sweet home anywhere it finds oil (because it also happens to be a food source for it) and when this very bacteria lunches in on your excessive oil glands, it produces toxins and irritants and really nasty by-products under the skin. Thereafter, your ever0protecting immune system sends white blood cells to that area where the bacteria have struck, to fight the infection. Now when the white blood cells (the police force we’d like to call it) attack the bacteria, there starts a battle underneath the skin because of which the zit or the pimple starts to appear bigger, raised and red.
Hormones
Ever wondered why majority of the teenagers can be seen with zits on their faces? While in puberty, there tends to be significant changes in hormones that is why acne abruptly erupts in teens more frequently.
Home Remedies for Acne
That’s all about what acne is and how it is caused, but what about the remedies? How can acne be cured? Well, you’ll have to keep reading to answer these curiosities. Given below is a list of natural or home remedies that you can follow that will make sure your acne is kept at a safe distance from you. The only thing to keep in mind is that you these remedies have to be followed religiously to get the best results. Read on!
Sugar Scrub
Brown sugar is known to be the mildest and the most natural exfoliater. When you exfoliate your skin with brown sugar, it helps get rid of sebum, dirt, oil, bacteria and the like, leaving you with soft, supple and beautiful looking skin.
How to scrub: Mix 2 tablespoons of brown sugar in 1 teaspoon of honey and massage this mixture on your face in gentle circular motions. After about 3-4 minutes of massaging, let it stay put for about 15 minutes and wash your face with lukewarm water.
Potato Pack
Potatoes are known to really absorb the oil and sebum off the skin. If you apply this given potato pack regularly, you’ll see the results very soon.
How to make the pack: Grate a potato and extract the juice out of it by tightly squeezing the grated potato with your hands. Take a teaspoon of fuller’s earth, which is also known to absorb excess oil and sebum, and mix it in the juice from the grated potato. Once you have a paste, apply it all over your face, or wherever you feel your face has the most oil and wash it off with cold water after it dries.
Pack of Orange Peel
Everyone knows that oranges are a rich source of Vitamin C (if you didn’t know already, well, now you do). They help a great deal in making the skin feel refreshed and relieving it of pesky pimples.
How to make the pack: All you have to do is grind a few peels of orange and add 2 teaspoons of rose water. Once a paste has been formed, apply the same to your face and wash with cold water after about 10 minutes.
Toothpaste
Ever tried this tried-and-tested method on pimples? Well, you should, at least once. All you have to do is dab a very small amount of toothpaste on the pimples using clean fingers and leave it on your skin overnight. Rinse off with water in the morning. Before dozing off at night, you will have to make sure that the toothpaste has dried off completely as it will only be wiped off while sleeping and you won’t get the desired results.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is known to dry out pimples and at the same time it is an inexpensive method to achieve that beautiful looking skin. To make it work for you, you’ll need a teaspoon or two of baking soda mixed with the same amount of water and leave it on your skin overnight. Rinse off with lukewarm water in the morning to see the desired results.
These are some of the natural and home remedies that you can follow to get rid of the arrogant pimples on your face. Apart from this, what you have to understand is the fact that lifestyle has a great role to play in how we look on the outside. If your lifestyle is such that you eat more junk food than home cooked food and that you have no time to exercise to release the body of the toxins etc. then no matter how many home remedies you make use of, nothing will come to your rescue. Ensure that you are stress free, get at least 3 days of exercise in a week, make fresh fruits and vegetables a part of your daily meal plan, use such products that are skin friendly along with following these home remedies. And we guarantee that very soon you will get your face rid of all the unwanted-pesky-gross-looking-pimples.
Here’s to a pimple-free face! Cheers!