April 1, 2007

About Acne Treatment

Just about everyone has acne at some time in their lives. This common skin complaint has left a lot of people seeking an effective acne treatment that can be used by a wide variety of people. Pimples are not selective; they tend to appear on anybody and in any place. This gives researchers a worthwhile goal in finding the ideal acne treatment.

Something which must be considered is the intention behind the skin clearing strategy. There are various approaches for acne treatment, each with a specific purpose in mind. The typical main purposes behind acne treatments are to clear the skin from lesions and breakouts and to prevent acne scars. These are the most fundamental motives for finding an appropriate approach.

The first intention of clearing breakouts and lesions from the skin is maybe the more widespread motive behind discovering an effective acne treatment. One rule of thumb is to only wash the affected area twice each day. Aggressive washing can irritate the skin and make the condition worse.

Many doctors suggest a medication applied directly to the affected area. There are a number of topical medications offered as acne treatment. These products exfoliate the skin. The upper layer of skin is often covered with dead cells that can block the pores. When the skin is exfoliated, the dead layer of skin is washed away, leaving a fresh new layer that is less likely to obstruct.

The topical acne treatment is also designed to remove oils and bacteria that are present in pimples. The topical medicine pulls the dirt and oil out of the pores, helping the affected area to improve swiftly. These medications are also effective in diminishing inflammation associated with many acne breakouts. The reduction of redness and swelling makes the pimples less noticeable.

After the skin is cleared, a lot of people find themselves carrying around a few scars. Another purpose for acne treatment is to stop or even heal acne scarring. Because acne scars frequently vary in significance, the approaches vary as well. Some are quite simple while others are quite invasive. The individual chooses which acne treatment is best suited, according to the severity of the scarring.

Dermabrasion is an example of a relatively simple method for treating shallow scars. The skin is massaged with a rotating brush that smooths the surface scars. The chemical peel is an acne treatment that removes scars using chemicals that remove the scarred skin.

More invasive strategies include scar excisions that remove the scar and pull the healthy skin together, and also punch grafting. Punch grafting involves removing the scar with a surgical hole-punch. The open plug where the scar originally was is filled with a plug of new skin. Hopefully, an acne treatment will be designed that will eliminate the requirement for surgical approaches to acne scar removal, but for now these are very necessary for those suffering from acne scars.

Acne

Acne vulgaris is commonly known as pimples. Acne vulgaris is an inflammatory disease. Acne affects human body at the beginning of puberty. The intensity of the disease generally lowers down after crossing teenage. The disease equally affects both men and women. Face and neck are those part of the body where acne prominently can occur however, it can also affects chest, back, arms and upper parts of legs. The disease is associated with hair follicles and sebaceous glands. People of western countries are most vulnerable to this problem as imbalance in gene also can be a cause of acne.

At reaching puberty sebaceous glands secrete excessive oil which blocks hair follicles. This is the heaven for the skin bacteria Propionibacterium acne. These bacteria rapidly increase their strength by multiple cell divisions in these oil accumulated pores. This forms cyst beneath the skin; the skin above these cyst becomes bulged and deformed. Acne leaves permanent scars on the skin whenever better treatment is not done for this.

Unbalancing in the level of those hormones which are secreted to attain puberty is supposed to be the prime factor causing acne. There are many other factors which are supposed to affect occurrence of acne. Most prominent causes are stress, irregular menstrual cycles, allergies, use of steroids, accumulation of dead skin, and side effects of iodine, chlorine, bromine, lithium based medication.

Acne is not initiated or stimulated by the consumption of chocolate, fried food and sugar rich diet. Though excess iodine can cause acne but its incorporation with sea food is not established. Myth stating masturbation increases impact of acne has no scientific ground.

The quest for searching a better treatment for acne is going on for millenniums. Hot water treatment, mineral water treatment, and sulphur treatment, were the common ways by which people tried to cure acne. Only in early twentieth century, efforts were made to cure acne with the help of antibiotic like benzoyl peroxide. Since then many development in medical treatment of acne have been noticed. Supplementing diet with vitamin A pills, laser treatment and light therapy are most prominent and relatively advanced techniques for acne treatment.

The new techniques for curing acne are expensive; it is not possible for everyone to afford the cost of laser and light therapy. Doctors still prescribe benzoyl peroxide based topical cream to be applied on acne affected area. Benzoyl peroxide dissolves dead skin and opens pores of skin. Creams containing Azeliac acid are also beneficial for the acne treatment. Oral antibiotic like tetracycline and doxycycline can also accompany topical creams for effective acne treatment. Acne in female is generally treated with hormone therapy. These hormonal pills are alike contraceptive pill containing progestogen which acts against acne causing testosterone. Acne generally takes two to three month to flatten down after starting treatment for it.

Medication for acne must be taken on doctor’s prescription as these medicines may have some side effects.