How to Choose the Best Acne Solutions for You

Health Articles | November 20, 2009

Finding the right acne solution for you depends on several factors including the severity of your acne problem and whether you are a man or a woman. While benzoyl peroxide works well for mild acne, women might try hormonal acne treatments while men can consider Accutane. Both men and women can benefit from holistic acne solutions.

Choosing the best acne solutions for you is amatter of deciding if you have mild, moderate or severe acne. In thepast, doctors tended to prescribe antibiotics for every pimple-relatedproblem, but these days antibiotics have fallen out of favor. Not onlydo they help to promote antibiotic resistant bacteria, but they neverworked well in the first place. Not a ringing endorsement if you arelooking for the best acne solution!

Hands down the best solutionif you have mild acne is a 2.5% benzoyl peroxide cream or gel. It'spopular because it works two ways. First, it destroys bacteria on yourskin that can infect your blackheads and whiteheads and turn them intobig red pimples. Second, benzoyl peroxide helps to clear blocked poresso it is not bad at controlling blackheads as well. Here are a fewextra tips:

1) Never buy anything stronger than 2.5% benzoylperoxide. Clinical studies have proven that stronger formulations(including prescription strength) are not more effective, except atirritating your skin and draining your wallet.

2) Apply twice perday in a thin layer after gently washing your face and wiping your skinwith a salicylic acid pad. These pads are cheap and non-prescription.They allow the benzoyl peroxide to penetrate more deeply into cloggedpores, increasing the effectiveness.

3) Don't bother with washes,scrubs and cleansers containing benzoyl peroxide. These medicated skinproducts rinse from your skin so quickly that the active ingredientssimply do not have time to work. Save your money.

If you havemoderate to severe acne, it is a bit more complicated to choose thebest acne solution for you. If you are a woman, you may wish to trygoing on a birth control pill containing estrogen. Yasmin is the brandmost recommended by dermatologists for treating pimples. Other hormonetherapies to consider include spironolactone. Talk to your doctor tofind out if hormonal treatments are the best for you. Guess what? Ifyou are a man, the answer is no.

If you are a man, or a woman whodoesn't wish to pursue hormonal treatments, the best acne solutions foryou are Accutane, or trying to cure your pimples with a holistictreatment.

Accutane is a very effective treatment, but the severeside effects associated with its use make it an acne solution of lastresort. Depression and birth defects are well known possible sideeffects of Accutane but there are a host of other potential sideeffects including pain, liver damage, bleeding gums, and thinning hair.You should keep in mind that Accutane does not work overnight. It cantake six months to a year for your skin to clear up and you may wish tohide during that time because your skin will get much worse, notbetter. Accutane increases the severity of your acne lesions and leavesyour skin painfully dry and your lips peeling. These less "medicallyserious" side effects often come as a surprise to those sufferers whoexpect quick results.

Holistic treatments might be considered thebest acne solutions for many reasons. We have come a long way in thelast few years in recognizing the connection between lifestyle, dietand your complexion. There are several great programs on the marketthat, if closely followed, can help to clear up acne without the use ofdrugs. An improved diet has one side effect that few people consider:improved overall health. A holistic program is something to considerespecially prior to committing to a harsh medical treatment likeAccutane. They are much cheaperFind Article, and you don't have to get medicaltests to make sure you're not harming yourself.







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