Acne Magazine : Skin Care, Tips, Treatment Reviews

I know I’ve written on this topic many times, but I just can’t express how much anxiety and stress can add to the likelihood of your skin breaking out.  For some people, the correlation between anxiety and acne may be a little less conspicuous, but for others, like myself, it is an obvious and undeniable relationship.

The funny thing is, that as I get older and my skin matures, my breakouts as related to stress and anxiety have changed a bit. The breakouts seem to migrate to different areas of my body over the years. In my teens and twenties, whenever I was experiencing a lot of anxiety about something, my face used to always be the location of choice for my skin to express itself.

Now, the manifestation of acne due to stress and anxiety seems to be either on my tummy or my back of all places.  Very strange, but this development just recently occurred. I, like many others, have been going through an extremely stressful time at work because my employer is not replacing people that leave and therefore, the people that are left are picking up a lot of the slack.

It’s a difficult and frustrating period where I, a self professed perfectionist, do not have the adequate time I feel I need to thoroughly address people’s needs and questions at work, not the proper time to put in to my own workload.  This frustration has definitely impacted my skin.

The first day of high stress, rapid heartbeat and shallowness of breath, I came home to find that my tummy had broken out in red, irritated bumps that resembled acne, but may have also been a rash.  I treated it with topical acne cream and it seemed to help, so I believe it was a cortisol hormone triggered breakout.

I also felt a large acne pustule coming out on the side of my forehead. That one luckily went away pretty quickly, but was painful in its formation.

I then noticed that the breakout that first appeared on my tummy seemed to have migrated to my back.  I only noticed this because when I applied lotion, it burned, and I put my hand back there and felt bumps all over.

It is critical to contain your anxiety and stress by doing things that you know help you through those difficult periods.  This way, you can also minimize your hormonal acne breakouts.

It’s a well known fact that alcohol is something that should only be taken in small doses, and can be a highly addictive “drug” if you indulge too much. Alcohol, in excess, can cause something called alcohol induced neuropathy, which inflicts that nerves with a motor function problem, can add to heart attack and heart disease risk, and can add years to your age if you are an alcoholic.

Alcohol has just recently been pinpointed as more deadly than AIDS and another deadly disease as well, so it’s not something to be taken lightly, and if you ever feel like you might have a problem with this vice, then it’s important to not be embarrassed to seek advice since it can really be a life or death choice.

Not only is alcohol bad for your health, but it also can make your skin look terrible because it dehydrates it, and also can imbalance your blood sugar, which impacts your hormones, which in turn of course almost always affects your skin if you have acne prone skin to begin with .

Alcohol makes your skin look bad the next day often times, because of its dehydrating effects. It dehydrates the body, and therefore the skin as well, because it has an effect on the hormone in your body that is responsible for urination and hydration.

It inhibits this “anti diuretic hormone”, disabling it for a while until the effects of the alcohol wear off, and makes you go to the bathroom constantly, evacuating the hydrating fluids out of your body too quickly before they can absorb and hydrate your organs, your tissues, and your skin.

Remember, our bodies are made up of over 90% water, so it’s very important that our tissues stay adequately hydrated over time since it can really take our energy away and also our looks when we aren’t hydrated.

Alcohol, by its very nature, is usually toxic, so you are also adding to the toxic load of your skin and your body by drinking alcohol.

Just when you start cursing your skin for the various common skin complaints such as aging skin, acne prone skin, oily skin or bumpy, red skin, you read about someone who is struggling with an immense, incurable skin condition, and it really brings things into perspective. At least for a while.

I read a heart wrenching story about a little 5 year old girl who was born with a genetic skin disorder called icthyosis. Icthyosis is where the skin is red, irritated and scaly all of the time, almost looking like a bad sunburn. It becomes thick and scaly if not exfoliated every day and smothered in special creams several times a day.

And the really curious thing is that it sheds, in it’s entirety, every single day. Whereas normal skin sheds about once every two weeks, and we don’t see the obvious outcome since it does it little by little, icthyosis patients see their skin shed like this every day.  The skin condition is extremely rare, as it is statistically about one in three people in every one million who have it.

When this particular little girl was born, she was encased in a sheet of her own skin, so apparently the condition begins right from birth, and is gestational in nature, occurring right in the womb and having to be addressed as soon as the baby comes out of the mother’s uterus.

The person’s hands and face are the worst off, having to be rubbed down with a special cream every half hour. You can imagine how high maintenance and how life-intruding this disease would be, especially for such a little person just starting out in life who looks around seeing their friends and family not having to go through the same rituals every day.

There is no known cure for the ichtyosis skin condition, but it is known that there are a few genes that, if mutated, carry this in a mother of father and can be passed on to their infant in some cases.  Since the disease is so rare, unfortunately it lacks any really big funding that is large enough to continue serious research into a cure.

Genetic research is, by it’s very nature, expensive to carry on, and when a disease is genetically contracted, that’s the only way that a cure can be found.

I talked about lasers earlier this week, and how they are being used a lot now to help treat difficult rosacea and acne rosacea because they can help to shrink or completely get rid of broken capillaries and easily irritated tiny vessels in the face, which all contribute to the redness and irritated look of rosacea.

Well, these laser treatments for acne scarring and other types of scarring can also can be helpful for deeper, more severe acne scarring as well. There are a couple different types of lasers, and some of them are actually approved for use on acne scarring and helping to smooth the overall appearance of skin which has suffered acne scarring.

You can usually tell if someone had a lot of deeply rooted, cystic acne in their youth, because they often have icepick and pitted scarring, which is where the skin depresses down or sort of puckers where the previous acne lesion was. This especially can happen when you pick at an acne lesion a lot, or when you pop a zit before it is truly ready to be extracted.

For this reason, it is only recommended that you use gentle extraction techniques when a pimple is TRULY ready to pop, which you can usually tell by looking at it because it will have a completely white head and look like it is about to burst on it’s own (gross I know, but hey, these are the facts of living life with acne!)

Some lasers that are used in skin resurfacing can also be of benefit for acne scarring as well. Because they can literally blast away several layers of skin at one time though, these types of deeper lasers are often reserved only for those that are serious about getting results but are also willing to suffer some discomfort, pain and downtime because of the peeling and redness that occurs afterwards, almost making the patient look like they have been burned.

There are of course other options for acne scarring treatments that you can use in your own home, which is what I recommend, because you can use them as often as you’d like without being charged outrageous spa or dermatologist prices and without getting extremely irritated skin or possibly suffering skin damage from more serious treatments.

This is one of the best ways to get rid of acne scarring, in your own home, knowing the limits of your own skin, and being able to tailor the treatments to your own skin.

Many who have the skin condition rosacea, or acne rosacea, which is a combination of the two skin conditions, which are both actually rooted in inflammation of different sorts when you get right down to it, are often frustrated with the lack of treatment options that actually help to relieve the condition and make the skin look “calm”.

For those that have exhausted their less expensive, natural rosacea treatment options, there may be help in lasers. Lasers are now used widely in the cosmetic enhancement and beauty marketing field as very effective alternatives to getting everything from younger looking skin, to acne free skin, to calmer skin with less redness for those with rosacea.

There are several different types of lasers, all of which usually go to different depths in the skin or have different types of skin conditions that they are most useful for because of their strength.  Laser treatments for rosacea often work well because they help to basically shrink or eliminate the broken capillaries and inflamed vessels in the face that make the face appear red when flushed.

The cost of laser treatments for rosacea and acne rosacea can range from hundreds of dollars to thousands, depending on the number of treatments that are needed to see results for the  individual patient, which also usually depends on the severity of their condition.

Rosacea often impacts those with fair skin and those of European origin, because of their fair skin. Fair skin is simply easier to see through, and because of this, it’s easier to see inflammation of the capillaries and tiny vessels that lie just beneath the surface of the facial skin.

Things like alcohol and wine consumption, smoking, air pollution, mood changes like anger, embarrassment or frustration, and spicy foods can make rosacea almost instantly worse because these things cause instant inflammation and “heat” in the face.

To reduce this “heat” and bring calm back to rosacea or acne rosacea prone skin, I would definitely say to read our recommendations for natural rosacea and acne rosacea treatments.

Natural, gentle products that focus on calming and soothing the skin are the best way to care for skin that is so prone to inflammation and “internal heat”, so that is what the recommendation consists of.  When you have this type of skin condition, you often also have very sensitive skin.

That is why it is vital that you stay away from irritating, drying and reddening chemicals that are often found in common skin care products that you buy at the drugstore.

Through an ad on television, I just heard of a natural product used effectively in the treatment of acne.  The name of the natural product is tea tree oil .  Upon researching tea tree oil, I found out that it is a natural product with a multitude of uses.

Tea tree oil is derived from the leaves of the Melaleuca alternifolia, which is a plant native to Australia.  Tea tree oil is meant to be used topically only and should never be taken orally as it is toxic.  Never put tea tree oil in food or drinks.

Tea tree oil is an essential oil and has a fresh aroma like camphor.  It has many functional properties when used topically since it is antiviral, antibacterial, antiseptic and antifungal.  Tea tree oil has been shown to be very effective in the treatment of MRSA which is caused by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus.

Because of it’s antiviral qualities, tea tree oil is a viable treatment topically for herpes or cold sores, shingles blisters and chicken pox.  Tea tree oil is also effective in the treatment of head lice and to treat infestations with the scabies mite.

Tea tree oil, when added to shampoos, shows a high level of success in the treatment of dandruff.  Now , to get back to the treatment of acne, tea tree oil, at a 5% concentration has an effect similar to topical applications with 5% of benzoyl peroxide.

It is the antiseptic quality of tea tree oil that helps to kill acne causing bacteria.  Tea tree oil is not meant to be used undiluted.  You can mix 5% tea tree oil with 95% water to use topically to treat your acne.  Other vehicles used for dilution of tea tree oil include aloe vera, lavender and witch hazel for topical applications for the treatment of acne.

Tea tree oil is generally effective for treating mild to moderate acne.  After using a solution with tea tree oil, it is best to avoid the sun as it may dry and irritate your skin, but my experience has been that it is pretty mild and soothing, so it really doesn’t dry me out if I only use it occasionally. Now, it may be another story if you use it every single day….

There is a skin care product that is so effective in treating sun damaged skin that doctors and dermatologists in Cleveland require their patients to use it prior to getting cosmetic surgery.  The name of this skin care product is Obagi Nu-Derm and it is not highly publicized.

The dermatologists recommend using this product for 6 to 8 weeks prior to surgery since this is the length of skin renewal cycle.  These dermatologists feel the results of their cosmetic surgery are much better when the skin is prepped with Obagi Nu-Derm as the skin’s texture is better going into the surgery.

Although it is carried in the doctors’ offices, Obagi Nu-Derm is a cosmetic treatment and not a medical or surgical one.  Obagi Nu-Derm is effective for reducing or eliminating brown patches and fine lines caused by too much sun exposure.

The Obagi Nu-Derm product contains prescription strength hydroquinone which suppresses melanin production.  The Obagi product is used together with doctor prescribed tretinoin, a form of Retin-A.  Another reason cosmetic surgeons like their clients to use the Obagi line pre-op is to prevent any darkening of the skin in the surgically treated area.

Within a few days of starting treatment with the Obagi product, the skin begins to peel, increasing skin turnover to refine it’s texture.  The Obagi Nu-Derm also plumps the skin by rebuilding collagen and elastin.

There is also a lightening cream to take out brown spots.  After a few cycles of using Obagi, you can go to skin maintenance by using an SPF product of 35 or higher to prevent any new skin damage.

The cost of Obagi is high at about $300.00 to $400.00 for  a few month’s supply.  Another possible downside is that ,for certain individuals, the peeling process is too excessive.  Dermatologists feel that the Obagi line is meant to be used with professional guidance and in conjunction with the prescription treinoin.

While you can find Obagi online, doctors express concern over possible counterfeit versions and a lack of professional guidance in usage and amounts needed.

I know that a common concern for those with acne prone skin (trust me, this includes myself), is that most SPF-infused day creams may irritate the skin and clog the pores. This can be true if the base of the cream, sans that SPF part, is heavily laced with mineral oils and other pore clogging ingredients.

However, if you buy a higher quality SPF day cream to protect your skin against the UV rays it comes up against during the day, and you make sure it is a lighter, less heavy formula, you will be doing your skin a great service by both keeping it moist and supple and protecting it from every day damage, and by protecting it from the aging and potentially cancer causing rays of the sun, also known as the different spectrums of UV light that are emitted from the big glowing ball in the sky.

For a long time, I hesitated to use any type of facial lotion that had UV protection in it, because I thought it would surely clog my pores and lead to another breakout. I was wrong. Not only was I wrong, I was doing damage to my skin by letting it be exposed to UV rays every day, even if only for a little while, totally unprotected.

Every time your skin is exposed to the UVA and UVB rays of the sun, particularly UVA, the skin cells endure DNA damage and photo aging. UVA rays are particularly worrisome because they penetrate deeper into the layers, causing more cell damage and damaging the elastin and collagen building blocks that make you look youthful.

UVA light not only penetrates deeper into the dermal layers, but it also penetrates through glass, which UVB light does not.  This is why, even indoors, you need to protect your skin from UVA light as well on sunny days.

When shopping for a lotion for the face during the day with sun protection, look for the words “broad spectrum”. This means that the lotion has SPF in it which protects from all spectrums of UV light, so it is a catch all, all inclusive formula which gives you greater protection from the damaging effects of the sun.

Also choose a formula that says something like “light” or “oil free” if you are particularly worried about ti clogging your pores and leading to breakouts. Typically though, anything that is labeled as  a “day cream” is going to be a lighter, more skin-friendly formula since the night times creams are the more intense and emollient kind.

We know acne bacteria as the obnoxious little microbial pests that hang out on our skin and contribute to acne vulgaris – ie zits, bumps, breakouts, whiteheads, blackheads, cysts and more.  This bacteria is one of the reasons that antibiotics are issued as one of the common forms of dermatological acne interventions, much to my dismay.

Antibiotics are supposed to help suppress these bacteria, but they are only good for as long as you are on the drug, then you are just as susceptible to the bacterium as everyone else.  I believe there may be another mechanism that antibiotics may help acne as well, but I recommend anyone try to avoid any type of long term use of these drugs as they can cause long term health issues involving your digestive system.

But apparently the same bacteria that is responsible for causing acne, of course in conjunction with over production of sebum which are usually caused by imbalanced hormones, is also responsible for other infections that can occur within the body.

The same acne-causing bacteria can apparently also invade the body and cause havoc. Here’s where it gets really scary. The same bacteria that cause acne can also morph into cancerous cells because of their irritating qualities.

They can also cause infections after surgery and can even travel to the brain and cause infection at this most precious of sites.

The name of the bacteria is p. acnes, aptly named for the most infamous skin condition known to dermatologists worldwide.  The reason that it is so important to keep the pores clear of debris and buildup is because these p. acnes microbes actually live in the pores, within the hair follicles.

Since we have hair all over our body, acne can sprout up anywhere when these bacterium invade beneath the skin.  I recommend that to help minimize this bacteria on the skin, to use a natural anti bacterial face wash.

The Zen med line offers a great naturally anti microbial line that focuses on gentle face washes and treatments. An excellent natural astringent and antibacterial agent that is often recommended for those with acne is tea tree oil.

This pungent smelling oil is infused into preparations like astringents which can be used after washing the face, and it is also used as an ingredients in some acne face washes to help kill off the p. acnes bacteria before it invades the hair follicles and causes an acne postule to form.