Acne can be a stressful cycle to break, but your actions may actually be making it worse. Discover these top acne-fighting mistakes and how to correct them.
Breaking the cycle of acne can be a difficult task. Keeping up with acne treatment procedures, refraining from picking, and allowing time for each treatment to take effect takes a lot of patience. It's even more aggravating when your efforts only appear to result in additional acne outbreaks. We're focusing on the errors rather than making another list of everything you should do to beat the breakouts you may keep working toward a treatment program that works for you without your behaviors potentially compromising its efficacy if you're attempting to get rid of pimples, zits, and acne-related inflammation.
Mistake #1: Waiting for a Breakout to Spring into Action
Trying to kill zits with a spot treatment after they appear is a lost game. Spot treatments can assist to reduce inflammation and perhaps release clogged pores, but when you notice one pimple, it's likely that more are growing nearby. Furthermore, if you only use acne-fighting skin care products when you have a breakout, your skin will be unable to adjust to your regimen and the active components in each product, resulting in tension, irritation, and dryness, all of which can exacerbate the acne cycle. Rather than reacting as soon as a breakout appears, use a milder, more frequent acne-fighting skin treatment to cure present outbreaks and prevent future ones. This allows your skin to adapt to and completely benefit from the acne-fighting properties of the product.
Mistake #2: Avoiding Exfoliators
To prevent creating irritation, it may seem reasonable to avoid using exfoliators on acne-prone skin, but this inclination is a big error. Consider exfoliating as your first line of defense against acne. To assist remove dead skin cells that are blocking pores and triggering your breakouts in the first place, avoid harsh skin care exfoliators that have bigger scrubbing elements—think sugars, salt, or other physical scrubbers—and instead go for an acid-based exfoliator. To minimize irritation, start with a lower dose of acid when integrating an acid-based exfoliant into your at-home acne treatment program. Work your way up depending on how your skin reacts. If you're having trouble deciding which product is best for you, a dermatologist or aesthetics therapy provider can advise you on the best product and concentration for your skin type.
Mistake #3: Using the Wrong Acne-Fighting Ingredient
While numerous active substances are known to combat acne, you may not realize that they fight distinct forms of acne. Using the incorrect active ingredient for the sort of acne you're dealing with might either have no impact or make things worse. As a result, it's essential to figure out which type(s) of acne you're trying to cure first, then seek for the best solution for the task. For starters, benzoyl peroxide is essentially an antibacterial, which means it works by killing acne-causing bacteria. It works best on papules and pustules, which are associated with greater bacteria levels. When it comes to comedones (little blackheads or whiteheads), salicylic acid is more likely to work. Salicylic acid acts as an exfoliant, removing dead skin and preventing the production of comedones, which are caused by dead skin blocking pores.
Mistake #4: Skipping Out on Treatments Too Soon
We all want to see immediate results, especially when it comes to acne treatment. Unfortunately, even goods that promise immediate effects encourage unreasonable expectations. Some therapies may be able to lessen inflammation and redness in a shorter amount of time, but they will not be able to cure acne. Treatments for acne take time to work their magic. Changing it up too frequently can simply irritate your skin worse, restarting the acne cycle. Rather of discarding a therapy that doesn't provide immediate effects, stick with it for at least six to eight weeks. This will give you a better idea of whether it's the perfect product for you and your skin by enabling its full benefits to take hold and proper skin cell regeneration to occur. If it doesn't work after six to eight weeks, you may try a different acne treatment or add another product to your routine to boost the benefits. Furthermore, once your acne has cleared up, skin care specialists advise continuing the practice to avoid future breakouts. Slow and steady is the name of the game when it comes to combating acne.
Mistake #5: Abusing Your Acne-Fighting Actives
You might be tempted to scrub your skin often in order to remove all signs of germs and extra oils, but this is a big mistake. Abusing acne remedies by washing too frequently depletes the face's natural oils, resulting in dry, dehydrated skin that will only lead to further outbreaks. Even worse, your skin may try to compensate for the dryness by generating even more oil. Rather than over-cleansing your skin with harsh cleansers or chemicals, make sure you're still hydrating it, and don't believe the myth that a larger concentration of an active ingredient will result in better, faster results. In reality, research show that larger doses of benzoyl peroxide, the main component, have no extra impact on acne breakouts and may cause further skin irritation, meaning a lower concentration may be the better choice.
Mistake #6: Not Leaving the Skin Care Aisle
Sure, it may seem obvious that the greatest acne-fighting remedies can be found in the skin care section of our local beauty or drugstores, but you might be missing out on a possibly kinder, more effective choice if you just use topical products. To get rid of persistent acne and break the cycle, visit an VVMEDESTHETICS and ask about customizing your acne-fighting skin care regimen with Venus Versa™ acne reduction treatments. These dual-light treatments, which use Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) technology, efficiently target and eliminate acne-causing Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) bacteria while also decreasing acne-related redness and inflammation for quicker healing and breakout prevention treatments are generally safe to use in conjunction with an acne-fighting skin care program, however this varies per product. To ensure you're utilizing the most effective products and treatments for your skin, always speak with your treatment provider. Treatments are safe to use alongside an acne-fighting skin care routine, although it can depend on the specific products. It’s always best to consult with your treatment provider to ensure you’re using the most effective products and treatments for your skin.