Preventing acne : Acne Treatment Guide

Is it possible to prevent acne? If you are suffering from acne then you might have asked yourself this question on many an occasion. Especially if you have experienced a severe outbreak. But if you have never experienced acne then it is logical to assume that there are ways of stopping this from happening.

However, if you have a genetic tendency to acne in your family and you are going through puberty then there is nothing you can do to avoid it. Basically, if you are going to develop acne then you will. Hormones are largely responsible, in particular the male hormone testosterone which causes excess oil production from your skin’s sebaceous glands. This oil combines with dead skin cells and clogs the pores of your skin. This then results in an infection and/or inflammation which manifest itself as an outbreak of pimples or acne. Apart from these two causes there are other factors involved which are likely to aggravate an existing acne outbreak. These include:

• Squeezing or picking acne pimples
• Chronic stress
• Food allergy
• Excessive washing of the skin
• Side effect of prescription or over the counter medications.

These and others are discussed further in our acne complications section.

Preventable measures

If, for example, your acne is caused by a side effect of a prescribed medicine then see your GP. He or she will prescribe an alternative that does not cause this effect.

If this occurs from taking an ’over the counter’medicine then speak to your pharmacist. He/she will suggest an alternative or advise you to consult your GP.

Apart from this it is a case of treating and managing your acne until it is cleared. This guide contains information on how to do just that.