Wednesday, May 6, 2009

7 Ways to Minimize the Chances of Another Acne Breakout

The most common skin problem, especially among teenagers, is acne. While no one is immune to it, there are ways to minimize the chances of acne breakouts.

1. Common sense rule -- do not touch your face with your hands. I'm not saying 'with dirty hands' because unless you just washed your hands, they are considered dirty. The reason for this rule is simple -- less dirt and oil on your face equals lesser chance of a breakout.

2. Keep your hair out of your face. Hair is naturally oily, and when that oil clogs up the pores on your face, the result will be a breakout. If you have bangs and you have acne on your forehead, pin up the bangs when you're at home and let your skin get regular exposure to sun and fresh air. I've been through this myself -- had bangs until like 8th grade. Then when I decided to get rid of the bangs I realized that it would leave my acne in plain view for everyone to see. I don't remember for sure now, but I believe that acne disappeared the same week my bangs did and I haven't had much trouble with forehead breakouts since then.

3. (For girls) Keep your hair in a ponytail or braided for the night. Just like I mentioned above, your hair will get in your face as you're twisting and turning in your sleep. For me, most of my breakouts appeared in the morning (I have really long hair that I would just brush and let down for the night). When I started gathering them in a ponytail or a braid, my skin became a lot healthier and the pimples went away.

4. Change your pillow case about once a week. Hair oil accumulates on the pillow case and is then smeared across your face when you go to bed. You can imagine what happens next, right?

5. This one is weird, but I know from personal experience that it works. Wipe the surface of the phone before you use it. If you don't understand the point, look at the phone or cellphone right after someone has talked on it for an hour or so. I don't really know the reason why, but almost always the screen and the buttons are covered with oily stuff. Don't let that substance [whatever it is] touch your skin. Wipe the surface before you use the phone, and if you talk on the phone for more than 30 minutes at a time, then wipe the surface once or twice during your conversation as well. It only takes about 5 seconds.

6. Putting toothpaste on a pimple for 10 minutes might make it go away faster. You can put toothpaste on that spot right before the shower (just avoid getting water on your face for the first 10 minutes or so) and then wash it off. I know a girl who claims that the pimple was gone the next morning.

7. Wash your face daily. Some people say you should wash it with hot water, others say that cold water is better. One thing for sure, your face has to be clean in order to look healthy. I usually wash my face with hot water first, and then splash it with cold water.

These are the basic guidelines I used to clear my face from acne. Even now as long as I follow these rules I have no breakout problems. I will post more tips from this annoying skin condition if I find out more, and if you know some good tricks let me know, I'll add them too.

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