Acne Relief

Posts Tagged ‘types of acne’

I don’t know about you, but I am a huge fan of coffee. Not that gourmet stuff you get at places like Starbucks or some other joints that require you to take out a signature loan for a cafe latte or mocha whatever. No, just give me a simple cup of Joe, keep them coming throughout the day and I am good to go. No sugar, no creams, just a strong black beverage that has some kick to it that will get me up and keep me going. I know I picked up the habit from my dad and cherish our memories and moments we had over a morning cup of coffee.

Unfortunately, my predisposition to acne also seems to benefit from the black nectar. While I avoid other caffeinated beverages like sodas and energy drinks (I just don’t like them, too sweet, syrupy and expensive) I have no intention of giving up my coffee. So what’s a person to do?

Well, the way I see it, if caffeine is going to play havoc with your acne, you have three choices. You can resign yourself to the fact that pimples are going to be a part of your daily life and wear those bad boys with pride and determination. You can cut out the coffee (caffeine) and feel sluggish and deprived. Or you can find a remedy that will offset the negative effects and allow you to enjoy this simple pleasure in life. The choice is yours. What’s it going to be? Do you hear the Jeopardy theme song in the back ground? Can’t you see Bob Barker telling you to pick a door?

Well, when I was younger I though there were only two choices. Cut out the coffee or enjoy and live with the acne. Like I said, my dad hooked me up with my taste for coffee (I don’t know why he didn’t pass on his flawless complexion gene) and I would be dammed if I was going to miss out on those precious moments that I shared with him over a cup. It wasn’t going to happen, no way no how. Acne was just going to have to be the price I paid.

Well, one day our morning ritual changed. After we finished our cup of coffee, my father got up from the table, grabbed a lemon from the refrigerator and ran it under some hot water. He then proceeded to roll it on the counter with the palm of his hand, applying slight pressure. He got two glasses of ice and water. Then cut the lemon in half and squeezed the juice from each half in their respective glass. At the time he said something about having an upset stomach and the lemon cutting the acidity of the coffee. But looking back, I realize that it was his way of noticing the effect the caffeine was having on my acne and his attempt to help. His upset stomach was a cockamamie story.

I don’t know where he learned that lemon juice can get rid of caffeine acne. But from that day forward, my acne improved and every other day or so, our morning cup of coffee was followed by a half of a lemon squeezed over a glass of ice water. God, I miss that man.

Acne conditions and treatments; I’ve been writing about them for some time now and I thought I’d covered most every angle and possible form of skin malady and irritation. The truth is I have only begun to scratch the surface.

Something important I’ve stumbled upon based again on personal experience is perhaps something none of you have ever heard of or encountered before. I know I hadn’t, dog acne!

This actually started for me almost five years ago and while most of my posts have referenced my skin and my own face, this involves another member of my family. This particular family member is actually quite hairy and small. No, I didn’t give birth to or adopt a feral child; the creature to which I’m referring is our little pet dog and his dog acne. Now I’ll bet you’re thinking exactly what I thought the first time I heard this expression, “dog acne” there’s no such thing! Well, you’d be wrong, as wrong as I was! Dog acne does exist and my little guy suffers from it in a big way.

Let me back up a bit and tell you a little about my experience and what it taught me. As I said, this odyssey began years ago and to be honest, I had no idea what I was dealing with at first. Neither did several Veterinarians across the state where I live. In fact, I could have saved myself a lot of time, trauma, frustration and a couple of thousand dollars because frankly and ultimately, I was the one who diagnosed the problem and found a solution that worked.

The first sign of dog acne was relatively small and began as tiny patches of dry skin across his coat. This eventually spread and became worse. The second stage resulted in hair loss where the patches of dry skin originally were. The third and worse stage resulted in large areas of hair loss characterized by extremely flakey skin and matted, greasy short hair that grew then subsequently came out in small clumps over two thirds of this tiny dog’s 4 pound body. Needless to say it was horrible and he looked pitiful! He was also miserable and scratched and bit at the areas as I am sure they itched like crazy! All the time, I’m working to find not only a cure but what the heck this may be. He was checked for everything from mange to vitamin deficiencies but nothing seemed to help and none of the doctors ever seemed able to offer a diagnosis.

I researched online looking for a solution but couldn’t find anything that quite fit this problem. Then one day I’m watching a show on television featuring several doctors and dermatologists. They’re talking about a wide variety of health subjects and skin conditions. One of the dermatologists begins to speak and I notice the skin condition he’s describing sounds exactly like the condition my dog is suffering from. I listen intently to his description and his recommendations. He talks about the sebaceous glands and how they can be over productive. The over production of sebum can cause several problems; many which we’ve covered and I’ve discussed with you here on this forum; acne, blackheads, pimples, etc. It can also create the greasy, matted hair environment my dog was experiencing. His suggestion was applying salicylic acid as this dries up and decreases the production of the excess sebum.

The problem with my dog wasn’t stress, his problem was dog acne!

I had already purchased several topical treatments for my dog. Some containing conditioning ingredients and some of them contained medicated ingredients like benzoyl peroxide. None made significant difference. Once I heard this information I began to search hoping to find a dog shampoo containing salicylic acid and eureka, I found one! I looked specifically for a shampoo made for dogs as I wanted to be certain it was safe and wouldn’t harm my little guy should he lick his coat. Shampoo made for humans may work too, but I haven’t tried that yet. Anyway, after ordering the shampoo it arrived and I began using it immediately. The difference has been remarkable. Our little guy now only has a couple of small stubborn areas where his skin still shows signs of a problem. The majority of his skin and coat is vastly improved and I learned that we’re not the only ones who suffer from acne. Our pets can suffer from acne too!

Does stress cause acne? While some people seem to think there is no correlation between stress and acne. I prefer to take the Al Gore global warming, the discussion is closed approach, and believe there is such a thing as stress acne. Back in 2002, Stanford University did a study which showed that stressing over exams worsened acne. While it was a fairly small study, I am attracted to it like a moth to a flame.

I first recognized my stress acne while in college. Sure I had been fighting to get rid of my acne all through my high school years. But I was basically a happy go lucky kid in the stress department. Academically it wasn’t much of a problem and socially I was a typical well liked kid. So if being up tight or worrying has anything to do with any biological function, in high school I just wasn’t going to be affected by it.

Well, along comes college and yep you guessed it. Stress for me is everywhere. Whether it was being on my own for the first time not knowing what to expect, or just plain fearing that I was going to flunk out, whatever the reason, stress and I were formally introduced, I was under a great deal of It and It was starting to show its effects on my skin. I was getting a whole lot of new zits and pimples as well as a worsening of the acne I was always trying to get rid of. As if that weren’t enough. It wasn’t until my second semester that I realized what was happening and the relationship between my acne and stress was explained to me in an off chance conversation with my dorm advisor.

It was a Friday afternoon and I was going home for the weekend. I had a friend that was coming up to see a basketball game and was going to leave a key with my advisor Kit. Well when Kit opened the door it was obvious she had been picking at her face. She was complaining that the stress of school was driving her acne nuts and she was at her wits end. Well like the proverbial light bulb going off over your head in a cartoon. I had a moment of clarity and realized what was making my acne go nuts too. Of course Kit mistook the look on my face as a look of confusion and proceeded to explain to me how stress can affect your acne in two ways.

First, stress stimulates your adrenal glands to secrete male hormones which in turn stimulate the Sebaceous gland which produce more Sebum which causes acne pimples.

Second, stress reduces the capacity of your body to mend it’s self by weakening your immune system.

So, not only is stress going to cause acne, it’s going to make it harder for your body heal or get rid of acne you already have. And you didn’t think God had a sense of humor.

Anyway after leaving the key with Kit I am sure you know what was on my mind as a drove home for the weekend. Yep that’s right, what was I going to do to get rid of the stress in my life so I could get rid of my stress acne.

A couple of posts back; we had a little discussion about the validity of stress causing acne. Since that acne debate is considered closed. It’s now time for us to focus on the ways to get rid of the acne we discussed. It just so happens, that of the numerous areas of my expertise. Reducing stress is right at the top of the list. Well that is right at the top, below the number one area, how to get rid of acne. So much like having fresh mint and whiskey on hand, makes the task of mixing the perfect mint tulip possible. We would appear to have the necessary ingredients to get rid of stress causing acne. But before we begin, allow me to add one caveat as it relates to the type of stress we are discussing here. This tome is addressing the everyday; everybody gets it at one time or another common garden variety issue stress. Those self induced pressures we allow ourselves to sacrum to. If you happen to have the: I need a lobotomy, Billy Bibbit type of stress in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest then this post isn’t for you. You need immediate medical attention and getting rid of your acne probably shouldn’t be your first concern.

Now let’s begin.

There isn’t a week that goes by where I don’t run across a reduce your stress, relax and unwind article in some magazine while I am standing in the checkout line at the drugstore or Winn Dixie. While I find many of the stress reduction techniques to be useful, I don’t recall ever seeing an article on ways to keep stress from entering your life in the first place? Ways to catch the horse after someone left the barn door open may make a good read but I am much more interested in not letting the horse out of the barn in the first place. I want to get to a point in my life where stress doesn’t even enter the picture. In order to reach that goal I have to eliminate the sources of stress in my life. It’s that plain and simple.

Don’t misunderstand, I am not dreaming the impossible dream of living a completely stress free existence. Just the simple act of living is going to entail some level of stress. Think about it. Stress is just a natural response to the challenges that life throws at us every day. Living stress free would be living challenge free and how much fun would life be without challenges, risks and taking chances, without even considering the rewards that go with conquering that unknown. No there is a certain amount of stress that comes with just living. I accept that fact; as a matter of fact I welcome and embrace it. What I don’t welcome is that stress that is unnecessary. Stress that is brought on by certain triggers that most people don’t even realize are happening. Triggers that are fully predictable and controllable yet we allow them to operate and creep into our lives.

Allow me to set up a fictitious situation to illustrate my point.

My husband over sleeps and is now in a hurry to get out the house and off to work. In his haste he nicks himself saving and must now change his shirt because some blood has stained it. This sets his clock further back and adds to an already stressful situation. He heads out the door without giving me a kiss goodbye or having a piece of toast to put on his stomach. Before he gets to the car he realizes he has left the keys on the hook next to the door so he’s back in and out again. As he drives off he realizes he has forgotten to put on his gold and stainless Ebel wrist watch but doesn’t feel he has the time to turn around to get it. I know it’s kind of silly but he feels naked without that watch and he decides it will just be a day he’ll go through without knowing the time. The it dawns on him the cell phone has a clock, but when he looks down at the console he realizes he forgot to plug the phone into the charger and it’s battery is going to be low. It’s about at this time he reaches the interstate and finds himself backed up in morning traffic and things go downhill from here. He’s starting to think about the unfinished work that is waiting for him at the office. The calls he didn’t return or the emails that went unanswered. That 10 am sales presentation he’s got set and how his boss is questioning his dedication to the company. And here he sits backed up in traffic getting more frustrated because he doesn’t think the car in front of him is being aggressive enough. He wants to get in the next lane because he thinks it is moving faster and when he makes an attempt someone cuts him off. Now he’s honking and cursing and those little veins in his forehead are turning purple and about to explode as he pulls into the company parking lot. The day at the office goes about as expected. He limps through the sales pitch and closed the deal but the order is for less than expected. His boss congratulated him for the new business but makes a crack about maybe next month they’ll submit a bigger order. More phone calls and emails will go unanswered and it’s off to the late evening traffic and home. Home where the main conversation with his kids will revolve around him almost killing himself tripping over the toys they left lying around. Where he’ll wolf down a dinner so he can position himself in front of the TV where he’ll spend the remainder of the evening. Then it’s off to bed so he can get up in the morning and do the same thing over again.

Ok, I admit. I took a lot of literary license in the example above. But it illustrates the point I want to get across. Most of the stress in an individual’s live is unnecessary stress that is brought on by one’s self. When you see it in a scenario like above it becomes quite obvious. It also becomes obvious how to get rid of that stress.

Identify things that trigger stress in your life. There probably is no more important step than this. I can’t even begin to imagine getting rid of stress without knowing what the things are that are causing it in the first place. Sit down and find a place where you can get in touch with yourself and discover what those stress triggers are for you. Are there certain people or relationships causing stress in your life? Do certain tasks or activities bring the added costs of stress when you under take them? Find the triggers you can eliminate from your life and do it. With those triggers you may not be able to eliminate try to find a way to reduce their stress level. Do what you can to make those triggers less stressful.

Stop procrastinating. Take care of matters when they arise. Putting off even small easy tasks has a way of weighing on your mind. Before you know it all those little annoyances can add up and start occupying a stressful place that is larger than their sum.

Be on time. And allow yourself adequate time. I don’t know about you. But whenever I feel the constraints of time bearing down on me my stress level elevate in direct proportion. I can’t stand being late and realized a long time ago that by allowing me plenty of time the issues caused by stress never has a chance to get a toehold.

Start something and finish it. I don’t know who started this whole idea that multitasking was a good idea but whoever it was needs to be committed to the asylum for the hopelessly insane. The idea of taking you focus off one task so you can totally refocus on another and then another has got to be out of their mind. These have to be the same people that are telling our kids the heroin junkie as in heroin chic is an attractive look they should be striving for. Look, start a task, finish it and move on whenever possible.

Stop trying to control everything in your life. Its impossibility and the perfect receipt to remain stressed out for life. Live life recognizing you can’t control every situation or other people and trying to do so is a lost cause. Learn to accept situations and others as they are. The sooner you realize the sooner you will find a whole lot of less stress in your life. It also a good time to examine your relationships with others, get rid of associations that make your life more difficult. Identify people in your life that are a drain on your energy and happiness and just cut them out of your life. I have a brother that I haven’t really spoken to in ten years. Many people when apprised of this fact think it’s absolutely awful. “He’s your blood you really need to talk, that’s horrible.” But the fact is when I assessed our relationship those many years ago I realized that he was adding nothing but stress to my life. I may not be able to choose my family but I certainly choose how I spend my time and live my life. I have never regretted the decision.

Try to live a simpler life. Today we are under constant bombardment to acquire things. More is better, he who dies with the most toys wins. This is utter foolishness promoted by advertisers to sell their clients products. If you have fallen under the spell of the American consumer treadmill, that fact alone has added enormous stress to your life. Have you noticed all the self storage places that have sprung up over the last two decades? Americans now have so much stuff that they have to rent places to store it because there isn’t enough space in their homes for it. How important is something to you that you lock it up in some dank dusty storage unit.

Relax, take it easy. Stop trying to rush through your life at warp speed. Savor the moments and mark the occasions. I attended a wedding some time ago where it was obvious that a great deal of time, planning and expense had gone into the affair. The happy couple was off in a side room where the photographer was taking pictures when I overheard the bride tell the groom “we’re missing our own wedding”. She was right, the reception had been going on for at least forty minutes and there they were still in picture mode. I grabbed three glasses of champagne delivered them to the couple and photographer. My parting words on my departure were” you guys sure are missing a great wedding”. They weren’t far behind me and to this day that lovely bride thanks me for those words of wisdom. Her exact words to me were”its one thing to mark the moments and quite another to live the moments”, I know I couldn’t say it better.

Stop trying to schedule every minute of every hour of everyday. Create more free time in your life. It’s not necessary to plan your life in such detail. One of the greatest most unforgettable adventures of my life was taking a trip to see a Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California. It was totally last minute spur of the moment deal where some tickets were given to me and a place to stay once I got there. I pretty much packed a couple of things and my husband and headed west. I have been all up and down the east coast but the west was unknown territory as far as I was concerned. The first day my husband and I traded off driving. We traveled about a thousand miles when we arrived in Albuquerque New Mexico very late in the evening and secured a hotel room. The next morning when I went out to load up the car I witnessed one of the most spectacular sunrises over the mountains I have ever seen. Since we were a couple of days from Jan 1, actually it was Christmas Eve we decided to see the Grand Canyon and made the only reservations we made the whole trip at the El Tovar. It shouldn’t have taken us too long to hit our destination but the weather was not going to cooperate. I remember diving out of Flagstaff, Arizona and how the snow was blowing sideways. We reached a peak were the visibility was zero and all I could think of was that scene in the Shining with Jack Nicholson. Anyway what should have been a simple drive turned into an adventure where you really don’t see the road you basically follow the tail lights of the truck ahead of you and if there aren’t any tail lights in sight you drive in the ruts. We got to the El Tovar late that night and had no idea of the spectacular beauty that awaited us that Christmas morning. We bought each other some native jewelry in the gift shop but the sight of the canyon that day was beyond anything we could have bought for any amount of money. As I write this I realize that I have no pictures of this entire trip. Yet I can close my eyes and see it as if it were happening as I type. I don’t want to short change any of the rest of the trip because it was just as fabulous as what I have described to you so far. We saw The Rose Bowl Parade, the Game, took a trip up the Pacific coast highway to San Francisco, saw the wine country. It was fabulous. But this is a blog about getting rid of acne, what are the best ways to get rid of pimples, zits and blackheads and I find myself going on and on relaying a story about a fantastic memory of a once in a lifetime trip. What’s really important here is for you (as well as me) to realize that great things can happen when you don’t live your life by a schedule. When you allow yourself to be free, slow down and instead of rushing through life, enjoy and savor where you are. Enjoy the moment, the food the company the fact that you are alive. Do these things and your stress will just fade away.

Finally be thankful. I don’t want to sound like a preacher but be thankful for all that you do have. I understand that in the world in which we life today it’s real easy to feel inadequate. The media constantly brings stories of people that are fabulous, rich and popular. Athletes that make millions of dollars and politicians that are loved by all. Recognize it for what it is. It’s a sales pitch. We live in an advertising age. Don’t get sucked into the pitch. Money doesn’t bring happiness. Neither does fame nor any of the things that are being sold. Happiness comes from a definition you create for yourself not one that is sold to you by others.

So there you go kids. If you are looking to get rid of acne caused by stress you need to remove as much stress from your life as possible. If you follow the stress reduction techniques that I’ve outlines above, you will find your life becomes less stressful and you acne problems and issues decrease in unison. If there is one thing that will always remain consistent with this site How to Get Rid of Acne, the best way to get rid of acne will always be the natural way to get rid of acne and one of the touchstones principals of that idea is reducing stress will not only allow you to live a healthier more productive life. But it will also help you get rid of acne. Peace

Last night a dear friend of mine called to thank me for helping her 15 year old get rid of her bacne. She had called about 3 weeks ago because her poor child was getting teased pretty well by the other kids and mom was at her wits end. For you guys that may not know, bacne is just a slang name for back acne or back zits, pimples or whatever you may want to call them. While it is really no different than any other type of body acne, it’s probably more severe and cystic in nature. This can make them especially difficult to get rid of. I know because I have firsthand experience with it.

You see, a great deal of my teen acne issues revolved around bacne. While I got a good dose of face acne I also had a good face treatment in my arsenals that actually keep my face blemishes to a minimum. But those back zits, well that was a different story.

None of the pills or potions that my dermatologist prescribed (today it’s most likely tetracycline or minocycline) and suggested offered any relief. And it was the same negative response with the topical ointments and washes (Retin-A, benzoyl peroxide etal.). So there I was left to fend for myself. It took me awhile, but sure enough after some trial and error with various acne fighting solutions I stumbled upon a bacne natural treatment that worked for me many years ago which I was more than happy to impart to my friends 15 year old and now I guess I’ll relay to you.

Because the back is difficult for most people to reach by themselves you should invest in a long handled very soft bristled brush. This brush is used to exfoliate your back once or twice a week with a sugar scrub. If you want or feel you need to get a tad more aggressive, you can do a salt scrub, but don’t go nuts. When you are not exfoliating to remove dead skin wrapping your face clothing around the brush and using castile soap or your favorite acne cleanser makes an excellent every day cleansing instrument for your back or your whole body for that matter.

Wear loose fitting cotton garments whenever possible. If you don’t believe that tight fitting clothing and sweating are a cause of bacne, talk to some football players and ask them about forehead acne from tight fitting helmets and chest and bacne from shoulder pads. I saw it first hand with my son when he played football. So lay off the spandex and other tight fitting clothing that don’t allow your skin to breath.

You guys know how I feel about pimple popping. Don’t do it. I almost didn’t bother to even bring this up because the back is that one place that’s just about impossible for someone to do any self zit popping. But with all the You Tube acne video’s that I’ve seen on the net there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of accomplices willing to have at those nasty pimples wherever they may be. Besides bacne has a nasty habit of leaving scars and while they may not be as noticeable to you like face acne scars would be. A pitted and scared back is not a pleasant sight.

Now, here’s the secret to my bacne remedy. In a spray bottle mix 2 ounces of vinegar to 6 ounces of water and approx 1/32 of an ounce of tea tree oil. And after every shower spray a light mist over your back. While I have no scientific explanation why this acne home remedy works, I can say. It worked wonders for me, my friend’s 15 year old and my own son. Everyone reported their bacne was gone in 2 weeks.