Home Treatments of Acne

Acne can be embarrassing, especially for teenagers that have to face up to a barrage of names from schoolmates. They appear in the most unexpected places. Have you ever been forced to apply a little of your mums makeup in order to hide that huge zit resting on the tip of your nose?

Do not let it get you down there are various treatments out there from skin drying creams to oral pill concoctions. But, before you go running to your local pharmacy here are 4 different natural cures that make use of ingredients from around your home:

1. Oatmeal Mask. Mash up some plain natural oatmeal; perhaps the whole meal variety is best. Add a small amount of water and apply it to your face, or the affected areas. Apparently oatmeal acts as a good scrub and when left to dry will extract the oil from your pores. Remember to wash away remains thoroughly with fresh water.

2. Honey and Apple mask. Pee and grate two apples mix together with three table spoons of natural honey the apply to the acne affected areas. Leave this to dry for about 15 - 20 minutes. The vitamins in the apples mix with a chemical in the honey to create a detoxifying facial mask.

3. Re-apply 3-4 times a week for ideal results.

Lastly try eating a balanced diet, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, less oily foods, and no more burgers for at least a month. Besides this sleep early and try to avoid stressful situations, raised emotional states tend to worsen your acne outbreak. Lots of water and regular exercise will help by flushing out your system. And remember it is not the end of the world.


You don't always have a chance to go to the store when you have a sudden acne flareup, so it's always good to have a few home standbys you can count on in emergencies. Home treatments are often just as good as the expensive stuff on store shelves.

Personally, I prefer the use of ingredients in their natural form. By using the contents of your cabinets and fridge, you can do a surprisingly good job of eliminating your acne. You can have fun with it too!

Acne is caused by a bacteria, Propionibacterium acnes, that thrives on excess oil and dead skin on the face of an acne sufferer.

When you hit teen years and under certain other conditions, hormones cause your sebum (oil) glands to go into overdrive, and your skin cells also start cycling faster, dead skin sloughing off faster than your body can shed it. The dead skin is caught by the excess oil, and it slides over your face, where the pores traps it. Dead skin and oil accumulates and blocks the pore, causing the oil inside to back up and swell the follicle beneath. The acne bacteria, which lives on everyone's skin, moves in and starts feasting.

It's not the bacterium that causes the swelling and inflammation, though; that's your immune system fighting back.

So there are four things you can attack when you try to use home treatments on your acne.
# Enlarged pores
# Backed up pores
# Excess oil and skin
# The bacterium Propionibacterium acnes
Try this effective daily regimen for mild acne breakouts
1. Start by working with the backed up pores, opening them in order to ensure that the excess oil underneath is washed away later.

You can open them with heat, or by using a mint wash, or both (though this may burn a little). For heat, lay a damp washcloth as hot as you can stand across the area you need to cleanse for about ten minutes, or stay in a very hot steamy shower for fifteen minutes.

A mint wash can be prepared in several ways; using 1 tsp peppermint oil in ½ cup cool water, or crushing a few mint Altoids very fine and putting them in just enough distilled water to dissolve them, will do it. If you're in a pinch, you can even use a menthol-based mouthwash, provided it doesn't have alcohol in it. Apply these by dabbing over your face with a cottonball; never rub!

2. Now you want to clean off the dead skin and oil, while also killing the acne bacteria.

There are several things you can do to accomplish this. Don't use soap, or anything that will dry your skin out. Instead, use plain water, or use a non-soap face wash or cold cream. Yes, it doesn't seem to make sense to add more oil to your already oily skin; however, the oil in a cold cream will help dissolve your skin's excess oil and wash away cleanly, while not stimulating your skin to produce more oil, as a drying soap would. Once you're finished, rinse very well with warm water, then cool water to close the pores, no scrubbing at any time. Pat dry.

3. Kill any excess bacteria.Crush one or two aspirin tablets (not ibuprofen or any other painkiller, but only aspirin) and dissolve them in a half-cup of water. Apply to face with a cotton ball.

This daily regimen should clear most moderate to mild acne outbreaks quickly, and keep them clear. Provided your face doesn't dry from this, you can go through it twice a day, but no more. It is imperative that your face doesn't dry out!

A few closing tips:

If you have a bad pimple, put a dab of white toothpaste on it and leave it overnight. If this doesn't work, you can use a little triple antibiotic ointment or a zinc-based baby rash ointment.

Get a little sunshine every day, exposing your affected areas; the ultraviolet light won't hurt you if you just get a little, and it will help kill the bacteria.

Do not start taking megadoses of vitamin A because you think it will mimic Retin-a – it won't, and it could make you sick.

Do not squeeze, pop, or otherwise mess with pimples, other than cleaning and applying medications. Avoid touching your face too.

And if your acne does not improve with this regimen, talk to a doctor. There are treatments for most of what you are suffering through, and a good doctor can help you cure your acne forever.

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