Some of you might be in the same boat I am. I thought after I was no longer a teenager my acne would go away. Unfortunately as I aged my acne got occasionally worse. My acne is not severe but persistent. I have seen a dermatologist who put me on topical medication that dried out my skin along with an antibiotic. The antibiotics caused all kinds of problems with the rest of my body. The antibiotic killed off all the bacteria in my system even the good ones needed for digestion. My skin was clear but I felt horrible. Antibiotics to treat acne is like using napalm to kill an ant hill. I tried many over the counter acne treatments, all of which didn’t work after awhile and dried my skin out. I will share with you the things I know have worked for me. You may not like them, a lot of it is lifestyle changes that can be hard at first.
1. Your diet effects your skin. No I am not talking about chocolate, I am taking about refined carbohydrates and dairy. Both of which cause mucous like “gunk” to build up in your system, and if there is too much gunk, some of it will come out through your skin. This is by far the hardest change to make. All refined foods are out, I stick to fresh vegetables, fruits, grains, and lean meats and fish. You eat like a caveman (or cavewomen), which is how are bodies have evolved anyway. On a bonus side note, this diet is great for losing weight. When I switched to it I lost the wieght I had trouble getting rid of for years.
2. Drink lots and lots of water! And for added help add a little lemon juice which helps cut the gunk in your system to help flush it out before it turns into acne.
3. Exercise so you sweat. Sweating helps to flush toxins and gunk from your system instead of it getting clogged in your pores. I started doing bikrams yoga, which is yoga done in a 103 degree room. You sweat a lot, when I first stated it made my acne worse but after a few weeks my skin was clear and healthy. Bikrams is an extream, any exercise will help just make sure you do it without makeup on because the sweat and makeup will clog up. Right after your done exercising you want to wash your face off quickly, use warm to wash your face then splash with cold water to help close your pores.
4. Stress, try to stay away from it! Easier said then done I know, but try to stay present and not let your mind stew on your problems of the past or future.
5. A lot of acne is hormonal, and therefore harder to control. The lifestyle changes will help when your hormones are up and down.
In my next post I will talk about what you can do to take care of the skin on your face to help heal acne without drying out your skin.
Can’t wait for next post! Thank you!
[...] to Treat Acne Prone Skin Naturally This is the second in a two part series on how to treat, heal and improve adult acne. In this article I will discuss how to treat your skin on the outside. A lot of the time people with [...]