Acne affects millions of people across the globe.
This article will discuss the causes behind its occurrence and will further go on to elaborate certain ways in which these breakouts can be prevented.
What is acne? How is it caused?
Acne is a chronic skin disease.
The primary cause of acne breakout is the rise in the level of androgen in our bodies.
This high androgen level induces the sebaceous glands to produce more sebum.
Sebum is the oil like substance secreted by the sebaceous gland which is used to moisturize the hair follicles and surface of the skin.
However, it's overproduction along with the accumulation of dead skin cells on the surface leads to clogging of the skin pores, preventing the sebum to get out and creating an environment that is congenial to the growth of the bacteria and microbes.
It is these microbes that cause acne breakouts.
There might however be other causes which can intensify the occurrence of the breakouts namely exposure to local pollution, naturally occurring oily skin and stress among others.
20 Easy Ways to Prevent Acne!
Since acne is a chronic skin condition, it cannot be completely cured.
However, there are ways in which its occurrence, both in severity and frequency, can be reduced as well as prevented.
Some such ways, methods, and remedies are elaborated under this section.
1. Cleansing your face daily
Keeping your face clean will reduce more than 50% chance of causing acne.
Though it has been an established fact that dirt in no way contributes towards acne breakouts, cleaning or washing your face daily will help in removing the accumulated dead skin cells on the surface of the skin and also wash away the extra oil from it.
These two factors contribute to acne eruptions in major ways.
It is usually advised that you use a gentle soap or wash that does not make your skin rough and irritated in any which way.
It is also better to use lukewarm water for the same as it may increase the blood circulation under your skin.
Read: How to Wash Your Acne Face
2. Reduce the use of make up
Makeup products, at times, contain substances that are pretty harmful to your skin.
They may go as far as making your skin dry, irritated, peeling and may even cause breakouts in some cases.
It is important therefore that you carefully select what makeup product you use. It is advisable to go for a non-comedogenic product as it will prevent clogging of the pores.
You must also ensure that you take off that make up every night before going to bed and clean your face properly.
3. Keep those hands off
No matter how much you try, pricking and poking your face will never help solve the problem.
Contrarily, it will only aggravate the problem. Doing so will affect your skin in two ways.
Firstly, if your hands are dirty, it will contribute to the spreading of infection and may make the breakouts severe.
Secondly, it tends to irritate the already damaged skin and will make it worse.
Thus it is always better to not scratch and poke your skin, especially when you already have pimples on it.
4. Avoiding the harmful ultraviolet rays
Though it has been majorly assumed that the sun’s ray is good for the skin, it may at times harm it.
Most acne medications make your skin sensitive to the Sun and may end up damaging the collagen fibre which has a primary role to play in maintaining the health of your skin.
Preventing exposure to Sun’s rays may actually make your skin better, and acne and skin damage, less likely.
5. Regulate your diet
It is always beneficial to maintain a healthy diet.
It will not only preserve your skin but will also work towards ensuring a healthy and disease-free life.
It is usually advisable that you avoid such junk and greasy food that may release toxins in your body or disrupt your bodily function in general.
Adding on fruits, vegetable and more grains to your daily food habit is a good idea. Some research also shows that chocolate prevents the eruptions of pimples.
According to the generally followed norms, excluding carbohydrates along with sugar and dairy product usually helps.
Read: Foods that are Bad for Acne
6. Physical exercise
Exercising is good for health.
It also helps your skin in certain ways.
Exercising relieves stress and helps in releasing the toxins within your body through sweat which will stop the breakout of pimples.
These two are major reasons which contribute towards the aggravation of the acne eruptions.
Keeping them under control will naturally help towards prevention. Furthermore, exercising also helps in balancing the hormone level in your body.
It is usually advised that you wear loose, comfortable clothes while exercising and take a bath after you are done.
Washing your body ensures that there is no accumulation of dirt or sweat on the body which may otherwise further worsen the situation.
7. Keep your surroundings clean
It will be extremely good if you could keep your surroundings clean.
This would specifically include your bed sheet, pillow cover and your make up brushes among other such stuff.
In case you do not maintain proper hygiene, there might be an accumulation of bacteria and microbes which will eventually lead to a breakout.
Bacterial growth can be prevented by keeping your surroundings clean. This again will benefit you in more ways than one.
8. Using non-comedogenic products
The primary reason behind acne breakouts is the clogging of pores.
It is very important that you use such cleansers, moisturizer, and oil for your skin that are non-comedogenic.
Using other products will lead to clogged pores and increased oiliness of the skin which is the foremost enemy of acne breakouts.
9. Moisturize your skin as a routine
Though most people with acne prone skin skip moisturizing their skin believing that it would make the situation worse, moisturizing is actually an important part of your daily skin care regimen.
If you stop moisturizing your skin, the dryness of your skin will instigate the sebaceous gland to produce more oil or sebum stimulating a higher chance of acne eruption.
You, however, must be careful while choosing the moisturizer, especially if your skin is oily.
Go for a non-comedogenic, lightweight moisturizer that does not make your skin too oily.
10. Remain hydrated
Drinking a lot of water and keeping your skin and body, in general, keeps your body hydrated which may help in more ways than one.
For one thing, it helps in flushing the toxins out of your body which will eventually help in dealing with the microbes and bacteria that cause acne eruptions.
11. Meditation
One of the major causes which help in aggravating the already existing pimples is that of stress.
It is therefore very important to cope with stress properly whether it is professional or personal.
Yoga is one of the most widely practiced ways of reducing stress. You can also include in this other breathing exercises and maybe a couple it with a few physical exercises.
However only meditating and doing the breathing exercises is also enough.
12. Exfoliation
Exfoliation has to be done only once or twice a week and overdoing it may worsen the situation.
It helps in removing the dead skin cells from the upper layer of the skin which has accumulated over time.
The washing out of dead skin cells further helps in unclogging the pores which is one of the primary reasons behind acne breakouts.
However, you must be careful while exfoliating and must not be harsh r rough on your skin.
13. Choose the right make up
If you are a regular user of make-up and other such skin products, it is extremely important that you choose the one that suits your skin.
You must take only non-comedogenic to make up which does not clog your pores.
The clogged pore is one of the major reasons behind acne flare-ups.
Also, using such make that has minimum chemical content is also quite advisable to use as it will reduce changes of any chemical or allergic reaction which may harm your skin and also at the same time is not harsh on your skin.
14. Use the right hair products
Though it seems unconnected, it is very important that you carefully select the shampoo and hair oil you intend to use.
A shampoo, hair conditioner or hair oil which has a lot of chemicals and tends to emit a nice fragrance, may attract your attention at first.
However, it can irritate your skin and cause the breakouts to occur.
It is therefore important that you select a hair product that is not only sensitive to your hair but also towards your skin and always rinse your hair before washing your face.
15. Use the right detergent for clothes
Just like the use of hair products and shampoo, it is important that you use the right kind of detergent for your clothes.
If your detergent is too strong, it might be harsh on your skin and may cause irritation which ultimately contributes towards the breakouts on the entire body.
It is usually advisable that you use such detergents that are not very rough and irritating. You can use a natural detergent rather than using one with a lot of chemicals in it.
16. Reduce your smoking habits
Smoking habit degrades the quality of your skin in two ways both of which make your skin more prone to breakouts.
Firstly, it tends to dehydrate your skin which makes it dull in appearance and also introduces toxins in the body which may aggravate bacterial growth under the skin.
This will further instigate new eruptions. Thus it is usually advised that you quit or at least limit your smoking activities.
This will not only benefit your skin but also your general bodily health as a whole.
17. Keep your phone clean
Your phone continuously comes in contact with your face as well as your fingers which are largely the place of dirt accumulation along with obviously being carriers of sweat.
It is therefore important that you keep your phone clean.
Not doing so will make your skin absorb all the dirt and sweat every time you use the phone which will only work to aggravate the acne breakouts and increase the bacterial activity under your skin.
18. Sleep in the right position
Sleeping on your back rather than the other way round with your stomach against the bed is a good way to keeping your facial skin unexposed to the dirt and sweat accumulation over the pillow and bed sheet.
Doing so will further irritate your skin and can cause you to scratch and poke the skin which is not a good practice.
It is therefore advised that you sleep on your back instead and avoid any chance of acne breakouts.
19. Use heat to kill the bacteria
A warm compressor can be used to kill microbes and reduce inflammation.
It is known to emulsify the sebum that is forming under your skin and also tends to reduce the redness and swelling caused due to the inflammation of the skin.
Doing so will, therefore, help in reducing the chances of breakouts and will reduce the ones that have already occurred.
It is for this reason that you are asked to use lukewarm water for washing your face.
20. Limit your alcohol in-take
Alcohol also harms your skin in two ways. It tends to dehydrate your body on the one hand while introducing toxins in your body on the other hand.
The introduction of toxins in your body will instigate bacterial growth which can stimulate the acne breakouts.
It is therefore advised that you restrict your alcohol intake and if possible quit it entirely.
This will further contribute to your bodily health in general.
Summary
According to a study, around 85% teenagers across the world suffer from acne which may either be mild or severe, which may or may not persist on to adult life.
Though being a chronic disease there is no way of curing it entirely, but by the ways mentioned above and by general precautionary methods, you can always prevent the occurrence of acne severe and frequent breakouts.
It does not require extra effort, and some changes in your daily routine habits will do the needful.