Acne in Men vs. Acne in Women
Acne in women
"Acne in women" is as inconceivable combination as "women and ugliness" or "women and raunch". But this happens and if it's already become your problem you should find the ground and start looking for treatment.
First, we'll found out the most widespread factors that give an edge to acne in women. They are often related to problems concerning hormones.
- Endocrine disorders in young age. Youngsters often obtain problems with their skin due to burst of hormones and this is applicable for both boys and girls. In this case, of course, you may wait until you are mature completely but beauty is a thing you want to have right here and right now. So you may try the same means that can be applied to any other types of acne.
- Menstrual acne. Sometimes acne can appear at different stages of menses, which is also attributed to hormonal changes in your organism.
- Pregnancy acne. It is possible to get some troubles with your hormones during pregnancy as well.
- Birth control pills. Principle of these preparations is in hormonal control for maturation of ovum. And again deviations in normal hormone content in your blood can lead to onset of acne.
- Inappropriate use of cosmetics. Cosmetics can be of a poor quality – in this case you should remember that a miser pays twice and it’s better to buy qualitative makeup. Sometimes women don’t use cosmetics properly and they obtain troubles with their skin because pores get blocked or skin becomes too sensitive. Finally, you can have allergic reaction for any type of cosmetics.
- Problems not related to hormones and mostly attributed to external factors – dust, sweat, hypersensitivity, skin diseases.
To all above you may add smoking, alcohol drinking, bad nutrition, not observing hygiene rules, stresses and inheritance – all this can exacerbate the developing bad skin condition.
Then, when you already know the cause of your bad skin you can decide, what will you do next – either you need some special medication or natural treatment for acne in women will be sufficient.
Acne in Men
Modern life is very different from what our ancestors used to call living. It’s easy to see that our ancestors as close to us as our very grandparents are wondered by many aspects of our lives. Little things like hairstyles, clothes, computers and ideologies are completely foreign to the older folk. Attitudes that were unthinkable 50 years ago are moving into today’s mainstream with the rise of a new generation of people.
Personal skin care has been for a long time associated with women. Through the years, personal care has gone hand in hand with beautification and the innate impulse of every woman to make herself look as pretty as she could. A pretty face goes a long way toward making a great first impression, not to mention other benefits later on.
However, men have always been supposed to be different. Men were tough and, if possible, smart. In time, men have let their coarse side show more and more frequently, until it became quite natural for men to be coarse and to disdain personal care. Such activities were seen as soft, feminine things that could make a man too soft for whatever manly business he was supposed to do. A man openly trying to get rid of acne because it made him look ugly must have been seen as a strange character.
However, times have changed. Men are today no longer content to play the old roles, neither at work nor in bed. The exploration of new ways of getting pleasure in bed has revealed that men have a lot to gain by admitting to softer feelings. Metrosexuality appeals to every man’s vanity and to the need to improve one’s chances of getting laid as often as possible. While certain men snicker at face creams, nail polish and strange clothes, these things tend to score points with the ladies.
The rise of Metrosexuality is also blurring the distinction between sexes. Any person can play any role and be anybody. This is why more and more men get to patronize expensive shops instead of simply buying a new pair of jeans when the old one starts to look threadbare and to go to hairdressers instead of barbers. New roles require new clothes, new styles and new attitudes. Modern men and women have become refined pleasure hunters, not easily pleased.
And with appearances playing such a big role in the lives of men, it’s small wonder that acne is no longer tolerated. Which is why men have started to turn to skincare solutions, in a bid to treat acne and improve their looks. There is no reason to let acne spoil your image, just as there is no reason to settle for anything less than a full system that covers every angle of your anti-acne effort: acne treatment system.
Skin Type
What would you answer if you were faced with the question: "What is the largest organ in the human body?" You might be surprised to know that it is our skin. And it's even more interesting to know that there are several skin types:
Normal Skin is distinguished by even skin tone with small or medium pores. It is elastic with soft, smooth texture. Not so many people have normal skin but good and constant skin care can help your skin look healthier. Almost all people can make their skin look normal!
Dry Skin is a very sensitive type of skin. It can crack, peel, and get irritated and inflamed, especially if the weather is hot or cold or after a shower or a bath. It is characterized by small pores, may become itchy. It may look much older than other types of skin as wrinkles appear earlier due to its dryness.
In many cases dryness is determined by genetic factors and is passed on from parents to their descendants. Some people have dry skin all year-round while others only during cold and dry seasons. The aging process makes dry skin look much older than other skin types.
Combination skin. Most people have a combination skin type: oily forehead, nose, and chin (so called T-zone) and dry areas around the eyes and neck. Acne are usually more active in oily areas.
Sensitive Skin Environmental factors affect sensitive skin most of all. People with sensitive skin should be careful in the sun as sensitive skin may easily get burnt. Moreover, sensitive skin often reacts to cosmetics and cleaning agents. People are likely to have rashes and itchy sensations. This skin type cause many problems.
Causes of acne
According to the latest researches, there are numerous causes of acne. People used to believe that acne is caused by dirty skin. This is not a myth, you should keep your skin clean to prevent infections from invading to your body. But the poor grooming is far from being the first and most important cause of acne. If you want to find the right acne treatment you should be aware of other causes:
Hormones: The number one cause of acne is the production of sex hormones, known as androgen, that begins at puberty. This is why majority of acne sufferers are adolescents and teens. Hormones are responsible for then acne flare-ups during menstruation and pregnancy. When the sebaceous gland is stimulated by androgens, it produces extra sebum. In its journey up the follicle toward the surface, the sebum mixes with common skin bacteria and dead skin cells that have been shed from the lining of the follicle. While this process is normal, the presence of extra sebum in the follicle increases the chances of clogging - and acne.
Stress: can also cause the production of hormones, such as cortisol, which can aggravate acne. Stress brings upon different hormone levels. With hormone changes the body prompts the skins oil glands to enlarge, secreting more oil. Which causes white heads, black heads and pimples.
Oily or heavy make up: Heavy make-up clogs the pores and oily make-ups add more oil, which only adds to the problem if oily skin already exists. Cosmetics, especially certain moisturizers, foundations and pomades contain lanolin, petrolatum, vegetable oils, butyl stearate, lauryl alcohol and oleic acid.
Certain medications and steroids: Vitamins are good for your body, But an excess of vitamins B1, B6 and B12 can cause acne flare-ups. These vitamins are good for the skin, but avoid overuse.
Diets: For some people, a diet that is high in refined carbohydrates and sugars can actually aggravate their acne. On the other hand, foods rich in vitamin will help your body fight the acne.
Over abrasive cleansing: Harsh exfoliators can damage skin and spread infections.
Picking and squeezing: This can actually send the infection deeper into the skin and can cause scarring.
Environmental irritants: such as high humidity and pollution. High humidity actually causes swelling of skin. Pollution is of course is a big cause for clogging your pores.
Genes: Family members who are also acne sufferers. Acne is inherited and severe cases known as cystic acne usually come from heredity.
As you may have noticed, all major causes of acne can be prevented, except for genes. Here is a small to-do list:
- do not pick and squeeze
- do not over-clean
- resort to correct diets
- stay away from overuse of steroids
- do not use oily make-up
- try to avoid stress and depression
- hormones: this is the most difficult but most important entry in our to-do list. You can not change your hormones in a simple way, but you may try acne treatment solutions that will regulate the level of hormone activity in your body. Hormones are inside so you should choose the product that works from inside.
Stay clean
Clear skin cannot 100% guarantee you will never have an acne. However, keeping your skin clean is one of the easiest ways to prevent acne. You cannot change your hormones by simply washing every day, but this will stop excess sebum from clogging pores and bacteria that might accumulate into them. It's not a hard thing to take a couple of minutes every day and just wash your face. You cannot completly treat pimples and prevent them in future, but at least stop acne from running wild. You need to keep in mind a few simple rules in order to turn washing into effective acne treatment.
1. Avoid using hot or cold water on your face. Facial skin is one of the most sensitive parts of your skin and should never be washed with anything else than lukewarm water. Hot water will burn the outer layers and cause the pores to open up too much, thereby exposing yourself to even more danger. Cold water, on the other hand will force the pores to contract and you will no longer be able to clean them, thus defeating the purpose of washing. Neither scalding your face nor freezing it is recommended. Lukewarm water is gentle on your skin and more effective at removing sebum and grime than hot or cold water.
2. Avoid the use of soap with cleansing chemicals. This kind of soaps will disrupt the natural balance of facial skin by removing too much sebum and leaving the skin dry and unprotected. It will also leave behind a film of substance that can easily clog the pores and cause the acne you are trying to avoid. Other chemicals, such as creams and ointments, will usually dry out your skin and cause redness and swelling in time. Avoid them like plague. Plain water is enough for keeping your facial skin clean.
After washing, you should pad your face with a soft towel. As you may have noticed, the basic idea is
to be gentle to your face skin at all times. A harsh toweling would only serve to open a thousand tiny lesions in your facial skin, all of which can turn into entry points for bacteria and germs. Needless to say that you don't want this to happen. Be gentle with your skin and you'll enjoy beautiful and wrinkle-free skin even in your old age. If it's too late you have an acne, or you want to prevent acne in future - take a look at the acne treatment solutions.
Common Acne Myths
Most people think they know everything about acne: what acne is, causes of acne, chances to treat. People would tell you that acne appears due to your poor hygiene, poor diet or that you are in love.
However, acne experts are actually revealing those as nothing but myths. The best way to cope with your acne problem is to educate yourself and it is with this purpose that we decided to list here the common acne myths that people often encounter.
1. Acne is not caused by a poor hygiene. Many people believe that acne is caused by poor hygiene; therefore they tend to over-wash their skin. However, washing too frequently and too aggressively can strip the skin of its natural lipids, damaging the skin's natural barrier function. In response, the follicle will produce excess sebum and possibly additional breakouts. So unless you get yourself dirty on regular basis (like a mechanic, perhaps), do not over-wash your face.
2. You can outgrow your acne. It is much more sensible to treat your acne immediately to avoid emotional stress and permanent scarring.
3. Acne is just a little problem, no need to overreact. It is embarrassing to have acne, thus can affect our confidence and esteem. It may even affect our social relation and job performance.
4. Acne is just a cosmetic disease. Heavy and oily make up may contribute to acne build up. However, cosmetics labeled non-comedogenic or non-acnegenic might actually contain benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid that may help to fight acne.
5. Stress can cause acne. While over stress may actually produce hormones that can aggravate acne; normal, everyday stress does not really trigger acne.
6. Getting a tan would clear up acne. While sun exposure may dry out existing acne, it will not prevent new ones from forming. It can also over dry the skin thus sebaceous glands will produce more oil that will ultimately worsen your condition. It will also increase your risk of skin cancer and wrinkles.
7. You should not treat acne - it will disappear as time goes by. You MUST treat acne. Believe me, you don't want to spend the rest of your life with the scars of past acne flare-ups crisscrossing your face. This is why it's very important to deal with acne in a decisive manner and prevent the emergence of pimples. The best way of taking care of your problem is to use an acne treatment that can really help your body put an end to basic cause of acne: widespread clogging of pores.
So there, the next time somebody tells you one of those things, gracefully correct them and share what you know. Remember, knowledge is power.
Lasting effects of acne
The teen years are a trying time for every teenager. Although all the cares of adulthood are still far into the future, teens are not exactly happy. The carelessness and ignorance of childhood leaves room for rebellion and questions about one’s place under the sun. Looking for their own way through life teens often feel insecure and misunderstood. Unfortunately, if the search for a place in the world is not enough, teenagers also have to deal with skin problems, such as acne. This unsightly condition is the curse of many teenagers because of the effects it has at psychological level.
It doesn’t take a lot to foster a negative self image in a teenager. Most of them are at least somewhat insecure about their outward appearance because of various real or imaginary blemishes. But a real condition that causes true discomfort and mars a young face is something else altogether. The fragile self image and self respect of teenagers are hard pressed to cope with the pressure exerted by the opinions of others and the comparisons with various role-models that teenagers find for themselves. In extreme cases, the negative self image turns into self hatred and the disfiguring condition is seen as a cruel instrument of self punishment for failing to rise up to some standard or other.
Young people live in small worlds. Parents, friends and the amorphous group of half-familiar school mates are the limits of their social lives. Naturally, teenagers tend to attach more importance to the praise or criticism coming from their friends or school mates, on grounds that parents love you anyway and are fatally biased. But, since teens can be very cruel to each other, the criticism of school mates is frequently unkind and meant to hurt. This serves to increase the feelings of anxiety and stress, resulting in withdrawal from the social environment into a private world of pain and shame.
Young people are terribly earnest about outward appearances and criticism. They are still away from the age when human beings come to terms with themselves and are no longer much interested in what others say or think. Hiding one’s body or face and feeling ashamed just because somebody else said that this is the thing to do is a mistake and teenagers should be helped to see this. Acne can be defeated with persistence and by using the right products. However, the psychological effects of acne must also be fought, or else they may never go away. The young man who hated himself for having pimples on his face will turn into the adult who hates himself for being a little overweight or not making as much money as some co-worker.
The feeling of discomfort and shame with oneself does not always go away in time. Sometimes it just finds a new problem to act as its power source. This is the lasting effect of acne: a poor self image, a lack of confidence and a feeling of being at a disadvantage when comparing oneself to other people. These moods and mindsets can ruin anybody’s social life and often times they also get in the way of professional development. Unfortunately, acne is not just skin deep. This is the main reason you should find the acne treatment as soon as you need one.
Women and acne treatment
Men and women are very different creatures when it comes to hormones and the entire system of psychological and physical effects deriving from it. One good example for this statement is acne. The accelerated hormonal development in boys almost always results in acne, but this is not the case for girls. Women often develop acne for the first time in their 20s or even later.
Of course, the fertility cycle and the hormonal changes it triggers throughout the body is often the cause of sporadic acne outbreaks in women, although the exact process is poorly understood at this moment. High levels of androgens are the likely cause for premenstrual acne, since it is known that androgens regulate the oil production in sebaceous glands. The more androgens around, the higher the risk of clogging pores with excess sebum.
Women have less chance of developing the kind of acne that plagues men, but they also have a harder time getting rid of it. During pregnancy, women suffering from acne must get by with topical treatments recommended by their doctor and are not allowed to use drugs. Birth control pills are a common way of treating acne, since they interfere precisely with the hormonal cycle and serve to rein in acne. However, the use of any kind of acne medications to treat acne should be supervised by a doctor.
Men and acne treatment
Women are not the only ones who have problems in maintaining the youthful glow of their skin. Although men will probably not admit it even in acne treatment forums, but when they finally become concerned with their own facial features, primarily their skin, they will find that they have suddenly entered the world of skin care products and grooming.
While men have realized that grooming need not be tiresome work, with the proliferation of various men's skin care products, it has nevertheless become confusing. Because of the sheer amount of skin care products, men agonizingly select the ones most appropriate for their purpose. After finding the right product, however, the next important concern comes along. This refers to the inevitable age problem. Each stage of aging poses a different concern for all men. During the teenage years, men face the embarrassing problem of acne and facial oils. When they finally enter the twenties and thirties, the decrease of collagen is the next concern. Collagen is important as it provides for the elasticity of the skin. Unfortunately, it is annually reduced by one percent, particularly in areas, which are often exposed to the sun.
Fight Body Acne
Everybody fights acne on his face. Struggling with pimples at one’s face seems to be a paramount objective for everyone who suffers from this problem and that is understandable because in any case your attractiveness is in direct relationship with this. For teenagers face acne becomes a terrible grief sometimes.
But there is not only face acne that causes troubles to people. Body acne is also very common, especially among young men. Generally, it can look like body acne is less extensive because less people are complaining on having it comparing to the number of those telling that they endure spots on their faces but it is not true.
Millions of people suffer from neck acne, back acne, chest acne, buttocks acne – these four are the most widespread. The thing is that nobody likes to talk about his or her body acne especially if it is not seen by anyone.
There are several reasons that cause body acne and sometimes they are same to those that provoke appearing of face acne, and sometimes they are specific and apply to only pimples and spots on the back/chest/neck/buttocks.
The ultimate reason for all acne is, of course, the same – inflammation of body pores. The secondary reasons are often the same as well, the biggest difference lies into the fact that body acne appears under clothes and, since people don’t wear anything on their faces, face acne emerges on exposed skin.
Among the most common reasons are perspiration and development of hormones (especially at growing age). If you wear tight clothes and at that you perspire much (for example, if you go in for sports in a tight gym suit or wear close-bodied dress in summer, you are very likely to get body acne.
The methods for fighting body acne are very individual and, as a rule, are identical to those applied to face acne. A single remedy for acne has been not worked out yet, although sound body skin care can help you to eliminate most of the reasons that can cause body or face acne or whatever.
The best acne treatment
You may have noticed we recommend ClearPores as a best acne treatment product. This is not a false claim to help them sell this product. This endorsement is a result of throughout investigation that included online studies, components research and FDA advices. Let's shed some more light on this product.
First of all, we recommend a complete skin cleansing system that fights acne both from inside (kill bacteria) and outside (clear skin). ClearPores is a acne treatment system, not a single product. The ClearPores System is composed of deep facial and body washes, a herbal supplement and protection creams for face and body. The washes are based on the effective SD Alcohol and Salicylic Acid solutions that open the pores and cleanse the skin of dirt and bacteria, while the herbal supplement helps the body fight bacteria from the inside.
Unlike other skin cleansing products, ClearPores does not leave your skin shining with excess sebum or dry and swollen. By opening the pores to remove dirt and by fighting bacteria at the roots, the system makes sure you’ll no longer have to suffer whiteheads and blackheads on your face. It also helps reduce inflammation and rebuild damaged skin cells in order to make your skin healthy and smooth. And if this was not enough, the product is backed by an amazing 6-month money back guarantee that makes usage virtually risk free for you. What more could one ask?
Why spend your time feeling bad about your face and body when you can put an end to this nuisance with the help of the 3-part ClearPores System? We recommend it to all those who are struggling to hide or fight acne. No more will you have to be afraid of meeting new people. No more will your skin stand between you and a good time. With ClearPores, you can turn the tide of this struggle and win!
Treat Acne Tips: avoid dry skin
We have already reviewed all known skin types before. Few people have normal skin, there is a great chance you have too dry or too oily skin. Although oily skin causes lots of problems, including acne, let's review dry skin. Many acne products have come up that promise to bring back the moisture in your dried up skin and help you treat acne.
The dry skin problem can be remedied by using a liquid moisturizer. When your skin becomes too dry, you should buy the cream moisturizers. It is advisable to apply these after baths because this is when the skin pores are open and are able to absorb the moisturizers quickly.
The summer is the season when moisturizers are much needed by the body. But inspite of the fact that summer is over, you should not forget about your dry skin. When choosing the product that is right for you, check the ingredients first to make certain that it does not contain oil. Oil can block pores and results in pimple breakouts and other skin problems. Appropriate products do not contain oil and work as a good acne treatment solution.