The Wrong Acne Treatment or Skin Care Product Can Make Matters Worse by Laurel Levine

Let’s face it. Whether you are looking for an acne treatment or any other skin care product, you need to read the label of ingredients. The wrong ingredients can cause irritation, inflammation and pimple formation. The right ones can promote healing and prevent new blemishes from forming. Here’s a look at what’s good and what’s bad in pimple treatments.

Benzoyl peroxide is possibly the most commonly recommended acne treatment in the world. It is not a particularly hazardous compound, but it does cause redness, dryness and irritation. Redness and irritation contribute to inflammation, which is what’s going on inside of a pimple anyway.

As you may know, a dermatologist can inject cortisone into a large pimple, cyst or boil that does not seem to be responding to other treatments. Cortisone is a steroid. It is one of the most potent anti-inflammatories known.

One shot and the size of the pimple starts to shrink almost immediately. But, it cannot be used for large numbers of pimples, nor can it be used on an on-going basis, because of the health problems it can cause. So, the question is this.

What causes the inflammation to begin with? It could be a skin care product, hormonal activity, exposure to toxins like chlorine or a person’s diet.

The benefit of benzoyl peroxide is not due to its anti-inflammatory activity. It works by killing the P acnes bacteria, naturally present on the skin’s surface and within the pores.

Research has shown that the use of oral and topical antibiotics has caused the P acnes bacteria to become even stronger, more resistant to antibiotics. Whether or not benzoyl peroxide causes increased resistance is unknown, but a skin care product containing Active manuka honey will not cause the problem.

Active manuka honey is available in an acne treatment that can be used on the whole body. Benzoyl peroxide cannot and should not be used on large areas.

If you do a little shopping around, you can find a skin care product that contains active manuka honey and jojoba oil. Jojoba helps to balance sebum production. Over-production of sebum is a possible cause of pimples.

Those are some of the good ingredients. Some of the bad ones are common allergens like parabens and artificial fragrances.

Others are the common irritants like petroleum-based alcohols and azelaic acid. Azelaic acid at a 20% concentration is a commonly recommended acne treatment, but the side effects are redness, itching and irritation.

Then there are the toxins. The toxic ingredients you might find in a skin care product include lead and mercury. While the concentration of those heavy metals is too low to poisoning, it is high enough to cause adverse reactions that can look a lot like pimples.

Finally, there are the petroleum-based oils that seem to be in everything from hair conditioner to women’s makeup. They clog the pores, which is a bad thing for anyone that wants to avoid pimples.

Make no mistake about it. Safe, gentle and natural are the keys to treating any condition. It is particularly important to remember those keys when you are shopping for an acne treatment.

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