10 skin care habits that can worsen acne
Are you faithfully treating your acne but still seeing new breakouts? If you have one of these 10 skin care habits you can be making things worse. Here are some dermatologists’ tips to help you change those habits:
Try a new acne treatment every week or so. This approach can irritate your skin, which can cause breakouts.
What to do instead: Give an acne treatment time to work (6 to 8 weeks at least). It takes that long to see some improvement. Complete clearing usually takes 3 to 4 months.
Apply acne medication only when you have a breakout. It makes sense to treat what you see, but this approach fails to prevent new episodes.
What to do instead: To prevent new blemishes, spread a thin layer of the acne medication evenly over your acne-prone skin.
Use makeup, skin care products, and hair care products that can cause acne. These products usually contain oil or other ingredients that can cause acne breakouts, so If you keep using them, you may continue to see breakouts.
What to do instead: Use only makeup, sunscreen, skin and hair care products that are labeled “non-comedogenic” or “won’t clog pores.” These products don’t cause breakouts in most people.
Share makeup, makeup brushes, or makeup applicators. Even if you use only non-comedogenic products, sharing makeup can lead to breakouts.
What to do instead: Make sure you’re the only person who uses your makeup, makeup brushes, and makeup applicators.
Sleep in your makeup. This is a big No-No, even if you use non-comedogenic products
What to do instead: Remove your makeup before you go to bed. No exceptions!
Wash your face throughout the day.
What to do instead: Wash your face twice a day — when you wake up and before you go to bed. You’ll also want to wash your face when you finish an activity that makes you sweat.
Dry out your skin. Skin with acne is oily, so it can be tempting to apply astringent and acne treatments until your face feels dry. Don’t. Dry skin is irritated skin. Anytime you irritate your skin, you risk getting more acne.
What to do instead: Use acne treatments as directed. If your skin feels dry, apply a moisturizer made for acne-prone skin.
Scrub your skin clean. To get rid of acne, you may be tempted to scrub your skin clean. Don’t. Scrubbing can irritate your skin, causing acne to flare.
What to do instead: Be gentle when washing your face and other skin with acne. Apply the cleanser lightly with your fingertips, using a circular motion. Gently rinse it off with warm water, using only your fingers. Then pat your skin dry with a clean towel.
Rub sweat from your skin during a workout.
What to do instead: When working out, use a clean towel to gently pat sweat from your skin.
Pop or squeeze breakouts. When this happens, you increase inflammation. This can lead to more-noticeable acne and sometimes scarring and pain.
What to do instead: Resist the temptation to pop or squeeze acne. You want to treat your acne with acne medication. If you have deep or painful acne, seeing a dermatologist is necessary to help clear your acne.
When to see a dermatologist?
Many people can control their acne by following these skin care tips and using acne treatment that they can buy without a prescription. If you continue to see acne after giving these tips a chance to work, a dermatologist can help. Some people need prescription-strength acne treatment.
Source: American Academy of Dermatology
