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You might wonder what birth control pills have to do with treating acne. Pills are used to prevent pregnancies right? So what does it have to do with pimples and blemishes?

First of all, there are many benefits of using birth control pills. Sure, it’s main objective is to prevent pregnancies. However, another one of its objectives is to get rid of those unwanted blemishes on your skin. Birth control pills help treat acne and many women have vouched and proven that it indeed works.

How?
One of the main reasons why acne occurs is because of the frequent fluctuations of the hormones in our body. That is called hormonal imbalance. You need to stabilize the hormonal fluctuations in order for acne to be reduced. That’s where birth control pills come in. These birth control pills are widely used to help treat acne. They help in alleviating the hormonal fluctuations and which leads to the lessening of acne and breakouts.

Birth control pills, also known as oral contraceptives, are widely used as a long-term therapy for women conjunctly needing birth control measures. These pills efficiently control mild to moderate acne flare-ups, especially those that tends to worsen during menstruation and ovulation periods. Oral contraceptives can also be used in conjunction with other acne medications.

There are plenty of acne treatments available nowadays. A wide variety of medications, creams, and the like have surfaced because of high demand from consumers. These products are heaven-sent, and can usually do wonders for these unsightly blemishes that cause misery for us. This article discusses the various kinds of treatment available to minister this skin disease.

Medicated Soaps
This usually does the trick for mild acne sufferers. Washing the face with this mild and medicated bar soaps or facial washes can clear up acne by ridding the skin of excess oils. One thing to consider is to NOT over wash because it leads to skin drying, making the skin produce more of it’s sebum, which will inevitably clog our pores and lead to another bout of acne.

Topical Acne Treatment
These are usually creams applied to the acne that include benzoyl peroxide, retinoids, azelaic acid, and topical antibiotics.

Antibiotics
These are taken orally and help in reducing inflammation and irritation. These antibiotics include: erythromycin, minocycline, doxycycline, and tetracycline, among others.

Birth Control Pills
These pills are not just used to avoid pregnancies, but are also a great help in reducing acne attacks. Birth control pills regulate the hormonal imbalance by bringing certain hormones present in the pill into your system.

There are many more acne treatments available in the market. And it is certain that one of these treatments is guaranteed to clear up those blemishes. A word of caution though, don’t be over-zealous in trying out these products and always, always, use one at a time, as you can never be too sure not to aggravate those already existing acne.

Back acne, also known as bacne, and body acne are fairly common among acne sufferers. It affects both male and female, adolescents and adults. Mild to moderate bacne and body acne is more common, and more often than not, severe, in male sufferers. And usually, body and bacne sufferers have acne on the face too.

Causes of Back and Body Acne
Causes of body and bacne are usually the same as those of facial acne: excess sebum in glands, dead skin cells, and bacteria on the surface and within the skin. It is generally seen on the back, upper torso, and even on the arms and legs, in some cases.
Stress, excessive oil and sweating, and unhealthy food diet are also some factors that are considered to aggravate acne breakouts.
One thing to consider in bacne and body acne is to wear comfortable clothes. Clothes that are tight fitting are a big no-no as it causes friction and can easily aggravate existing acne, leading to irritation and inflammation.

Treatment of Back and Body Acne
Treating back and body acne is similar to treating facial acne. Topical medications, antibiotics, and medicated acne soaps help in removing acne and in improving your skin tone.

There are several treatments available to treat scars brought about by acne. Two types of acne scar treatment lead the way: the surgical and the non-surgical treatment.

Surgical Acne Scar Treatment
These treatments are expensive, but they can certainly do a good job in improving your skin by removing those ugly acne scars. Several surgical treatments include:
Microdermabrasion. This treatment uses fine aluminum crystals to produce a dermabrasion effect leading the skin to peel. It improves the skin tone and helps mild acne scars.
Photorejuvenation. This treatment will produce new collagen to form.
Scar revision. This treatment is recommended for those with severe acne scars.
Laser Treatments. This is considered as the most expensive of all surgical acne treatments but is definitely the most guaranteed way of removing scars for those suffering severe acne scars.

Non-Surgical Acne Scar Treatment
If you don’t have enough money, like most of us, there are still ways of removing our scars effectively, and listed below are some of them:
Topical Creams. They smooth out minimal acne scarring by encouraging collagen production.
Chemical Peels. These can improve skin tone while peeling the skin to reveal fresh, new skin underneath.
Skin Fillers. This is injected into depressed scars to elevate it to normal surrounding skin level.

Camouflage / Make-up. The least expensive option, you can always use make-up to hide your skin’s flaws. A good concealer usually does the trick, for those with mild scarring.

Most of us have experienced acne at some point in our lives, those who haven’t are just plain lucky, to the annoyance of the rest of us. Even pregnancy is not enough of an excuse not to incur acne, to the disappointment of women out there. Pregnancy is supposed to be a joyful time, expecting mothers are supposed to be beautiful, blooming, and have radiant faces. Well, if you’re a woman, and if you’ve had acne at one point in your life, you can hope, but don’t expect that you’ll be exempted from this affliction when you get pregnant!

Acne and pregnancy is common, especially during the soon-to-be-mother’s first trimester, as levels of hormones are increasing and causing imbalance. Imbalance causes the skin glands to boost the production of sebum, which can lead to acne.

What To Do
It is not advisable to take oral medications for your acne while you’re pregnant. The obvious reason being, these can harm your unborn baby. Some of the ingredients in these medications can bring damage to the fetus like cause abnormalities, damage development, and the like. Now we don’t want that, do we? So it’s best not to take any kind of medication during pregnancy, unless prescribed by the doctor. Acne and pregnancy doesn’t match at all, so find ways to remove this blight on your face. Visit your dermatologist, let him/her know you’re pregnant, and discuss various products that can work well under your condition.

Tips
A normal cleansing routine is what’s best to follow to minimize your acne. Be sure to use natural and safe cleansers to wash your face. Avoid, if u can, any topical creams as it would be harsh to your skin and can still possibly be absorbed into the bloodstream of your baby.

Most of us have experienced acne at some point in our lives, those who haven’t are just plain lucky, to the annoyance of the rest of us. Even pregnancy is not enough of an excuse not to incur acne, to the disappointment of women out there. Pregnancy is supposed to be a joyful time, expecting mothers are supposed to be beautiful, blooming, and have radiant faces. Well, if you’re a woman, and if you’ve had acne at one point in your life, you can hope, but don’t expect that you’ll be exempted from this affliction when you get pregnant!

Acne and pregnancy is common, especially during the soon-to-be-mother’s first trimester, as levels of hormones are increasing and causing imbalance. Imbalance causes the skin glands to boost the production of sebum, which can lead to acne.

What To Do
It is not advisable to take oral medications for your acne while you’re pregnant. The obvious reason being, these can harm your unborn baby. Some of the ingredients in these medications can bring damage to the fetus like cause abnormalities, damage development, and the like. Now we don’t want that, do we? So it’s best not to take any kind of medication during pregnancy, unless prescribed by the doctor. Acne and pregnancy doesn’t match at all, so find ways to remove this blight on your face. Visit your dermatologist, let him/her know you’re pregnant, and discuss various products that can work well under your condition.

Tips
A normal cleansing routine is what’s best to follow to minimize your acne. Be sure to use natural and safe cleansers to wash your face. Avoid, if u can, any topical creams as it would be harsh to your skin and can still possibly be absorbed into the bloodstream of your baby.

Most of us have experienced acne at some point in our lives, those who haven’t are just plain lucky, to the annoyance of the rest of us. Even pregnancy is not enough of an excuse not to incur acne, to the disappointment of women out there. Pregnancy is supposed to be a joyful time, expecting mothers are supposed to be beautiful, blooming, and have radiant faces. Well, if you’re a woman, and if you’ve had acne at one point in your life, you can hope, but don’t expect that you’ll be exempted from this affliction when you get pregnant!

Acne and pregnancy is common, especially during the soon-to-be-mother’s first trimester, as levels of hormones are increasing and causing imbalance. Imbalance causes the skin glands to boost the production of sebum, which can lead to acne.

What To Do
It is not advisable to take oral medications for your acne while you’re pregnant. The obvious reason being, these can harm your unborn baby. Some of the ingredients in these medications can bring damage to the fetus like cause abnormalities, damage development, and the like. Now we don’t want that, do we? So it’s best not to take any kind of medication during pregnancy, unless prescribed by the doctor. Acne and pregnancy doesn’t match at all, so find ways to remove this blight on your face. Visit your dermatologist, let him/her know you’re pregnant, and discuss various products that can work well under your condition.

Tips
A normal cleansing routine is what’s best to follow to minimize your acne. Be sure to use natural and safe cleansers to wash your face. Avoid, if u can, any topical creams as it would be harsh to your skin and can still possibly be absorbed into the bloodstream of your baby.

Chemical peels using either alpha-hydroxy acid or beta-hydroxy acid are both highly effective in treating mild to moderately severe facial acne, researchers at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine have found - the first study to compare the two different types of acid peels as therapies for the skin disorder.

Peels using beta-hydroxy acid (or BHA) had slightly fewer side effects and results that lasted a bit longer than did peels using alpha-hydroxy acid (or AHA), the study found. But overall, both types of treatments were similarly effective in reducing lesions caused by acne vulgaris, the medical term for common facial acne, which affects some 85 percent of all people 12 to 24 years old.

“This is good news for the millions of Americans who suffer from mild to moderately severe facial acne,” said Dee Anna Glaser, M.D., vice chair and professor of dermatology at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine. “This provides more options for patients and doctors to chose from when it comes to tailoring a treatment program for each individual.”

The research is published in the current edition of Dermatologic Surgery.

AHA (which is also called glycolic acid) and BHA (also called salicylic acid) are frequently used by physicians to induce light skin peels, which help treat fine lines and wrinkles, acne and uneven texture and coloration. The peel removes a very thin layer of skin, which in turn promotes the growth of new, smoother skin.

Both types of acid are derived from organic compounds. AHA has the same active ingredient that’s found in sugar cane juice, sour milk and tomato juice, while BHA is derived from salicin, which is closely related to the active ingredient in aspirin.

The study involved 20 patients with moderate to severe facial acne. Their average age was 24 years; 13 were women. Each was treated with a chemical peel every other week for six weeks, with follow-up visits one month and two months after the last treatment.

Each treatment involved applying alpha-hydroxy acid to one side of the face and beta-hydroxy acid to the other side. Neither the patient nor the person who later evaluated them were aware which side of the face had been treated with which acid.

The study found that both types of chemical peels significantly reduced acne lesions within two weeks of the first treatment, and patients continued to see a reduction in lesions through the first follow-up visit a month after the treatments had finished.

At the time of that first post-treatment visit, 94 percent of patients were judged to have had good or fair improvement in acne lesions on both sides of the face, as assessed by a blinded evaluator.

A month later, at the second post-treatment visit, 81 percent of the sides of the face treated with beta-hydroxy acid still showed good or fair improvement in acne lesions, compared with 75 percent of the sides of the face treated with alpha-hydroxy acid. However, the sides of the face treated with alpha-hydroxy acid had developed a few new lesions - though this was judged not to be significant.

In general, both types of acid peels yielded the same side effects, which typically decreased over the course of the treatments. The most common of these included redness, peeling and scaling - though with alpha-hydroxy acid, the degree of the peeling and scaling was judged to be greater.