JOIN USDoes acne scar, scare you?
Teenage acne, which is known to trouble more than 85% of young adults, is accompanied by the usual hormonal impatience. In order to get rid of pimples, most young adults resort to a lot of pinching and scratching which results in acne scars and in a lot of cases an even further spread of acne. A few lifestyle changes and some basic skin care can help in getting rid of acne:
Understand your irritant
A lot of teenagers do not have only hormones as the cause behind their acne as it also get triggered by eating some types of food.
It can also be our body reacting to certain food habits, products or just asking for a bit of maintenance. For such cases, you can do the following:
If the acne occurs mostly on the forehead, there is a probability that your hair care product or the oil that gets produced on the scalp over time is acting as an irritant. So, you can try going in for an alternate hair care product or wash your hair more often.
If the acne is on or around your nose bridge, check for the presence of whiteheads or blackheads. There is a high probability that you would require a medical clean- up and a proper pore cleanliness regime will help you with that.
Avoid eating fatty or oily food. It is hard to process fatty/junk food by our system and since it just gets stored, it might irritate the blood stream and thus the skin.
Drink enough water to stay well hydrated. Water also acts as a coolant for your body and its shortage results in lowering the pH level (making the blood slightly acidic), resulting in acne.
Get your hormonal profiling done. Some people have thyroid/menstrual cycle issues which are at the base of recurring acne. It is better to have the same detected and corrected at an early stage itself to not just prevent breakouts but also help with
proper functioning of the internal system.
Routine skincare can be undertaken as soon as he/she is able to take the responsibility and maintain the habit of doing it.
Good habits
Use gentle, fragrance-free, pH balanced cleansers.To prevent dry skin, apply liberal amounts of moisturiser after bathing.
Initiate early sun-protection routine like applying sunscreen regularly, wearing a hat to cover the face etc.
A few skin masks such as fuller’s earth mask or sandal mask can help soothe the skin. Other than that, try to avoid any homemade masks lest they may irritate the skin further.
When to see a doctor?
If your child starts experiencing skin concerns like acne, blackheads, whiteheads, blemishes, pigmentation, dry skin, scars, it’s time to visit a dermatologist. Usually this happens when they step into adolescence. An expert can identify the cause and suggest a course of action.
(The author is founder, Kosmoderma Skin & Hair Clinic)