4 Myths about Acne and its treatment
There are certain believes out there about acne that just aren’t truth. Check here if your favorite acne myth is one of them.
1 RUBBING ALCOHOL TREATS ACNE
One antiseptic that is believed to do miracles against acne is rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol. Its antiseptic and used to clean wounds and sanitizing skin before an injection. But does it work? Actually, no and it has quite the opposite effect on your skin.
More people are bothered by oily skin and are hoping that the alcohol will cure it but all it does is creates excessive dryness, more peeling and irritation. A good balance of oil on your skin is actually necessary and healthy.
It does feel cooling on your skin and gives the effect of clean skin. The problem is that the alcohol strips the skin and doesn’t really clean it. In worst case it can promote scarring.
We recommend gentler ways of combating oily skin. A toner can gently help removing oily skin feeling and can help improve minor breakouts and blemishes.
2 THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH ACNE SOLUTION/MEDICATION
The problem with this is similar to the usage of rubbing alcohol. Using too much or too often of a certain blemish-busting ingredient will dry the skin and irritate it. This is counterproductive and will lead to more breakouts.
There are three main ingredients that are found in anti-acne products, salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide and sulfur. They all reduce the risk of breakouts but come at a cost if used too much – dry skin that leads to more problems.
Use the medication exactly as prescribed and know that curing acne is a longer process.
3 PICKING AT YOUR PIMPLES IS FINE
We all know there is something satisfying in popping a whitehead but doing so will spread the bacteria. Not to mention that squeezing a pimple with dirty hands or a pimple that is not ready to pop can lead to skin irritation. Worst case this leads to scarring.
Try fighting the pimple popping sensation with a healthy and daily treatment routine. More about that in our future article. We also recommend acne patches that prevent popping or scratching (till bloody). They can be used immediately and also contain healthy ingredients that calm and soothe the blemish. Check the picture above for an example :)
4 ANTI ACNE TREATMENT CAN BE STOPPED WHEN ACNE IS GONE
This is simply not true as the process of cleansing and using acne medication doesn’t stop acne from ever shoving up again. It controls the breakouts till the point that it disappears. Scaling back to just a few steps of anti-acne routine is possible but more than that and the pimples will return (speaking here of nonabrasive non-chemical medication of course).
Also, many people want to clear their acne overnight but this will likely not happen. There is no medication that would work for everyone but we always suggest using natural or organic products. Still if the acne is severe, consulting a dermatologist or a doctor is a good idea.
There are even more myths about acne that are circling around, like sleeping with makeup is ok, not using sunscreen etc. We will cover them in the following article. Stay tuned!