Cystic acne Archives – Skin Care For Acne

Have you ever wondered why it is that you break out at the same place?

Maybe it’s happened once or more than that.

Here’s the scenario. You get a big pimple on your chin. 2 weeks pass and it still seems to be hanging around your chin. Then one day you finally see that it is starting to heal. You’re thrilled. Until of course you see or maybe feel another one coming up pretty close to it. Or worse still just under it. I feel your pain. I really do. Trying to heal acne feels like taking one step forward and then you slide back down. 4-5 steps.

When you suffer from acne, this is very real and it is frustrating to say the least. This cycle may continue and you may get acne again and again in the same spot. Eventually you’ll be left with an indented scar at that place on your skin.

So why does this happen?

One of the main reasons you get acne under healing acne is that you probably have touched it, tried to pop it or picked at it.
The acne upon acne scene typically happens when you have cystic acne. These cysts are so deep within your skin that if you mess with them the infection goes deeper. What happens in this case is that the infection at the surface may heal. While it is healing the infection that is deep within your skin comes to the surface and you get more acne at the same place.
Once a pimple has been popped or picked or manipulated in some way, the walls of the pore that is infected or in the areas around it tend to get weaker. Once they are weaker the cells lining the pore do not shed well. When they do not shed well, they block the pores and the whole cycle starts again.

What can you do about it?

The main thing you can do is leave your face alone. No touching, popping, picking or squeezing your pimples. Hands off your face. Cysts that are manipulated or touched and felt countless times a day are more likely to occur again and again in the same place or near it.

Sometimes by accident it so happens that you may accidentally scratch a pimple or it gets rubbed on your towel and breaks. In this case best thing is to splash cold water on it and apply an ice cube wrapped in a clean tissue. Do not press it or touch it. Just dab it will the ice cube.

If the cyst is really bad and keeps happening again and again, you might consider going to a doctor to get a shot of cortisone to calm the inflammation. This can make the cyst smaller within a few hours. But do keep this as your last option.

In the meantime just keep your hands off your face.

If you have acne you may have been in this situation many times. Your face suddenly takes a turn for the worse. It looks red, feels inflamed and feels like it is on fire. Normal activities like washing your face, brushing your teeth and going out suddenly become these huge hurdles, you just can’t get past. Your face actually hurts because the acne are deep within the skin and cause pain. Even sleeping becomes a problem as the rubbing can cause further irritation.

So what do you do when you have a cystic acne flare up?

1. No applying products and hands off your face

Yes, you read that right. No applying any products or any ointment. I’ve been down this road more often than I wanted to and I know that nothing works. Nothing you apply to your face at this point is going to help you. Also no touching to feel your face. It’s a common temptation when you have acne, to touch your acne to see how big they are. This does not help and only irritates your skin further.

2. No makeup

Cystic acne

As tempting as it might be to try and cover up, all you will be doing is irritating your skin even further. It will be worse when you have to wash it off and irritate your face all over again. Makeup at this point is just not worth it. You probably will not be able to cover it up. Plus your skin does not need an added irritant at this time. If you do use makeup not only will you irritate your skin applying it, you will irritate it much more when taking it off.

3. Take a Vitamin C supplement

You need to stimulate your immune system to fight this. The best way is to take a Vitamin C supplement. You can try to increase your intake of it through diet but for your skin to calm down you need a much larger dose, more than you can eat in a day. 1000 mg a day will be fine.

4. Have a Green smoothie or eat lots of green vegetables

The best foods for acne are vegetables. More specifically green leafy vegetables which is the best food you can eat when your skin is acting up. Drink it in the form of a smoothie or add them to your diet, any way is perfectly fine. Green leafy vegetables include spinach, fenugreek leaves (methi), broccoli, kale, cabbage, swiss chard, lettuce, watercress, mustard greens.

5. Drink a lot of water

There is a myth out there that drinking water will get rid of your acne by flushing toxins. I have no idea what these toxins are and I also know that drinking water will not cure acne. But what drinking water does is keep your skin hydrated and bring down the redness on your face.

6. No stimulants

Till your skin settles down avoid alcohol and extremely spicy foods. I am not going to ask you to cut out tea and coffee completely but do restrict the amount you drink to 2-3 cups a day.

7. Skip sugar and dairy for a few days.

Sugar and dairy tend to cause inflammation in some people. Cut them out of your diet for a few days till your face settles down. Little milk and sugar in your tea or coffee is fine but no more than that.

8. Calm your skin with cold water

Your face may feel hot and irritated. Splash cold water on your face whenever needed. Avoid excessive heat and hot showers till your skin settles down. Avoid drying your face and let it dry naturally.

9. Relax and Remember that your skin will Heal

Acne does tend to make us lose perspective of things and we feel really down and depressed. With a few changes your skin can heal properly. When you have acne you feel that life is unfair to you. This is completely normal. While completely understandable you do not have to give in to these feelings. Try and find something that makes you happy and do that. Give meditation a try. It can be beneficial for your life in general.

Tag: Cystic acne

Do You Break Out At The Same Place? Here’s Why.