how get rid of acne

How to Get Rid of Acne

So you want to know how to get rid of acne? That’s the million dollar question and unfortunately the answer is not easy to come by. If you’ve read my article on what causes pimples you know that the problem isn’t at the surface of the skin. It’s inside. Specifically, dead skin cells from inside hair follicles block the pores which leads to sebum building up, swelling, infection, and there you go – you have pimples. The root cause is the improper shedding of these dead skin cells within the hair follicles and that is caused by hormone irregularities. Ahh… that was a mouthful, huh? The bottom line? – If you want to get rid of pimples you have to get your hormones back into the proper balance. We’ll get to that in a minute. 

READ MY REVIEWS OF THE TOP-RATED ACNE TREATMENTS HERE!

How to get rid of Acne: The Old Way

If you go to a dermatologist, you will be prescribed topical antibiotics or benzoyl peroxide and perhaps some oral antibiotics such as tetracycline. This has been the standard treatment to clear up acne for almost 40 years.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t do much good for the majority of acne sufferers. Why? Because these treatments don’t go after the root cause of acne. Bacteria does NOT cause acne. Bacteria infects swollen follicles and makes things worse but you can’t get rid of acne by simply killing off bacteria. Sorry. Doesn’t work. I wish I could say they do. Really. I wasted thousands of dollars trying to get rid of pimples this way.

How to get rid of acne: Accutane

So if and when you’ve failed to respond to antibiotics, what’s the next step? You might find yourself, as I was, prescribed a pill called Accutane. Accutane is effective. It works by reducing the production of sebum and also affecting keratinisation within the hair follicle. Accutane got rid of my acne for the most part. But, and there’s a BIG but… the side effects from Accutane are ridiculous. It is a seriously powerful drug.

Besides the obvious ones like birth defects, Accutane will make your acne much worse before it gets rid of it. It took me an entire year to clear up from Accutane and I had to put up with raw swollen lips, incredibly irritated skin and frequent blood tests to make sure I wasn’t doing permanent damage to my liver. Accutane has its place but it should always be a last resort. Honestly. Don’t go straight to Accutane. I am warning you. It is harsh stuff. Accutane has recently been removed from the U.S. market because the side effects were leading to too many lawsuits.

How to get rid of acne: Control acne

You may be tempted to buy some of the literally thousands of topical “acne miracle” lotions and creams that flood the internet. I wish they worked. But again these alternatives, because they work at the skin surface, are going after the wrong problem. Can they lesson the impact of an outbreak? Maybe. If they unclog pores and kill off bacteria, I suppose they could make the symptoms less pronounced. But is that enough? Not for my money. I would rather beat my pimples (that’s what this site is about!) not learn to control them so I have to go through a skin care routine every night and buy more product week after week.

How to get rid of acne: Lifestyle is the key

Let’s get back to the question: “How to get rid of Acne.”  The only way to get rid of acne is to make changes to your diet that will get your hormone levels, specifically androgen hormone levels back into the proper balance. This means cutting down on certain foods like sugar and milk and certain oils and, dare I say it, adopt a “healthy” diet that is specifically designed to correct your hormonal imbalance. It doesn’t take a long time to do this. In fact, with the right program you can see positive results in less than a week and be cured of acne in a few months.  And it’s a lot cheaper than Accutane.

Check out my reviews for more information on programs to get rid of acne that actually cure the cause of acne instead of just the symptoms. Good luck!