8 Clear Skin Tips
Doing these things alone will not clear your skin, but they will support your other efforts with proper products. Together with treatment and these behaviors can help you get clear skin faster.
- Get enough rest. Stress triggers the adrenal glands to produce more oil, which, if you’re acne-prone, can only lead to more breakouts.
- Stay away from excess iodides. Iodized salt, seafood, fish, seaweed, fast food and dairy products. Another biggie is kelp tablets (thyroid support). Also, some vitamins and sports drinks might contain iodides, so check out the formula.
- Stay away from “high androgen” foods. Foods such as peanuts, peanut butter, peanut oil, corn oil, wheat germ, shellfish, organ meats (sweetbreads, liver and heart). These all contain the hormones that will make acne worse.
- Stay out of the pool. Some swimming pool disinfectants contain iodides and chlorine. These can stay in the water and cause flare-ups for the acne prone individual. However, if you’re a swimmer, be sure to use petroleum jelly on your acne-affected areas to create a barrier between your skin and the chemicals.
- Don’t Pick. Picking will always lead to a scab and at least one week of healing time. The best thing you can do is put ice on it twice a day, after cleansing, to calm inflammation and shrink them down. You can also come to the office for a quick extraction (“Touch Up”) and let us get rid of it. But always ice it as soon as you feel it coming up.
- Use fragrance-free detergents. There are plenty to choose from: Tide Free, Cheer Free, All Free & Clear or Arm & Hammer Free.
- Don’t use fabric softener. The ingredients that make our clothes feel so soft will also clog our pores. Use static balls to control static cling.
- Limit sun exposure and use sunscreen. A little tan can make us look and feel a bit better, but it’s terrible for acne. It can damage the follicle wall, which makes post inflammatory hyper-pigmentation worse and can cause both skin cancer and premature aging. Wear sunblock all over if you are going to be in the sun for extended periods of time and reapply every two hours. For day-to-day use always wear sunscreen on your face or area of your body that is acne prone if it will be exposed to the sun at all. The products that help manage acne also make you more sensitive to the sun. Protect yourself and stay beautiful!