The Benefits of Using Zinc Skincare

You may not be familiar with Zinc ( or ZINC OXIDE).  Using zinc in skincare has been a fairly recent trend - except for those historic days at the beach when everyone wrote that bright, white nose cream.

Well, zinc has changed a lot since those goopy, thick formulas, but the benefits are still the same.

New blends of zinc are now super-light and barely noticeable. Zinc is one of nature’s best sunscreens. Aside from sitting in the shade, if you are going to be out in the sun, you want to wear zinc. The reasons are two-fold.

First, zinc is a natural mineral - NOT a laboratory-produced chemical. If you are more concerned about using natural products - as many are these days- then why support another chemical factory? It’s bad for the environment and it’s bad for YOU.

Zinc in it’s natural form is simply a micronized powder ( a lot like calcium) that is bright white once processed - hence the WHITE color of old sunblocks.

Second - zinc’s crystallized properties actually REFLECT the sun’s rays unlike chemical sunscreens that product a think chemical barrier that ABSORBS UV rays into the top layer of sunscreen, which then makers report, stop the rays from sinking into your skin. Doesn’t sound very safe does it?

Another amazing benefit of zinc is not as commonly known - it controls acne and helps prevent breakouts.

Turns out zinc, is also a great anticeptic healing agent - a little like going to natual sulfer springs for a soak, the mineral properties of zinc make it an excellent anti-acne treatment.

Zinc can be found in a carrier agent - like a lotion or moisturizer most often. You can find multiple varites of zinc sunscreens these days in almost any store. Just be sure to read the labels and be on the look out for other chemicals combined with zinc. Try to find as natural a product as you can - one without parabens or chemical perservatives.

Zinc moisturizers make a great acne treatment and can be found online and in some speciality skincare stores.

Zinc Moisturizer Wards Off Acne

If you have been following the news about zinc creams lately then you know how great they are for protecting you from the sun.  But did you also know that zinc creams and moisturizers containing zinc are excellent for preventing and healing acne?

Yep, you read right.  Zinc Oxide - that white stuff many of you used on your nose at the beach in the 80’s is also an excellent anti-acne treatment.

No one likes to have acne or pimples. Zinc Oxide has been found to be an natural anti-microbial and anti-bacterial - which means when you suffer from acne, those pores are clogged in your skin. You skin is your bodies natural defense against toxins, so the first place it will try to flush them out is through your exposed skin - usually you will see acne the most on your back and your face.  The reason acne shows on the face is due to the rate of exposed, thin skin. Your face is hardly ever covered, or protected by fabric like the rest of your body.  So the skin on the face will be the first place you want to treat and protect with Zinc or moisturizers made of Zinc Oxide.

The natural minerals in a zinc treatment or zinc cream will help pul the toxins out of your skin and also heal any previous acne scars you may have suffered.

If you are worried about using chemicals or buying products from your local drugstore that might not be safe or cause allergic reactions, then you should consider using a natural zinc cream.  Unlike those chemical compositions full of parabens, food dyes and fragrances, zinc cream is non-comedogenic,  (meaning it won’t cause breakouts) and it also needs no added fragrances.

So nest time you suffer from a breakout - be sure to check out a natural zinc moisturizer or zinc cream!

Natural Facial Treatments for Adult Acne

When one thinks of acne, a teenager may come to mind first. No one expects to have acne as an adult but it is more common than one might think. On average 50 percent of women and 25 percent of men are affected by adult acne. Adult acne is usually attributed to hormonal shifts, allergic reactions to skincare products or medications. The good news is many new treatments and procedures are available.

The cause of adult acne remains unknown, but is often attributed to genetics and hormonal changes. Contributing factors can include: side effects from certain medications, cosmetic products with high oil contents, excessive sweating, diet, stress, pregnancy, and menopause. An acne lesion, blemish or clogged pore is caused when bacteria multiply excessively within the hair follicle. An oil-releasing blockage then develops from the sebaceous gland and enlarged sebaceous oil glands produce an overabundance of oil. Blockages of bacteria and oil then build, leading to adult acne problems such as pimples, inflammation, cysts, and scarring. Adult acne most often appears on the face; however, it can appear on the arms, legs, buttocks, and torso.

Adult acne is a fairly new problem as adult acne has just recently become an epidemic. Acne previously had been a concern of teens and young adults. Dermatological and esthetic treatments for adults will likely be very similar to those used to treat teens. To prevent acne, hormonal and life style changes, such as diet, may be incorporated. The findings have suggested that a lifetime of exposure to hormone enriched foods and medication may be a main culprit in this new wide concern of adult acne.

The appropriate treatment for acne varies depending on each individual. Adult acne treatments include ingredients such as benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, retin-a, accutane, sulfur, tetracycline and/or a variety of over the counter medications. However, there’s more than medicine to treating adult acne. To obtain the best results treatments should include not only skin care products that target acne bacteria, but make changes that affect the body’s internal system. A multifaceted approach of treatments, behaviors, and diet is often most effective. Here are a few simple strategies to help you combat adult acne:

•    Consult your doctor about hormonal changes
•    Follow a daily skin care regimen
•    Protect skin from pollution and environmental damage
•    Avoid touching your face
•    Avoid exposure to sun and excessive cold
•    Select non-oil based cosmetic products
•    Eat a well-balanced diet

Natural remedies can also work alone or in combination with professional assistance in clearing adult acne. As stated earlier, diet is a very important factor in adult acne. A diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables, help fight free radicals and skin damage that may be left behind after the acne has cleared. Ointment or creams that are rich in Vitamin E can fight against bacteria and sooth the sensitized acne are. Tea tree oil and herbal extracts have been known to clear acne by fighting bacteria and regulating oil production. Zinc and Zinc Oxide are also excellent to reduce acne breakouts and prevent acne due to their anti-microbial properties.

Herbal extracts or herbs to look for in topical or ingested formulas include burdock, yellow dock, cleaver, and sarsaparilla. As adult acne has been a fairly new area of study for dermatologists and estheticians, it is best to follow a treatment plan that is unique to your severity of acne.

Natural Skin Treatments for Acne

Almost everyone has suffered from an acne breakout (or many more) in their lifetime. Acne occurs when the oil (or sebaceous) glands under hair follicles, usually on your face, neck, chest, or back, get plugged up, inflamed, or infected. Frequently the glands simply secrete too much of a thick waxy lubricant called sebum that keeps your skin healthy. This blocks the pores and creates a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Follicles then get red and inflamed.

Hormone imbalances can play a role as well. Sebum increases with the overproduction of testosterone and other androgens in teenage boys, for instance, or with women;s hormonal fluctuations, such as those associated with the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause. In mild cases of acne, whiteheads and blackheads appear, and maybe some raised red blemishes. In more severe cases, pus-filled cysts and deep nodules form around the inflamed follicles, causing unsightly bumps, tenderness, and often pain.

Organic Skin Treatments for Acne

A couple of herbal products are useful for drying up acne. Topically applied tea tree oil is a natural alternative to benzoyl peroxide. Tea tree oil is fungicidal, antiseptic, expectorant, anti-infectious, anti-inflammatory, parasiticide, and antiviral. Wipe on a 10% to 15% strength solution twice a day.

The herb chamomile also has long been used for easing skin inflammations. Make a strong chamomile tea, and wipe the cooled liquid over your face each morning. This effective daily rinse tones and cleanses.

The holistic understanding of acne is generally the result of hormonal imbalance or toxicity of the bowel or blood. Use cleansing herbs like burdock root, yellow dock root, or echinacea root to help cleanse your blood and remove toxic waste products from your liver. Use bowel-cleansing herbs like yellow dock root and psyllium seed for a week, and repeat once a month for several months, especially if you have trouble with boils, acne, and other skin problems. Take evening primrose capsules. And apply tea tree oil solution externally.

Zinc Oxide and Zinc Moisturizers

Zinc also helps absorb Vitamin A, and fights the bacteria that causes acne by strengthening the immune system, helps the body heal wounds and contains anti oxidant properties. All these are useful in tackling the secondary causes of acne and will help you greatly reduce the symptoms of acne.

Here’s a helpful tea recipe:

1 tablespoon Oregon grape root

1 tablespoon yellow dock root

1 tablespoon burdock root

1 tablespoon red clover flowers

2 cups water

Put all herbs in water and simmer 30 minutes. Drink one cup of the tea, 2 to 3 times daily.

During a breakout, eat mainly fresh fruits and vegetables, and add a six-ounce glass of cleansing vegetable juice with equal parts of cucumber, carrot, and celery, with a little parsley. Identify and drastically reduce all forms of refined sugar and fried foods in your diet – this includes honey.

Alternate hot and cold compresses over pimples once or twice a day to open the pores, cleanse them, and increase circulation to remove wastes.

Sometimes the skin will show reactions to external factors, such as bacteria, that have led to internal processes, which reflect on the skin instead of manifesting internally. While symptoms on the skin should be attended to, the real problem lies in the weakened defense system, which should be toned and strengthened so that the body will rid itself of infection.

The general guidelines for the treatment of infections also hold true for acne. And if antibiotics have been used recently, at least 1 g of vitamin C should be taken daily.

Best Acne Skin Care Treatments

If like many others you are desperate to get your acne treated in order to regain the skin you once had then using an acne skin care treatment is essential to the process. By reading through the tips provided below you should soon be back on the road to have that beautiful skin you had before you suffered from acne.

However it is important that first of all you know what acne is and then you will be able to treat it much better. A person suffers from acne because their sebaceous glands begin to produce too much oil and when combined with dead skin cells a person’s pores will then become blocked. As the pores are blocked they are unable to breathe correctly and then bacteria sets in and so blackheads and whiteheads will begin to erupt on the person’s skin.

In order to clean your face effectively whilst treating acne of any form you should not scrub it but rather gently wash it using a mild anti-bacterial soap or lotion.

Next you need to look at what you are eating and drinking. Many people do not realize this but what they eat and drink seriously affects their acne further. Therefore you should drink lots of fresh water each day. Not only will it help to remove all those unwanted toxins (which make a person’s acne worse) from the body but it is probably the most inexpensive form of acne skin care treatment.

You should also eat vegetables which contain high amounts of Vitamin A and will normally be bright orange or yellow or green in color. By eating plenty of these vegetables such as carrots, sweet corn and broccoli, cabbage etc, it will help you achieve a much better complexion on your skin.

Besides keeping the above points in mind, you should also consult your doctor.
They will be able to prescribe acne skin care treatment medications that you will not be able to find or purchase elsewhere. But as well as using the medication provided by your doctor you should look more closely at your dietary habits and make the necessary changes and do not forget to drink plenty of fresh water also.

By taking these steps in your acne skin care treatment program you should be on the road to seeing the results of your work in the mirror in a very short period of time.

Acne Treatments

TREATMENT

Acne treatment consists of reducing sebum production, removing dead skin cells, and killing bacteria. Treatment methods differ depending on how serious the acne is.

Topical Drugs

Topical drugs are applied directly to the affected areas of the skin. They are available in the form of creams, gels, lotions, or pads. They are used primarily to treat mild forms of acne in which there is little or no inflammation.

One group of topical drugs used for acne includes antibiotics. These drugs kill the bacteria that contribute to the disease. Another group of drugs is called comedolytics (pronounced KO-mee-do-LIE-tiks). These drugs loosen hard plugs and open pores. Still another group of drugs works by increasing the rate at which new skin cells form. These drugs prevent the formation of new comedos.

Topical drugs are applied once or twice a day after washing with mild soap. Treatment may have to continue anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to a few years. Side effects such as mild redness, peeling, irritation, dryness, and an increased sensitivity to sunlight may occur.

Oral Drugs

Oral drugs are taken by mouth. Doctors sometimes prescribe oral antibiotics for moderate cases of acne. These antibiotics prevent the formation of new comedos and reduce inflammation. They are usually taken once a day
for two to four months. Side effects may include allergic reactions, stomach upset, vaginal yeast infections, dizziness, and tooth discoloration.

A drug that is used for severe cases of acne is isotretinoin (pronounced i-so-TRET-uh-no-un, trade name Accutane). This drug reduces the production of sebum and the stickiness of skin cells. It is used when cysts and nodules are present. The drug may be used alone or with other topical or oral antibiotics.
Isotretinoin treatment usually lasts for four or five months. It is effective in about 60 percent of all patients. If the acne reappears, another course of treatments may be necessary. Some side effects that may accompany the use of isotretinoin include nosebleeds, dry skin, a temporary worsening of the acne, vision disorders, and increased production of liver enzymes, blood fats, and cholesterol. It may also cause birth defects and cannot, therefore, be used by pregnant women.

Women who do not respond to any of these treatments may be given another type of oral drug, an anti-androgen. Anti-androgens reduce the production of androgen and therefore reduce the formation of comedos. Certain types of oral contraceptives are also effective as anti-androgens.

The most serious forms of acne require other types of drugs, including oral corticosteroids, or anti-inflammatory drugs. These drugs are often used for the treatment of a form of acne known as acne fulminans, which occurs mostly among adolescent males. They are also used with acne that produces numerous deep, inflamed nodules that heal with scarring.