5 Tips to Help You Get Rid of Acne and Spots

Suffering from Acne as a teenager is hard. People around you in class flaunting their perfect skin and flawless cheeks and forehead, their matte skin glowing in the sun whilst your own reflects the light with its constant greasiness. Its frustrating to say the very least, and finding something that gets rid of Acne can be even more infuriating.

As a young male sufferer myself, I remember spending countless hours raiding websites for some kind of answer to my problems. I was lead on by numerous claims of vanishing Acne from phony sites and campaigns and YouTube videos, and it is heartbreaking when things don't work out.

But now, a year after my quest began, I have (almost) clear skin. I didn't use any 'all natural' tree oils or whatever else any website claimed to work, I just followed some simple rules and got help from the right people.

It sounds so simple, but the benefits of drinking plenty water are endless.

Of course, don't expect to see results overnight - that goes for any of these tips, but this tip will help you massively on the long term.

Why it works

Water helps to keep your skin cleansed and hydrated, making your skin not only look better, but feel better too. It helps to flush out toxins and dirts that clog the pores of your skin. It does this because when the body has too much water, naturally we urinate and sweat. This sweating helps flush all the grime as well as hydrating the face.

How to take action

Try drinking 8 or more glasses of water a day. This may seem hard, but after a month or so the benefits will feel so great that you wont be able to stop.

If you are having particular trouble with this tip, try watching this video for some inspiration and guidance.

I know, its so tempting. You see a big nasty spot just on the tip of your nose and it feels like it's just waiting to be squeezed.

Stop. Don't do it.

Spots contain thickened oil, skin cells, bacteria, and white blood cells. Squeezing them damages the skin around the spot, and the bacteria inside can cause even more spots to arrive by clogging up surrounding pores.

If you really must pot a spot, make sure your hands are cleaned thoroughly. (Dirt from your hands can cause all kinds of mayhem in your pores). Then gently pop the spot, causing minimal damage to the surrounding skin.

Touching your face in general is a bad idea as the things we touch are coated in dirt. It is estimated that the average person touches his/her face up to 5,500 times a day. That's 2-4 times a minute. Imagine, all that dirt from the money you just touched, on your face. Its easy to see why stopping all this face touching is a good idea.

This may seem unrelated to the facial region, but as discussed before in Tip 1, sweating can help get rid of grime and dirt from within your pores. This is key to getting a cleaner, healthier face.

Exercising for 30 minutes to 1 hour a day will have a significant impact on both your facial and physical health in general. Why not kill two birds with one stone? However, be sure to wash your face with cold water no more than 30 minutes after a workout. While sweating is good for the face, leaving all the nastiness to swirl about on your face and re-clog up your pores is probably not the best of ideas.

Why cold water you ask? Cold water helps close your pores, while warm helps open them. You want your pores to be closed during the day to stop airborne dirt and pollution affecting your face.

Washing your face 2 times a day can make a huge difference to the condition of your skin. If you make an effort to wash your face with warm water (for opening the pores for cleansing) once in the morning and once after work or school, you will help you body to cleanse your face enormously.

How to effectively wash your face

Firstly wash your face with warm water. No soap or anything else added.

You should use a soft flannel or cloth to do this, so as not to irritate the skin.

After the first wash, use a face wash or exfoliater on your skin. This will help cleanse it more deeply.

Finally, using the same flannel or cloth, wash your face with cold water.

Doing this twice daily will help to ensure your face is grime free and as healthy as possible.

Consulting my doctor was the most productive step I took. After seeing improvements from doing all the other tips, I still wasn't satisfied with my skin being the way it was.

After seeing a doctor, I was told I could have a special face cream, almost like an industrial spot remover. This helped to an extent, but after a while it wasn't good enough. I was then prescribed tetralysil pills. The pills almost completely cleared my skin when in combination with the cream.

I am not, of course, saying that everyone should go and ask for tetralysil pills. However, if your skin is at the point where after 3 months none of the tips above have made any improvements, the doctors or a dermatologist is the place to go.

It can be embarrassing to have your face examined and looked at, especially when you hate what is on it so much. However, it is well worth it as you eventually end up with practically normal skin. If you are lucky enough to live somewhere with free health care, then this step is a miracle. It does come with side effects, for example dry skin, but these can be easily combated with moisturiser etc.

Another important note when using the cream provided by doctors and dermatologists is to make sure to always wash ones face before applying the cream. Rubbing cream into dirty skin will only solve half the problem, and skin problems such a blackheads would still occur, defeating the point. However if you keep to the steps above and use them in tandem with eachother, it'll be well worth your while.

I hope that this has helped you start to end your seemingly eternal quest for clear skin. It is possible, but does require dedication, patience and time. With all of these, you can hope to reap the results that you desire and feel healthier and better about yourself and your appearance.

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