Natural Remedies For Acne: What's New, What Works

If you were to ask most people who have acne what causes their skin to break out, you might get answers on the lines of "eating fried food," or "my hormones," or "oily skin," or "acne bacteria," and all of those answers would be right. Really getting acne under control, however, always requires a multipronged program that you follow faithfully over a period of several weeks to several months or even longer.

What Really Causes Acne?

Acne is an inflammatory disease of the skin. The inflammation that causes acne, however, is generated by the immune system when it detects acne bacteria in large numbers living in the pores of the skin. And those acne bacteria don't multiply to large enough numbers to get the attention of the immune system unless they are trapped inside pores in the skin, which in turn aren't clogged unless there is some combination of excessive production of skin oils and the accumulation of dead skin cells in their linings.

Combination Treatments for Acne

Dermatologists used to prescribe single treatments for acne and hope for the best. Nowadays prescribing just one medication or just one kind of skin restorative acne vulgaris treatment is relatively rare. And acne products themselves are beginning to reflect this understanding of how to achieve clear skin. For example:

• The retinoid medication adapalene, which is marketed under the trade name Differin, is a kinder, gentler version of the retinoid medications Roaccutane and Retin-A. Differin stimulates the growth of the skin underneath cysts and blocked pores so that they open from the inside out. Differin and drugs like it are sometimes the only way to restore a smooth contour to the skin without surgery. But once new growth in the skin is stimulated by Differin, acne bacteria find new pores to infect. New medications combine both adapalene and the bactericide benzoyl peroxide to prevent newly smooth skin from promptly popping out in new acne blemishes.
• Germ-killing benzoyl peroxide kills Propionibacterium acnes, the microbe that causes mild to moderate common acne. However, in the process of killing acne bacteria over about 48 hours, it also dries out the skin. Even though the recommendation seems obvious now, it is just now becoming common for dermatologists to recommend that their patients who use benzoyl peroxide also use a moisturizer.

See Also: What Acne is and How it Affects the Afflicted

• The rich golden tones of Asian skin types and the dark brown tones of African skin hold their own healing secret, the skin pigment melanin. The skin quenches inflammation with melanin, and these skin types heal from acne relatively fast. However, when there is a lot of inflammation, the skin produces a lot of melanin, and that excess melanin can cause long-lasting brown or black blotches that can be a bigger cosmetic problem than the acne they replace. Dermatologists are beginning to realize that sunscreen and skin lighteners may be essential to healing acne on Asian and African skin types.

Combinations Of Natural Products That Work For Acne

The same trend has caught on in the production of natural products for acne. More and more acne experts are recognizing that it is a combination of natural products that works best for achieving clear skin. Some of the basics just about everyone who has acne should use on a daily basis include:

• Tea tree oil. This Australian herbal extract has been used for about 125 years to treat skin infections of all kinds, especially acne. Unlike the more commonly prescribed benzoyl peroxide, tea tree oil also fights staph bacteria (which can cause pyramidal pimples filled with yellow pus) and strep bacteria (which can cause purple pimples that hurt) and moisturizes the skin. Tea tree oil kills bacteria more slowly than benzoyl peroxide, but it gets the harmful bacteria benzoyl peroxide misses. Children under the age of 12 should not be treated with tea tree oil.
• Licorice extract. Long an ingredient in products for diaper rash, licorice extract is being used more and more as a remedy for inflammation of all kinds in the skin. Licorice helps the skin conserve natural anti-inflammatory hormones that keep an overactive immune system in balance. It's important, however, to use licorice on your and not in you. Don't take products that contain licorice by mouth unless it is a special kind of licorice known as deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL).
• Green tea extract. Green tea extract reduces the production of oily sebum in the base of skni pores. It doesn't eliminate skin oil production, which actually would harm the skin, but reduces it just enough that oil does not accumulate to levels that trap bacteria inside the pores. Green tea also provides antioxidants to the skin that help it preserve collagen and avoid breakdown of collagen that accumulates as the pink tissue over a scar or cyst.
• Passionflower tea is drunk as a sleep aid. Passionflower extract relaxes the skin, making it less responsive to changes in temperature, less likely to flush or blush in response to strong emotion. Passionflower extract works hand in hand with azelaic acid, which occurs naturally in wheat and rye, preventing the sudden redness that occurs in acne rosacea.
• Aloe vera is well known as a treatment for cuts, scrapes, and minor burns. It helps the skin knit together to cover a wound. If you have injured your skin in your attempts to pop pimples or mash blackheads (two activities that never improve the overall appearance of the skin) aloe vera can help it heal faster.

Which of these products won't work for acne? In general, any product you use as the only product for treating your acne is doomed to fail. 

See Also: Top Acne Treatments - Proven Remedies to Get Rid of Acne Fast

All of these natural products used every day, along with regular cleansing of the skin and use of appropriate, light makeup, can help you get acne under control. You aren't likely to find all of these helpful natural ingredients in a single acne product that comes in a single bottle. But you can find all of these natural products for acne in acne treatment kits that offer you a collection of products you use every day at a reasonable price, usually with a money back guarantee.