Woman with acne on her jaw

These Bad Habits Make Your Acne Worse

Almost everyone dreams of healthy and blemish-free skin, but your body might have a different take on the matter. Gleaning from acne treatment experts in Provo, if breakouts continually give you hell, you have your hormones and genes to thank for that. These are the two leading factors standing between you and flawless skin.

Acne manifests as unsightly pimples when bacteria, oil, or dead skin clog your hair follicles. If you have oily skin, you’re more susceptible to a breakout. However, by breaking some of your bad habits, you can keep the acne in check.

Put Away Your Cell Phone

No, this is not an invitation to buy into all the crazy conspiracy theories. But it’s true that cell phone usage can worsen your skin breakout, but the reason is quite straightforward. Unless you’re using handsfree kits, you’ll naturally hold up the phone to your ear.

The physical stimulation causes the oil glands in the skin to produce more oil. The heat from the phone causes the bacteria population to multiply, and when the excess oil and bacteria mix, a breakout occurs. Given that numerous studies have found that cell phones are among your dirtiest items, how often do you clean yours?

Failing to clean your phone increases the chances of transferring the bacteria to your skin, and you don’t want that to happen. Wiping your phone with a microfiber cloth reduces the bacteria population by a large margin. Alternatively, you can opt to use Bluetooth earphones when making a call.

Don’t Give Up Too Soon

Woman happily cleansing her faceIt’s understandable that you want flawless skin, but that’s not how your body works. There’s no silver bullet or a quick fix that gives you great overnight results. It can take you weeks or even months before the effects of an acne treatment can kick in.

Thus, you need to practice a little bit of patience when dealing with a particularly bad breakout. Don’t give in to the temptation to switch treatment products every week as this only serves to aggravate the condition. Instead, stick with one product for about six to eight weeks before giving it the boot.

If you don’t see any progress by then, it’s okay to try another product. Sometimes, it can take up to four months for acne to clear up even with proper treatment.

Lay Off the Face

No, you don’t get acne because your skin is dirty. That is likely one of the biggest myths about acne. So please don’t buy fall for the temptation to wash your face repeatedly. Washing your face too many times is harmful to your skin. It strips away essential oils from the skin, which ironically causes it to produce more oil. Never wash your face more than twice a day.

Again, you shouldn’t exfoliate more than twice in a week. Make sure that your washcloth is clean and dry before using it. Dirty and damp washcloths are a bacteria haven.

With the fashion world setting the bar for beautiful skin, having skin breakouts can be quite devastating. However, you shouldn’t let this desperation drive you to take drastic measures to clear it up quickly. You need to exercise a little bit of patience as you can’t recover from a skin breakout faster than your body can heal.

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