Home Remedies to fight Acne /Pimples
Teenage…. The best years of one’s life also the worst especially if the worst in has a name like ‘Acne’. Almost all of us have been plagued by these breakouts at some point of time in life. Acne is not exclusively a young person’s problem; an estimated 80 per cent of all teenagers are thought to suffer from it to some degree. Acne is caused by the increased production of hormones that stimulate the secretion of an oily substance called sebum in the skin. When this oily sebum gets trapped in the hair follicle, it clogs the pores (or the tiny skin openings). If the clogged pore bursts then bacteria spreads to the nearby tissue forming a pimple. This leads us to the next question;
What causes Acne and pimples ?
There can be a lot of reasons that cause Acne and pimples. Imbalance in the hormones, Hereditary factors, Stress, poor dietary habits, pollution etc. Although in most cases, acne does disappear over a period of time by itself, but it can certainly be bad while it lasts. And to top that if it leaves behind scars and blemishes then it certainly makes matters worse. Remember: Squeezing, touching or pricking the pimples or blackheads would increase the sebum production and also let the bacteria spread on the surface of the skin, leading to more acne. It also leads to a permanent pigmentation and the spots remain for a long time even after the pimple is healed. Although there are a lot of over the counter remedies like, soaps, creams and lotions available, they generally come with a price tag that include side effects. Remember to drink lots of water and eat healthy food. Check out some home remedies that are easy to use, economical, safe and more importantly come without any side effects.
Effective Home Remedies :
Use an ice cube. It helps shrink the redness and inflammation of a pimple and make it less noticeable.
Skin exfoliation is the most important beauty treatment that you should follow in order to maintain healthy, glowing and pimple free skin. Use a little granulated brown sugar as a scrub. It is one of the mildest natural exfoliator. It removes the dead cells, dirt, sebum and impurities from the pores, which causes pimples.
Cucumber works as astringent. Grate a small piece and squeeze out the juice. Chill it the refrigerator and dab it on your face using cotton wool. Wash it off after 15 minutes. You can even pour this juice into an ice tray, freeze and use it to rub the cube all over your face in case of severe acne. The cooling and soothing effect of cucumber will help in treating acne.
Garlic is said to be a wonder cure for acne. Crush and rub a raw garlic pod on and around the problem areas several times a day, you can clear up your skin. You may also eat three pods of raw garlic once a day for a month to see results. The garlic pods purify the blood, which help keeping pimples away. Try taking garlic pills if you are averse to eating it raw.
Neem leaves have been known to be the magic word to cure skin problems since ancient days. You may boil some leaves in a bowl of water and mix that decoction in your bath water or use it to wash your face. Fresh neem leaves can also be ground to a fine paste and mixed with some a pinch of turmeric and some multani mitti (fullers earth) to make a face pack and wash of later.
A face pack made out of besan (chick pea flour) turmeric, honey, sandal wood powder mixed in some raw milk or fresh yogurt (curd) is very soothing on the skin and helps tighten the pores. Apply this face pack 10 to 15 minutes before going for your bath.
The acidic property of lemon or tomatoes can be very useful in treating acne, scars and blemishes. Lemons clean out the dirt accumulated on the pores and will harden the sebum. Just take a slice of lemon or tomato and rub it on the affected area and leave it for few hours before rinsing your face with clean water. Another way to treat acne is to mix lemon juice with rose water in equal amount and then with this solution wash the affected area properly. You can use tomato juice and sandal wood powder too. Dab it in small dots on the affected area and leave it overnight. Wash it off the next morning.
The acidic property and high Vitamin C present in an orange juice as well as its peel can be used to treat acne but it is better to use the orange peel. Chop up orange peel when in season and dry under the sun. Grind finely and store the powder in an air tight container for further use. Add water to this powder to make a paste and then apply it on the affected area. Leave it on for ten to fifteen minutes and then wash your face with warm water.
- Veena ShyamRaja
