Natural Cure for Acne

Acne is the medical term for pimples, zits etc. It presents on the skin as blackheads (open comedones), whiteheads (closed comedones), pimples papules (bumps under the skin with no 'head') and cysts (deep seated infection).

Acne can be a mild condition (odd pimple) or severe and occurs most often on the face, but may involve the neck, chest, back and upper arms.

Acne usually begins mildly in the early teens, gradually becoming worse and then after a time usually improves. Your genetic background, diet, environmental factors and lifestyle can greatly effect how long the condition will last. Acne that is mistreated can often set up a long term imbalance in the body and may last into the 30s and 40s. In women, it may be more troublesome just before periods and occasionally persists until menopause.

Acne occurs when the oil glands of the skin (sebaceous glands) are out of balance. At puberty, because of hormonal factors, these glands start producing an oil material called sebum which is discharged onto the skin's surface. Sometimes the wall of the duct carrying the oil (sebum) to the surface breaks, this in-turn irritates the tissue causing redness, swelling and pus, resulting in a pimple.

Bacteria which live on sebum appear in large numbers in acne lesions causing additional aggravation. The ducts may also become plugged with sebum and dead skin cells (keratin), forming blackhead and whiteheads.

The combination of oil and sweat glands (sebaceous and sudiferous glands) keeps our skin healthy and elastic, however, the problem lies when oil production becomes unbalanced and there is an overproduction of sebum. In most cases this is caused by over-washing the face using ordinary soap which not only strips the skin prompting the body to over-correct and produce more oil, but also causes and imbalance in the pH of the skin causing it to become more alkaline.

The combined excretion of oil and sweat form the ACID MANTLE' which surrounds the body and has a pH of 5.5. The ACID MANTLE is our body's first line of defence against bacteria. Bacteria dislike the slight acid conditions. The acid mantle develops at puberty. When we are children we do not have an acid mantle and this is the reason children are more susceptible to diseases, virus and fungal infection like ringworm.

The continued cleansing of the skin with alkaline products like soap, create a see-saw effect on the body's hormonal system which controls the amount of oil being produced. In order to correct an alkaline skin condition it will have to produce much more oil than a neutral or slightly acid condition. Therefore, one of the simplest ways to prevent an imbalance occuring on teenage skins is to use an acid (pH) balanced cleanser such as Living Nature Purifying Cleansing Gel made with manuka oil.

For mature adult acne or oily skins we recommend Living Nature Vitalising Creamy Cleanser which gently lifts impurities without stripping the skin's natural oils. This cleanser is also pH balanced and available through NZPacific.com.