How do I get rid of acne?

Sadly, the most effective way seems to be getting a few years older.

Go and speak to your doctor. There are a number of medications up to and including the dreaded Accutane that can quickly improve acne.

In the meantime use a gentle cleanser and moisturiser, don’t use a face scrub as that will make things worse, and consider using topical benzyl peroxide (in the UK you can get this without perscription and it’s pretty effective).

As for improving as you get older, this is true, but I still had pretty bad acne in my 30’s when I actually got round to seeing a dermatoligist. In retrospect I should have gone sooner

Get plenty of sleep.
Drink LOTS of water.
EXERCISE!
Wash face morning and night.

What have you tried? Have you attempted to use proactive or anything like that?

Growing older is the best cure… but no some simple ones you can do without having to see the doctor…

-Drink LOTS of water
-Don’t drink much milk (or consume many other dairy products)
-Avoid pop… and I mean AVOID.
-Greasy foods in general, avoid (fast food especially)
-Lots of vegetables, especially carrots (I forget the exact vitamin or whatever in carrots, but it helps a lot).
-If you work out or do something else that causes you to sweat a lot, wipe your face off with hot water and a rag as soon as you’re done.
-Wash your face multiple times a day with hot water and a rag.

Past that, you can get mild acne medications, which DO help…. but if that combo of stuff won’t work, you will need to talk to a doctor to get something prescription strength.

And take heart, that in most cases it usually goes away within a couple years.

Diet and water are important but a lot of the advice like ‘avoid chocolate’ etc. have proven to be wives tales.

Round One: Try a system like Proactive. It combines two of the best OTC treatments for acne – salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide. I’d lean towards scrubs and cleansers that contain salicylic acid as opposed to the benzoyl because benzoyl is so drying. Plus, the salicylic also acts like an exfoliant. This first approach will definitely make a difference.

Round Two: See a dermatologist for a prescription like Retin A or an anti-bacterial gel. This will help if you’re not getting relief with the OTC treatment.

Round Three: If the two previous don’t work, your dermatologist may consider putting you on accutane. This is a pretty serious, hardcore drug with super-drying side effects. It doesn’t ‘cure’ acne per se, but it does serious damage to the sebaceous glands that produce acne.

Other things like the birth control pill will also make a dent. Like I said above, there’s really no cure for acne, but there are ways to control it and hopefully, you’ll grow out of it quickly. Just be prepared for a little trial and error until you find what works for you.

You might think I’m crazy but this worked for me… i stopped using soap/facewash. I thoroughly rinse with hot water, essentially washing with water only. Once i quit the soap, the zits went away. I can only equate this the concept of becoming sick less often because you do not take medicine. If you use medicine for every little thing (or facewash everyday), your body (or in this case, face) is unable to ward off unhealthy things independently. I may be heckled for this, because most people rely on cosmetics and chemicals/pharmacueticals as if we actually need them… but human beings are made to be fueled and healed by what naturally occurs on the earth. Works for me.

live on salad and fruit, tough i know, but i promise it will improve your complexion immeasurably

Get a dermatology appointment. I have have a few friends who got medication for it, and it started clearing up within a week. My suggestion for the time until you get the appointment would be to wash your face with hot water then rinse with cold. Plus, make sure you don’t use soap, lotion, or makeup.

Use a sensible combination of the above advice. I would say see a doctor if you’re able, and if not try Proactive. Don’t wash like crazy because that only stimulates oil glands to work over time. A healthier diet and lots of water should help. Also, smoking or being around smoke can irritate skin. I had HORRIBLE acne until I moved out of my mother’s smoke chamber of a house. My parents never had health insurance for us, so we could never afford a dermatologist. Get whatever professional help you can.

This works wonders for me. I used to have pretty bad acne. Changing my diet didn’t work, using expensive prescription stuff didn’t work. This stuff cleared me right up and continues to work to this day. It’s formulated for sensitive skin and if you use it once every day, your acne should clear up. I believe there are different formulas for different skin types as well.

@KatawaGrey : Ooooh, yes. I use that regularly. I wish I had discovered that in my teen years.

I drank lots of water and used the loreal acne treatment. I use it everyday and never have any trouble

With heat and salt.

Wash your face thoroughly with your favorite soap.

On severe, newly appearing blemishes, use a spoon and a cup of piping hot water.

Place the spoon in the cup of hot water, then dab the very warm spoon on the blemishes. Let the heat penetrate the blemish. Repeat this process for about five to ten minutes, depending on how severe any new breakouts are.

Then, you’ll need another cup of water, some rock salt and some cottonballs.
Take about two table spoons of rocksalt and dissolve it completely in about ½ cup of filtered water. Take a cottonball and wipe your entire face very thoroughly with this tincture. Let it air dry naturally.

As it drys, you will feel the salt tingle and heal the skin.
If your acne is very severe, repeat this same process at night before bed.

It is virtually free, no chemicals, and it works.

@MrsDufresne: Wow! That sounds like a great treatment! How effective is it?

@KatawaGrey Very effective. It works better than any topical, chemical treatment I’ve tried. (i.e. Proactiv, Murad, etc). I discovered this after researching the Zeno device, and a product that I purchased a while back after nothing else worked called Acne LTD. These products are very expensive, so I decided to try simulating them at home for free.

@MrsDufresne: Thank you so much for posting this! I will try that next time and maybe replace my acne scrub. :)

I don’t have acne, but regularly I try to practice some tips those keep me away form acne, have a look at the following tips:

1) Wash your face daily minimum twice. Make sure you wash your face in the morning.

2) After washing make sure you are using a clean cloth to dry face.

3) Avoid touching your face as much as you can. You may have oil on your fingers.

4) Make sure your pillow is laundered frequently using hot water.

5) Some people prefer to try prescription medicines.

Thanks.

Drink lot of water,say no to junk foods.Try using natural Organic Carrier oil…I would recommend Avocado oil.