Skincare Plans for:
Nataliya's Skin Care Plan for Acne
As I always tell my clients:” Skin is a mirror of our internal health”. It is an outward reflection of what is going on deeply “inside”. Any skin problem has to be taken care of like a general health condition. Skin performance and skin attractiveness are dependent on a lot of things that I want to cover in the article. The secret to battle these ugly blemishes begins simply by reading these pages.
1. The first question I would like to ask you is “What does your diet look like?”
2. The second is “Do you consume enough fiber with your food?”
To have plenty of fiber in your diet is one of the most important steps to improve your skin and health in general. You’re probably annoyed by all the information about whole-grain food and etc. There should be a reason why media spends so much time preaching about it. And actually there are several reasons for it. First of all, it will help you to detoxify your body; not allowing the toxins to get trapped in the body, and the skin. Secondary, it will slow down the absorption of glucose, which allows insulin to be released in a more deliberate and measured manner and for the sugars from food to be absorbed not as fast, keeping insulin level at a healthy range. Now we’ve come to another very important aspect of your diet- sugar! Let me tell you how a sweet tooth can leave permanent marks in the skin. It is amazing that very few people consider how sugar level in our blood can break the appearance of our skin. Unfortunately those sweets don’t end up just on the hips- they also play a huge role in the development of acne. Acne is just one of the ways sugar rears its ugly head in the skin. Not going into scientific details, I’ll simply explain that high sugar meals increase body’s levels of inflammatory components and interfere with body’s minerals (iron and copper). So, look in your refrigerator, how many whole-grain products, raw vegetables and cans of pop that you have?
3. Do you take supplements?
If the answer is “Yes”, do those have essential minerals and vitamins? Lets talk about the most important ones. Chromium- is an excellent insulin regulator in the body. Insulin and glucose can be your skin’s worst enemy and chromium can help offset this chronic problem of glucose-induced inflammation that causes acne. L-Glutamine also helps eliminate those skin-health-diminishing sugar cravings, while increasing levels of skin-loving antioxidants. Zinc helps in cell regeneration, which helps reduce acne. It lessens the production of sebum and facilitates the absorption of vitamin A. In fact, some studies have suggested that people who have acne have a low level of zinc, and find that supplemental zinc helps clear up this problem. Vitamin C -is the most common antioxidant found in supplements and in the most common antioxidant found in the skin. It has been verified to promote collagen synthesis and act as an anti-inflammatory.
4. Does your dietary supplement contain iodine?
Do you use iodized salt? If the answer is “Yes”, you might consider switching your vitamin pills and get salt without any iodine, because excessive doses can be excreted out through the oil glands and flare acne up. Some diet programs emphasize seafood and seaweed, and a lot of them are high in iodine; and that can irritate follicles. Some drinking water is high in iodide and can aggravate the problem.
5. Do you take birth control such as “Ovral”or “Lo Ovral”?
Some high progestin pills may flare up acne severely. The more estrogen dominant pills such as “Ortho-Novum”, “Demulen”, and “Ortho-tricyclen” are friendlier and usually improve acne.
6. Do you cleanse your skin properly or at all?
It is one of the most important steps in anti-acne battle. The reason is simple- if you leave your face unwashed; you support the best environment for the bacteria to grow and bloom on your skin (imagine it!).
7. Do you exfoliate your skin?
It is a very helpful step in an anti-acne regiment to remove dead skin cells and improve the shape and the function of the pore. Although, if you have cystic and inflamed pustules, I would not recommend using mechanical exfoliation, such as scrub or microdermabrasion, because they can aggravate acne. In this case BHA products (salicylic acid products at 2% concentration) or AHA products (alpha hydroxy acid at 10% concentration) are preferable.
8. Do you use topical disinfectants?
Sulfur can be a good skin disinfectant. But as all the skin disinfectant it can be too drying and some people are sensitive to it. I would recommend doing a patch test first regardless your skin sensitivities; if your skin can afford it, that is the way to go. I get a lot of questions about Benzoyl peroxide –main ingredient in Proactive. It is a topical disinfectant that dries out sebaceous glands and kills problem-causing bacteria. It is a good medication, but only if you use it for a very short period of time (approximately 1-2 weeks). In long-term use it creates a lot of oxygen reactive species (free radicals) that damage the skin. It makes the skin to be very sensitive to sun (you better be wearing sun block!) and also negates the effectiveness of most retinoids (Retin-A, Tazorac) and cannot be used at the same time.
9.Have you tried retinoids (Retin-A, Differin, Tazorac)?
There is an immense amount of research showing these to be effective in the treatments of acne. Depending on your skin type you can use these up to twice a day. You can also use these only at nighttime in combination with using a BHA or AHA during the day. You need to ask your doctor and experiment to see which frequency, combination and order of application works best for your skin.
10. Do you use Vitamin C products?
Vitamin C is the most powerful antioxidants ever tested (through independent clinical tests). For example, Super Serum from IS Clinical is designed to smooth skin texture, reduce scar tissue, protect against UV damage, encourage and facilitate collagen production, and provide superior antioxidant protection. IS Clinical vitamin C formulation combines clinically proven Vitamin C (stabilized L-Ascorbic Acid, a powerful antioxidant), Pentapeptide Amino Acids (aids in reducing scar tissue and stretch marks), Centella Asiatica (phenomenal healing and potent antioxidant ingredient), Vitamin B5 (essential for increasing cellular integrity), and Kojic Acid (controls acne and uneven pigmentation), resulting in one of the most technologically advanced skin care products ever produced.
11. Are you stressed out?
We all are in our own ways. It would be ridiculous to ask you to stop stressing yourself out, but just for your knowledge, stress is a very aggravating factor in acne flare-up. What exactly happens when we are having stress? It causes the increase in hormone levels and increased production of oil, more cells to impact and aggravate the complexion problem. It can cause existing impactions to break down, becoming inflammatory and developing red nodules and pustules.
Suggested treatments that I perform in my office, which make a huge difference in the battle against acne for my clients:
- Oxygen Detoxifying Treatment
- Microdermabrasion
- LED (blue spectrum of light)
- Cellular Cleanse Therapy
- BHA peel
- Jessner peel
- Ultrasonic treatment with anti-acne medication
- European anti-acne medical facial
When All Described Above Fails:
If your breakouts persist after you’ve tried the steps I’ve described, it may be necessary to consider more serious treatments such as Photodynamic treatment with 5-ALA; antibiotics, birth control or Accutane as the last option in this lineup because of the very serious potential side effects.
