Acne treatment reviews

It is important to find a good scalp acne remedy if you suffer from pimples on the scalp. They can be irritating, painful and ugly. Because we tend not to see them ourselves, we often pick them open by scratching our scalp before we even know that they are there. Scalp wounds tend to bleed and this can make the spots visible, especially if your hair is thinning, fine or very short.

This article will look at scalp acne remedies, prevention and causes so that you can see what to do to solve the problem of pimples on the scalp.

Causes Of Common Scalp Acne

Most acne on the scalp has the same cause as acne on the face, that is, overproduction of sebum leading to blockages of hair follicles, which often become infected. In many cases, to go along with scalp acne you will have oily skin and a condition called seborrheic dermatitis which causes inflammation. The scalp will be itchy and red, and skin will flake off as dandruff.

Yeast has been associated with the condition of seborrheic dermatitis and so more serious cases are sometimes prescribed with an anti fungal agent. Topical steroids may be prescribed at the same time. These are in the form of solutions or ointments that are applied to the scalp.

Aloe vera gel has been suggested as an effective treatment for seborrheic dermatitis in some cases. This is a natural extract from the aloe vera plant.

Scalp Acne Treatment

The best scalp acne treatment is a shampoo that treats the seborrhea. This is usually marketed as dandruff shampoo. There are several different brands that contain different active ingredients. You may need to try more than one before you find the one that works best for you.

Prevention Of Acne On The Scalp

When you see a noticeable improvement in the condition of your scalp and your dandruff is gone, you can prevent further inflammation by continuing to use the shampoo from time to time. Start with once per week, increasing to once per fortnight and eventually once per month. Most people find this to be an effective scalp acne treatment after the condition is first brought under control.

Acne Keloidalis Nuchae

There is a more serious form of acne that mainly affects people of African descent, usually young men. This is called acne keloidalis nuchae and it is found mainly on the occipital scalp at the back of the head. The hair follicles become chronically infected. If untreated, disfiguring plaques form and hair will be lost.

Shaving the head or neck or clipping the hair very short makes the condition worse and may be a cause. It seems that when curly, coarse hair is shaved or cut close it can re-enter and irritate the follicle as it grows. Exercising in shirts with collars that rub against the neck, like a football shirt, can also contribute.

Therefore the condition is more likely in black athletes and men who have their hair shaved or cut short frequently. It is rare in women, perhaps because they usually have longer hair. See your doctor as soon as possible for scalp acne remedies if you think you may have acne keloidalis nuchae.

The first thing to remember when you are seeking out foods to prevent acne, is that particular foods do not have superpowers. The healthiest foods are good for us, not because they target disease and conquer it, but because they provide the building blocks that the body needs to produce and let loose its own disease-fighting forces. At the same time, unhealthy foods introduce toxins that the body has to deal with, using up its resources and adding to its problems.

So left to itself, in ideal conditions, the body operates what is called homeostasis, where it prevents and cures its own diseases. It does this via the immune response, which identifies and deals with viruses, bacteria, toxins or foreign substances.

Imagine that you eat something like the worst kind of snack food made almost entirely of chemical additives and refined starches and fats. When that hits the stomach, the digestive system hits the panic button because there are a ton of things there that it does not recognize as food. The immune response rushes in and identifies a few nasty additives that might need neutralizing, and pulls them out for the liver to detoxify before they are passed out through the kidneys. The digestive system deals with the rest of the stuff as best it can, trying to extract any traces of vitamins and minerals that might be in the food, storing excess fat by filling the body's fat cells or creating new ones so that the fat can be used for energy later if there is a famine, and excreting anything that is useless through the rear passage.

Now imagine that you eat a fresh apple. It's even an organic apple so there are no pesticides. When that hits the stomach it is instantly recognized. No need for the immune system to rush to the rescue. Foods to prevent acne are foods like that apple.

So when you eat fresh food that is not refined or processed, and some of it preferably raw, the immune system can get on with its real job of ridding the body of infections and toxins that come in through the skin. So the body will become something closer to the natural self healing organism that it was designed to be. And one of the things that it will heal, of course, is acne.

That is why you will often be told that it is important to eat a healthy diet to prevent acne, but without naming any particular foods. Food should be as close to its natural state as possible but you can eat a wide range of whole, healthy foods.

Dairy foods can be included if they are organic, so that they do not contain the sex hormones that are fed to most cows. Sex hormones are the reason that the body starts producing excess sebum in puberty, causing acne, so we have enough of our own without adding to them by drinking them in our milk.

So the best foods to prevent acne include fresh fruit and vegetables, meat that is not blackened or fried (frying meats and fat can produce toxins), whole grains like corn, brown rice and whole grain pasta, nuts, seeds, beans etc.

Medical treatment for acne vulgaris is often recommended by doctors and dermatologists for moderate to severe cases of acne. If you just have mild acne, the best treatment is usually home acne treatment such as washing with a mild soap and having a healthy diet. The diet should include plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit, and less processed and sugary foods.

Medical treatment for acne vulgaris can take several forms. The first stage is to try applying certain topical treatments. You can try each of these in turn for a month to six weeks. If the acne improves, continue. If not, move on to the next option.

1. Benzoyl Peroxide

This can dry up acne vulgaris for many people. Products containing benzoyl peroxide include Brevoxyl and Benzac.

2. Salicylic Acid

This is another option which many people find helps their acne. Products containing salicylic acid include Propa pH and Stridex.

Aspirin is a derivative of salicylic acid and that is why some people treat pimples at home with soluble aspirin dissolved in a few drops of water to make a paste. However, it is more convenient to buy a commercial acne treatment. It looks pretty weird walking around with white aspirin paste on your face!

If neither benzoyl peroxide nor salicylic acid works for you, you will need to have a prescription medication.

3. Topical Antibiotics

The first step for a medical practitioner is often to prescribe antibiotic creams, gels or lotions which are applied directly to the pimples. These are for external use only.

4. Oral Antibiotics

In some cases you may be prescribed a course of oral antibiotics that you take internally. This treatment often helps acne scars to heal so it is more likely to be used where the acne is deep or is producing scarring.

If you take oral antibiotics, be sure to follow up with a course of probiotics afterward. You can buy probiotics from any health food store. This repopulates the healthy bacteria in the stomach. These can be killed off by antibiotics and the result can be an overgrowth of candida, leading to yeast infections.

If you think that you already have an overgrowth of candida, it is better not to take antibiotics for your acne but treat the candidiasis first. You may find that acne improves or even disappears when the yeast is under control. Candidiasis is not so likely to be a problem for teenagers, but is sometimes involved in adult acne.

5. Prescription Retinoids

Retinoids are related to vitamin A and they have many applications in medicine, one of which is treating acne. As with antibiotics, you can get topical retinoids in the form of creams or gels which are applied directly to pimples (e.g. Retin-A, Differin, Tazorac). Retinoids can irritate the skin so in some cases the acne gets worse before it gets better.

There are also oral retinoids that you take internally, such as Accutane. These usually take several months to have an effect. Oral retinoids should only be taken under medical supervision. There can be side effects and overdose is dangerous. Women taking retinoids must not get pregnant because they can cause birth defects, so oral retinoids are more likely to be prescribed for men as a medical treatment for acne vulgaris.