One of the most annoying skin-care situations is likely to wake up with a few unwanted pimples all over your face. It often drives us into a mad dash to “fix it!”, picking, pinching, touching, and reaching for various skin-care remedies as we plead to the gods of complexion. Even though you might be anxious to solve the problem immediately, a few typical errors can actually make matters worse. We asked experts to share their thoughts on what you should never do while you’re breaking out so you can make sure you avoid these skin-care no-nos.
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Mistakes People Make With Pimple
Avoid picking at your pimples
Squeezing or picking at any new pimples may be your first instinct, but try to control yourself. “Picking at a pimple can worsen the infection by increasing inflammation and introducing more bacteria into the skin. Increased inflammation increases the likelihood of a scar, a persistent zit in lighter skin tones, and hyperpigmentation in darker skin tones. It also prolongs the duration of an acne breakout.
What to Do Instead: Apply a hydrocolloid patch over the zit to prevent your fingers from touching it, keep bacteria out, and absorb pus if you know you can’t avoid picking.
Avoid Using Too Many Exfoliating Ingredients
Adopting a more-is-more strategy may seem like the best course of action when it comes to breakouts. Use substances that target acne, including benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid, to exfoliate your skin, but use caution when doing so.
“Excessive exfoliation can cause your skin to become dry and depleted of its natural oils. It can also exacerbate acne-prone skin, leading to further inflammation.”
What to Do Instead: Your skin will fare much better with deliberate, gentle treatment. It is recommended to exfoliate your skin no more than twice or three times a week and to avoid rubbing or scraping it while using these items. When treating a solitary breakout, use a concentrated spot treatment on the afflicted area of skin rather than using an all-over.
Avoid Overwashing Your Face
Even though bad hygiene may occasionally be a factor in outbreaks, we now know that acne has considerably more complicated causes. However, there is outdated information out there that says that when you have a breakout, you should wash your face more often or use astringent, or drying cleansers. Avoid doing it! In fact, overwashing your face might make acne worse.
What to Do Instead: As with the preceding recommendations, it’s critical to handle breakouts more gently. Wash your face with a light cleanser no more than twice a day, or after exercising or perspiring. Pat dry your skin gently; do not rub or scrub.
Do Not Skip Moisturizer
It may seem necessary for people with oily skin to completely skip moisturizer, but doing so might exacerbate acne. In fact, your body may manufacture extra oil to compensate for the lack of moisture on the surface of your skin. This is how you get an oily coating on top of red, flaky, and dried-out skin.
What to Do in Its Place: For those with oily skin, a thick moisturizer is not necessary. Use a water-based, oil-free moisturizer in its place. Even better, go for a product made with calming components like cucumber extract, peptides, circa, or aloe vera. Each time you wash your face, use it.
Avoid using topical exfoliants on cystic acne
Large, painful, deeply embedded zits that are located deeper beneath the skin are the hallmarks of cystic acne. Salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide are examples of topical exfoliating substances that can be somewhat helpful for your skin on the surface, but they won’t do much for you overall.
Both of those substances irritate and dry out the epidermis; they do not penetrate the deeper dermis, which contains the inflammation causing the pimple. By causing the skin around the pimple to become red and flaky, they [may] make the pimple appear more visible.
What to Do in Its Place: The best course of action for cystic acne is to see a dermatologist. For the fast removal of one or two cystic areas, they can administer a cortisone injection.
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