Pregnancy and Acne

The first three months of pregnancy are a time filled with an amazing amount of stress, excitement and worry. It also is a time filled with hormone changes within the body that have an effect on every system.

Even if you have never had acne before you may find yourself facing breakouts during pregnancy. The reason for this is the increased levels of hormones within the body. The hormones which are now increasing cause the over production of oil from the glands in the body and this is one of the contributing factors to acne. If you notice that you are starting to break out an over, the counter treatment is usually effective but it might be a good idea to speak with your doctor before starting any treatments.

In order to help control acne during pregnancy there are a few things you should do and it starts before you ever get pregnancy.

The first thing to do if you are planning on getting pregnant is to check and make sure that the medications you are using will not be harmful to the unborn child. There are many acne medications, which may prove harmful. Check with your doctor especially if you use treatments like tetracycline antibiotics, Isotretinoin, or retinoids. There is only one antibiotic that is considered safe during pregnancy and unfortunately, it is not very effective on the bacteria that resides on the skin.

Once you are pregnant, expect your skin to dry out more. This means normal over the counter acne treatments may end up giving you problems with excessive dryness. In order to avoid this consider using natural based products like Tea tree oil and witch hazel instead. Use an every day face wash instead of a medicated or exfoliating face wash and make sure that it is made for sensitive skin or is extremely mild.

If you are eating lots of vegetables and fruits in order to help an already existing problem with acne you are in luck since this type of diet is healthy during pregnancy as well. It is also important to drink plenty of watch this helps maintain hydration, which has been known to be an issue during pregnancy in some women.

Vitamin supplements are not only good for your unborn baby but also good for your skin. Many vitamin supplements for use during pregnancy contain increased quantities of the types of vitamins you look for in healthy skin.

Are you tired of hearing "ugh, what's that on your face?" when it's obviously a pimple or some other blemish? Don't you just wish you knew the right and wrong things to do when you're trying to rid yourself of the horrible curse that is acne? Well, don't worry, cause today we're going to explore 8 Acne Myths And How To Get Rid Of It. But before we get into that, you should thank us for helping you out with your pimple problem and subscribe, then click that notification bell. Hey, don't mention it, what are Besties for? Alright so first, we're going to talk about all sorts of myths about pimples and blemishes, that is to say, acne. Acne is terrible and can really hurt a person’s self-esteem. Whether you have acne as a teenager or if it’s adult onset acne, it can seriously be a drag. Since we all dream of “perfect skin”, it’s easy to do a quick google search to find out how to help clear up your complexion. Your Bestie always delivers; it’s full of methods that claim to get rid of acne. But like most things, you shouldn’t believe everything you read or hear on the internet. Especially when it comes to your skin, and especially if you have sensitive skin. More often than not, easy-fix methods have the opposite effect and can actually make your skin worse. Make sure to do thorough research before you try any acne-solution on your face. Today, we've got a video of myths about acne and acne-solutions that have been debunked. Hopefully, it will make your road to clear skin easier!

1.The Way You Eat and What You Eat Doesn’t Affect the Spread of Acne: There is an old myth that says that there is no relationship between your diet and acne but science has debunked this idea. Products with a high glycemic index as well as the hormones that are contained in milk can cause acne and clog your pores.

2.Smoking Causes Acne: There are a plethora of health risks associated with smoking like cancer and lung disease, but causing acne is not one of them. Smoking does slow down skin regeneration, which causes acne to heal more slowly. It does not, however, cause acne.

3.Makeup/Cosmetics Cause Acne: This is a half-truth. Not all cosmetics are bad for your skin. Try searching for products that are labeled as non comedogenic as they are made specifically for problem skin. Also, avoid all products containing alcohols and oils as they cause dryness and will clog your pores, respectively.

4.Tanning Helps Clear Acne: This is a harmful misconception. UV rays can actually cause the emergence of more acne. If you currently have acne, stay away from tanning for excessive periods of time. If you have to be in the sun, be sure to use sunscreen to protect your skin from the rays and your acne potentially spreading.

5.Stress Causes Acne: This is also a misconception. Stress cannot cause new pimples to form. However, it may slow down the healing for pimples that are already present on your face.

6.Washing Your Face Often Will Clear Up Acne: Also untrue. Acne and blackheads are caused by the clogging of pores so washing your face on the surface won’t unclog your pores. In fact, excessive face-washing may lead to irritation and cause your acne to worsen. Use a sulfate-free cleanser to avoid irritating your skin and pat-dry your face afterward.

7.Toothpaste Helps Get Rid of Acne: Toothpaste contains chemicals that cause mild burns which can certainly dry acne but may also cause irritation and rashes. Try using benzoyl peroxide-based acne treatments instead. They are developed specifically for acne.

8.Popping Zits: This is pretty common knowledge. Popping zits can permanently scar your faceby damaging infected follicles and thereby aggravate the inflammation. If you decide to pop your pimples, make sure to clean your hands before and after because touching your face with unclean hands can worsen your acne. So now that the myths about that horrible scourge are out of the way, let's get to the real meat of the video: how does one get rid of acne? Well, why don't we just get right into it, shall we?First, you'll have to figure out what KIND of acne you have. Do you want to get rid of your Blackheads? These are the little black dots that'll appear on your face, mostly around your nose or T-Zone, but keep in mind they can show up just about anywhere: the back, neck, chest, shoulders, and arms. BIO CLARITY tells us that: "Blackheads are one of two types of comedones (a skin-coloured, small bump (papules) frequently found on the forehead and chin of those with acne) or acne lesions caused by clogged pores. Blackhead comedones are open versus closed, leaving the plug at the top of the clogged pore exposed to air on the skin’s surface. It’s this exposure to oxygen that accounts for their color, which can not only be black but also gray, yellow or brown." Luckily, they're usually pretty painless and easy to get off. Whiteheads? Remember when we talked about how black heads are closed comedones? Well, whiteheads are open comedones. If it's small, if it's white and if it's round on your skin's surface, there's a good chance it's a white head. They can vary in size, they can appear anywhere but best of all, they're usually pretty painless, and generally considered to be mild. Papules? This is where we're going to dive into the grosser forms of ance, so hold on. These happen when blocked pores become more and more irritated, growing in size and digging deeper into your skin. Afterward, if pimples get trapped underneath the skin's surface, they'll turn into papules. These monsters are defined by BIO CLARITY pretty clearly: "red, sore spots which can’t be popped (please don’t try! Squeezing the oil, bacteria, and skin cell mixture can result in long term scars that may be unresponsive to acne treatments). They’re formed when the trapped, infected pore becomes increasingly inflamed and irritated, and they usually feel hard to the touch. Papules are small (less than 1 centimeter in diameter) with distinct borders; when clusters of papules occur near each other, they can appear as a rash and make your skin feel rough like sandpaper." Because they're hard to get to, they're considered to be more severe forms of acne than the other two. Pustules? These forms of acne are formed pretty similar to papules, however, there's a slight difference. We're pretty grossed out by it, so we'll let BIO CLARITY speak for us: "The difference is that pustules are filled with liquid pus, giving them a white or yellowish appearance akin to blisters". They're usually tender, hard and pretty severe. Like papules, you probably shouldn't try tobust these babies on your own. Ech! Gross! Nodules? We end our description of various forms of acne with the most serious of the five, Nodules. Usually about 1 to 2 centimeters in diameter,these pus filled sacks are serious business. Wherever they show up on your body, whether it be somewhere externally like the face, neck, armpits, groin or somewhere internally like the lungs, thyroid, and lymph nodes, you should always consult a doctor if you think you have nodules. Now that you know what you're looking to destroy, let's go through some methods of doing so:

1) Wash Your Face. You don't want to use regular soap when you're washing your face, because that's not enough to clean it.The people at THE KNOT.COM recommend that you: "Look for topical acne medication ingredients salicylic acid and/or benzoyl peroxide in your face wash and use gentle, non abrasive cleansing techniques." Also, look for something that'll get the dirt and oils out without over drying your precious skin.

2) Moisturize. There's nothing worse for guaranteeing you'll get acne than an overly dry face. That's why you'll have to moisturize. However, make sure that it's an oil free moisturizer, because if not it won't be good for your skin.

3) Take Medication. If you're really serious or have really bad acne, you'll want to consider medication for the job.There are a couple different types of medication that you can use in order to clear up your acne.THE KNOT.COM recommends a couple of different medicines: The first one is Topical (also know as when it's applied directly on the skin) or Oral (also know as when it's taken through your mouth) Antibiotics. THE KNOT describes them working like this: "Topical antibiotics kill bacteria in the upper portion of your pores, while oral antibiotics can reach to the lower depths of the pores". Also, they say that "These antibiotics are the most effective for treating acne because they both kill bacteria and act as anti-inflammatory agents to calm down the skin." So, if you're really serious about getting rid of your acne, then you might want to talk to your doctor about this.

4) Natural Options. Say you're not about all those government pills with their chemicals, man. You're a hippy, you want nature to cure your acne. However, you need to remember this about natural treatments: there's no research supporting the effective use of natural acne treatments. So if you're using this, remember it might not work as well as all those government chemicals. Anyways, THE KNOT says to try this remedy: Coconut Oil: In order to use this apparent miracle product as an acne cleanser, you're going to have to add it to your diet. THE KNOT says that: "The fatty acids like lauric acid and caprylic acid are metabolized into antibacterial agents in the body" which apparently help get rid of pimples. Either that or you can rub some on your skin after cleansing. It'll give you a hydrating boost! And that just about wraps it up! What did you think of our acne video? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!