In this week's video we're looking at acne it's time to learn all about the different lifestyle
changes that you can make to prevent it from getting worse as well as looking at treatments
and why it happens and everything you need to know about acne let's begin so this video is going to
be jam-packed full of information so if at any point you want to find any specific information
feel free to click on that description below it's all chaptered find what you want click on it and
watch it however i'd always recommend that you watch the entire video okay so let's begin with
lifestyle changes let's get stuck in tip number one the first thing i want to ask you is how often
are you washing your face look if you have acne a lot of patients tend to over wash so please please
please do not over wash your face maximum you're looking at per day is twice a day and even that's
a bit too much once a day is perfectly enough so make sure you're not over washing because
all you're going to really do is aggravate the skin inflame the skin make things worse
so don't over wash and make sure you're not using any exfoliating things to wash at all because
again that's just going to aggravate the skin now in terms of what to use i'd highly recommend that
you just use a simple gentle cleanser okay and use lukewarm water don't use really really hot water
don't use the exfoliating stuff that i just spoke about as well just a gentle cleanser will do just
be gentle don't rub too hard and once you're done pat your skin dry okay don't rub it again just pat
it dry that's a really important thing that you need to do and as well as that i know some people
with blackheads tend to think that all blackheads are due to not cleaning enough but in fact the
reason you get blackheads just because it oxidizes the oil plugs oxidized and then they become these
blackheads it's not because you're not cleaning enough or washing enough that's just the natural
process that occurs and for those of you who wear makeup please make sure that before you go to bed
you wash all the makeup off with the gentle cleanser and the lukewarm water exactly how
we described earlier again make sure to pat it dry don't rub it dry if you do wear makeup please also
look for the words non-comedogenic or non acne genic on the actual packaging this means that
it's not going to block them pores and potentially cause more acne more blackheads more whiteheads
all the stuff that we don't want now washing your face can leave your skin a little dry so if you're
moisturizing your face please make sure that you're using a fragrance free non-oily moisturizer
also again look for those words non-comedogenic on the actual product because that's not going
to cause that blockage of the pores and again make the acne worse another pro tip as well that
i want to make you aware of is during the day look for an spf 30 sunscreen and the reason i'm
saying to use an spf 30 sunscreen is the sun can damage the skin and make the pigmentation worse
and also potentially make the acne scarring worse because it's not going to allow the
skin to heal as well so it's a really really useful thing to wear a sunscreen during the day
especially if you're quite prone to acne just to reduce the scarring and to reduce the pigmentation
again look for those non-comedogenic products now the next thing that i want to discuss is
your hair look we all go for a shower you're going to wash your hair with shampoo that's fine
the thing about hair that i want to discuss is make sure that your hair isn't covering your
face or parts of your face because the hair and the oils can actually make the acne worse okay and
if you are prone to acne on certain areas where your hair is sort of covering your face have a
good think about it because that could potentially be making things worse so try and tie it up
or when you're going to sleep for example as well try and tie it up as well because what happens if
you go to sleep and it's not tied up it ends up going all over your face and all those oils end up
going on your face as well which could potentially make the acne worse as well so really do think
about that and this moves on nicely to sleep and i really want to talk about your pillowcase
how often are you changing your pillowcase i really want you to think about that i would highly
recommend it if you're someone who suffers from acne at the moment and you've got quite bad acne
change your pillowcase every single day the reason i'm saying this is when we go to sleep
all the sweat glands all the pores everything goes onto that pillowcase and the bacteria starts to
grow on and it could potentially make the acne worse so look at maybe buying a seven pillow
case or whatever and rotate them or 14 and then wash them once every week and then keep rotating
from there on okay this can make a really big difference i do that myself personally because
i suffer from acne as well and i think it made a massive massive impact so i'm just making you
all aware of it as well now the next point i want to discuss is picking those spots please please
please do not pick or squeeze those spots all it's going to do is put you on much higher risk
of scarring and i'm sure nobody wants that it can also put you at higher risk of infections as well
and i'm sure you don't want that either now if you do have quite a big spot you can look at buying
a few hydrocolloid plasters these can be quite useful at covering certain spots and they can help
with the healing process for it to happen faster as well now the next point i want to discuss with
you is diet look there's been some pretty good research recently showing that certain foods
can potentially make acne worse which is really interesting because a few years ago we never used
to recommend this sort of stuff so the first thing i want to say though before we move on to that
is look at maybe keeping a food diary involved with one of these you've all got a phone i'm sure
you do you can do pen and paper whatever's easier for you keep a food diary and see if you can find
any correlation between certain things that you eat and having an acne breakout the other point i
want to make as well is please do not stop eating certain food groups or anything drastic like that
without speaking to your healthcare professional first if you are thinking of doing anything like
that speak to your healthcare professional first make them aware and get the thumbs up from them so
generally speaking people that eat a lot of sugar white bread potatoes and rice can potentially
make their acne worse okay so i'm not saying stop these foods completely but it might be a good idea
to eat a bit less of them and see if it actually has an impact on your acne maybe do each one for
about two weeks and see if there is a correlation between reducing the amount of let's say
rice that you eat and you might have acne that you're getting that's why the food diary is so
important for this kind of thing now there is also some evidence that milk and dairy products
may make acne worse so if you are thinking about stopping these you will need to replace them
with a non-dairy alternative such as oat milk such as almond milk anything like that as well
because you still need to get that calcium because it's super important especially if you're growing
as well and you're a teenager calcium is really important for you in this stage so don't just
think i'm going to stop dairy completely you need a replacement as well so now that we've
done with the diet related stuff the next thing i want to discuss with you is stress look we know
that stress can potentially make acne worse so if you're quite a stressful person if you're going
through a lot as well you might need to learn some stress busting techniques okay and the good news
is i have quite a few videos on this topic already i'm not going to go through it in this video but
if you do want more information on how to reduce your stress levels on techniques that you can do
to help with it i will leave links to it up here and in the description below feel free to check
it out and whilst we're on the topic of stress i also want to mention if you feel like your acne
is making your mood drop if you're feeling low if you're having negative thoughts if you're having
thoughts of self-harm suicidal thoughts if you're not wanting to go out as much if you're losing
interest in a lot of things that you do hobbies that you do as well that you used to find fun
if you're not seeing your friends as much all these things any of these kinds of symptoms that
you're having please please please speak to your healthcare professional about it don't leave it
speak to your healthcare professional make them aware of it because acne can affect people's mood
this is normal as well and moving on to my final lifestyle tip if you smoke you need to
quit smoking it's as simple as that we know that smoking makes acne worse it also causes many many
different health complications and problems that i'm sure nobody wants so if you do smoke
please try and quit now the good news again is i have a video on how to quit smoking i go through
all the different techniques and everything you need to know and to be honest with you
it's helped a lot of people out there so if you do want to quit smoking if you do smoke
please feel free to check out that video i'll leave it up here and in the description below
so now we're going to move on to the treatments of acne i first thought we'd go through the lifestyle
stuff that everyone can really do and then we'll move on to treatments so let's look into it okay
so let's begin with treatments the first thing i want to tell you is i just want to bust the myth
out there because i've seen quite a few videos of people doing this and it's really not good for you
please do not use toothpaste on your acne if you have a spot please do not put toothpaste
on it all it's going to do is potentially make the acne worse and cause scarring so please stay
away from the toothpaste just use the toothpaste to brush your teeth don't put it on your skin
let's talk about the treatments now so one of the most common treatments for acne is actually
a cream that contains benzyl peroxide now benzyl peroxide can only be purchased from a community
pharmacy so you will have to go there speak to the pharmacist so they can make sure that you're safe
and suitable to use it but if you do then start using it benzoyl peroxide can be really useful
for pigmentation for acne and to prevent the acne from coming as well so it can be a very good cream
but it does have some few side effects as well you should be aware of such as skin irritation
that is very common with it and it can dry the skin as well so as a result of it being quite a
strong cream and causing a bit of dryness of the skin and irritation it's usually recommended that
you start it slowly and build up usually once a week or twice a week and then slowly building up
now this is a bit complicated to go through in this video because it's going to make the video
quite long but i do have a video specifically solely all about benzyl peroxide so if you do
want to learn more about how to use it when to use it and how to increase it slowly i will leave a
link to it up here and in the description below and it's important to remember that most acne
treatment can take up to two to four months for it to have its full effect this gives it
the full cycle of the skin cycle to actually show its effect so give it time there are also
other treatments available which are prescription only so you will need to speak to your healthcare
professional about them such as different creams such as antibiotics retinoids isotretinoin there's
loads of treatments out there but you will need to speak to healthcare professionals about them
so they can review you make sure that everything's okay make sure you have the side effects and make
sure that it's suitable for you now again i also do have a video all about isotretinoin so if you
do want more information on this i have a full video about everything you need to know about ice
stress notes so if you're interested to find out more if you've just been prescribed or if you just
want to find out a bit more information feel free to click up here and in the description below to
find out more and please do remember once again these treatments all do take a bit of time you
need to keep going with it you can't just give up because you're not seeing the benefits straight
away they can take up to two to four months again to show their full effect however i just want to
say again if you feel like the acne is making your mood drop if you're feeling lower than usual if
you feel like you don't want to participate in activities that you used to take pleasure from
if you're having negative thoughts if you're having suicidal thoughts any self-harm thoughts
you need to speak to your healthcare professional and that's the most important thing so now that
we know all about lifestyle changes and we know about treatments the next thing i want to talk
to you about is what actually causes acne what's causing this to happen so for most people acne
usually starts during puberty and you can get acne anywhere from the face the back the neck the chest
and it's completely normal if you do have someone in your family that's had it someone quite close
to your family that's had acne you're far more likely to have it as well so the next question is
what is causing the acne well we all produce oil from our skin i do you do everyone that's
watching this video does too and the oil comes out of something called the sebaceous gland now when
we're going through puberty and we have certain hormones increased levels of these hormones it
sometimes causes more of this oil to be produced it kind of goes into hyperdrive we're getting more
and more oil production through the sebaceous glands okay and once this happens we sometimes
have dead skin cells under directly above the cervicis glands and this oil then gets blocked
in there and eventually it can cause spots such as acne such as whiteheads such as blackheads all
of these can be caused by these blood sebaceous glands and sometimes these pus filled bumps that
we just spoke about can get bigger and be really painful under the skin which are known as nodules
and cysts and if you do have these you definitely need to speak to your healthcare professional
about them if they're not already aware of it there's also a bacteria that lives naturally
on our skin which thrives off this oil production and then it causes the inflammation swelling the
redness the hotness to touch it's all being caused by this bacteria as well so it thrives off that
oil production and it causes all the symptoms as well which doesn't help and unfortunately as
a result of the acne it can leave scars on the skin it can also change the color of the skin
causing it hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation depending on the color change of the skin and this
is why it's so important that if you do have acne that you speak to your healthcare professional no
matter how small it is speak to your healthcare professional if you haven't already make them
aware of it keep them updated just so they can look after you and guide you in the right path
the last thing you want is to get scarring from the acne so it's super important that you involve
a healthcare professional in your treatment there are also certain medicines as well that can make
acne worse so if you are taking any medicines please speak to your health care professional
make them aware that you're having acne having these problems and they can check to see if that
medication is making things worse as well please do not just stop taking that medication without
speaking to a healthcare professional it's super important that you speak to them first and get
their advice on it there aren't many tablets or medicines that cause this but it's important for
you to be aware of it so now let's move on to when you should speak to your healthcare
professional the first thing the most important thing again that i want to make you all aware of
is if you're noticing any drop in your mood or if it's someone else that you know if you're
noticing any drop in their mood due to the acne please please please direct them to their health
care professional or if it's you go and speak to your healthcare professional if you feel like your
mood is deteriorating if you feel like having more negative thoughts if you're feeling more anxious
if you're not taking pleasure in the things that you used to do if you're having any thoughts of
self-harm suicidal thoughts anything like that please speak to your healthcare professional that
is the most important thing and remember acne can be treated there's loads of treatments out there
and this is going to help with your mood as well so please if you're having low mood as a result of
the acne speak to your healthcare professional and as i mentioned earlier severe acne such as nodular
or cystic acne where it's under the skin it's deep and it's big and it's really painful make your
health care professional aware of that speak to them make them aware of it this is super important
because if they're not treated properly they could get infected they could get worse and they could
even cause scarring and lastly if you are pregnant and you're having an acne breakout please speak
to your healthcare professional get the advice from them because certain things you cannot do
whilst you're pregnant so it's super important that you speak to your healthcare professional
about it so that's the end of this week's video you're now a bit of an acne pro we now know all
about lifestyle tips for acne we now know all about the treatments of acne we know what causes
acne and we know when to seek medical attention for acne so you're a bit of an acne pro so tell
your friends tell your family tell your loved ones if you know anyone with acne help them out
give them a bit of information that you've learned from today's video and as i always say sending you
awesome vibes and i'll see you next week hey guys thanks for watching this week's video make sure
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