Top 10 Lifestyle Tips For Acne
Tip #1: Stay Hydrated
Your skin is your largest organ, and all organs need water to function properly. Drinking plenty of water throughout the day keeps your skin hydrated, supports your skin's ability to heal, and reduces inflammation in the body. This means less inflamed breakouts, and your breakouts will heal faster too! Aim for 64 to 128 oz of water a day.
Tip #2: Rest and Reduce Stress
Sleep deprivation and stress increase inflammation in the body, which can aggravate acne, affect your skin's wound healing ability, and even create an imbalance of hormones (which also affect acne). Aim for 7 to 8 hours of rest a night, and reduce areas of stress in your life.
Tip #3: Keep Your Hands Off
Touching your face may transfer pore-clogging ingredients, oils, and bacteria to your skin. Attempting to pop your breakouts at home will also spread bacteria and may worsen the severity of your acne, so please leave extractions to professionals! If you feel like picking is more of a compulsion for you that can't be controlled, we have resources available for Skin Picking Disorder.
Tip #4: Ice Any Inflammation
Icing your skin daily will reduce inflammation, promote healing, and can also improve pigmented acne scars. Icing also relieves pain for clients experiencing severe or cystic acne. After cleansing your skin, grab an ice cube and roll it over your skin for 30 to 60 seconds. Keep the ice cube moving, don’t let it sit for longer than a few seconds in one spot to avoid burning your skin. Pat your skin dry and finish your skincare routine.
Tip #5: Wear SPF Daily
The active ingredients found in our products and peel treatments make your skin more sensitive to sun damage, so it's really important to protect your skin every day (even on cloudy days and year round). Treatments can't be done on sunburnt skin, and results won't be achieved if clients don't comply with daily sunscreen use. It's also important to consistently reapply your sunscreen every hour when outside. Read our article Myth: The Sun Helps Acne (link to article) to learn more about how the sun truly affects your skin.
Tip #6: Avoid Liquid Fabric Softener
Liquid fabric softener leaves a waxy residue on pillowcases, towels, wash cloths, sheets, and clothing. This residue is pore-clogging and can irritate the skin.
Tip #7: Switch to Fragrance-Free Detergent and Dryer Sheets
Detergents and dryer sheets with fragrance can cause skin irritation and clog pores. Make sure your detergent and dryer sheets are fragrance free, or you can also switch to wool dryer balls.
Tip #8: Change Pillowcases Often
Oil and bacteria collect on your pillowcases nightly, and sleeping on top of dirty pillowcases could be contributing to your breakouts. We recommend having multiple sets of pillowcases at home, alternating them every 2 to 3 days, and washing them all weekly using fragrance-free detergent and fragrance-free dryer sheets.
Tip #9: Reduce Foods High in Iodides and Androgens
Foods high in iodides (salt) and androgens (hormones) are huge triggers for acne. These foods increase inflammation within the body, and reducing or completely eliminating these foods have been shown to improve acne. Some acne-triggering foods include dairy, salt, peanut butter, and high amounts of sugar.
Tip #10: Check Your Vitamins
Many multi-vitamins contain iodides, iodine, kelp, or potassium iodate, which all aggravate acne. High levels of Biotin (commonly found in Hair Skin & Nails vitamins) or B12 also aggravate acne-prone skin. It’s best to talk to your doctor to find out what vitamins you are specifically deficient in, but typically multi-vitamins and Hair Skin & Nails supplements are not necessary.
Schedule your consult today!
We have helped dozens of women get clear with our In-Person and Virtual Acne Program. So whether you are in the Green Bay area or out-of-state, you can finally look forward to having clear, healthy skin.
