I've had lots of suggestions to do a video on acne and it's treatments so that's what this week's video is about now the bad news is that acne affects a lot of people including myself so here are my top tips on what you can do so before we learn about treatments and
skincare which I'm sure is the main thing you want to see let's first learn
a little about acne most people with acne are aged between 11 to 30 years and men are more commonly affected than women sorry guys if you ever look
closely at certain parts of the skin you'll see tiny little holes which we
call pores and these pores allow hairs and natural oils which we call sebum to
flow out of them now these pores can sometimes become blocked and it's
usually due to the skin on top becoming thicker combined with dead skin cells so
once the pore is blocked the sebum the oils that we produce are also trapped in
there and this can lead onto acne which can be mild to severe now that was a
really simplified explanation but it's gonna help us understand the treatments
and skincare we're going to talk about next okay give me one second because
I've got a really good idea so let's try no didn't work let's try again that's
better so the first point which is a mistake
that a lot of people made including myself was over washing
twice a day is normal for most people use a mild soap with lukewarm water and
make sure you're not scrubbing too hard because it'll make it acne worse my
own personal tip is to gently pat your skin dry with a freshly laundered towel
every time you dry your face and the reason for this is simple towels retain
moisture which is a breeding ground for bacteria benzoyl peroxide is a common
topical treatment that can help control acne and it can also be purchased from
any pharmacy it works in three ways it kills bacteria, reduces inflammation and
also unclogs pores now please speak to your pharmacist and
definitely read the information leaflet for more information about it and
instructions my top tip for applying this topical treatment is make sure you
apply it to all the skin affected by acne so you're not just applying it on one single spot I used to make this error when I was younger so hopefully
you now know and you won't make the same error to begin with benzoyl peroxide
will cause mild skin irritation so to counteract this I've left more
information in the description below feel free to check it out
also benzoyl peroxide can bleach anything that comes into contact with so
your hair, your clothes and even your towels so make sure you're not using
your best towels and you're not wearing your best clothes so in terms of skin
products use ones that don't clog your pores and we spoke about this right at
the start of the video so you know why so for instance if you're using a
moisturiser use a water-based one that's fragrance free what you don't want to be
using is an oily rich cream or ointments now my final tip made a massive
difference for myself and that's changing your pillowcase daily with a
freshly laundered one I buy fourteen pillowcases and face towels rotate them
daily and wash them all at the end of the week
easy peasy but it made a massive difference and it makes sense you spend
eight hours a night on the pillowcase all the bacteria and oils that you secrete go into this and it can all contribute to an acne breakout if you've ever had time to Google what
makes acne worse it comes up with loads of results but I'm only going to tell
you the stuff which I've found research to support it sweating heavily or humid
conditions may possibly contribute to blocking your pores and we mentioned
what this can do at start the video thick greasy makeup can possibly make
your acne worse and don't squeeze or pop your spots because it can increase
inflammation and also cause scarring so don't do it some medicine can also make
your acne worse so for instance the progesterone only contraceptive pill,
phenytoin and topical steroids and if you feel like it is making it worse
then speak to your health care professional about it and that's it I
hope you find these tips useful leave a comment below and let me know how you
get on and if you have any of your own tips which others may find helpful then
leave a comment too please remember if you don't see any improvements or your
acne is more severe then you'll need to see a health care professional for
prescribed treatment I've left more information about this in the
description below hey guys thanks for watching this week's video make sure to
click that like follow or subscribe button now to stay up to date with new
weekly videos I don't know if you can hear the helicopter but there's a helicopter now the bad news is that I can't get this
tie to go through here (Laughter) some medicine can also make your acne worse so for instrance, instrance? It's a good job we stopped because it's getting louder I think the helicopter is literally going to land here any minute so….
so…. or maybe it's a plane, like an older plane, could be.