Pimple Myth

Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/frisse82/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

Here's an article for the guys. Skin care!

I used to have a lot of pimples. Sadly, at the time, there is a lot of false information about the cause of pimple, preventing pimples, and treating pimples. I'd had to learn the hard way on how this stuff works. Here's what I learn:

The cause

Question: What cause pimple?

Answer: Bacteria, duh.

I can't believe how everyone seems to have a sort of explanation for this question. If you don't know what causes pimple, you fail skin care forever. Here are some common myths of cause of pimples:

#1 Eating chocolate and peanuts (and other foods) causes pimples

#2 Masturbation and sex causes’ pimples

#3 Sports causes pimple

Okay, here's the deal. Bacteria longed in your skin causes your pores to block. Then, the bacteria would just grow and grow until you pop your pimple.

How does this bacterium enter your skin in the first place? Well thru skin contact, of course. The most common skin contact is via hand, towels, and bed sheets.

There are other factors that increase the chances of pimple:

* Bigger pores: Men have bigger pores compare to women. Some men have bigger pores compared to other men. Testosterone level also affects the size of your pores

* Oily face: Some people have dry face and some oily face. Bacteria thrive on oil.

* Dirt and dead skins: Our skin cells die all the time. You need to exfoliate your face in order to clear those dead skin or else they will block your pores. Once the pores are blocked, bacteria inside can breed. Else, the sebum produces by your pores would just flush the bacteria out.

The prevention

# 1 Wash your face daily

I start with the most easies method of prevention, which is to buy the correct skin care product and wash your face daily once in the morning, and once in the night.

Shopping for skin care can be confusing

* For Men

If a skin care product is not designed for men, then it is designed for women. This mean the product is not strong enough. If you are the type that is genetically inclined to get pimple, buy stuffs that have the word "MEN" on it.

* Cleanser

It's a fancy way of saying soap.

* Exfoliater / Exfoliate / Beads

This means that the product is designed to remove dead skins. Recommended buy.

* Toner

Toner is used to shrink your pores like how after shave are used to shrink your facial hair pores. It's a choice between using toner or face cream (see below for more information) after you wash your face. For me, face cream provides a stronger solution.

* Moisturizer

Moisture means water. Water means wet. Moisturizer is for dry skin. If you have dry skin, you probably don't have to worry too much about pimple and should worry more about stress and winkles.

# 2 Apply face cream.

Face cream is optional, in my opinion it doesn't really have much effect. In the whole wide world, there are only two ingredients that you should look out for. The rest of are either unproven or too much of a novelty (read expensive) to use.

Warning: Some people are sensitive to the ingredient below, so please apply with caution.

* Benzoyl peroxide

Most popular brand of with this ingredient would be Oxy. Oxy works as a peeling agent too. This makes your skin whiter. Used in with an Exfoliater cleanser for best results. Recommended for people with oily skins

* Salicylic acid

Most common source of salicylic acid is milk. So any facial cream or cleanser that is derived from milk would probably list this ingredient.

#3 Hygiene

Remember what causes pimple? Hygiene is important. Below are the cardinal rules of hygiene for pimple care. Under no circumstance should you ever ever break them:

* Washing your hands with soaps after going to the toilet.

Contrary to popular belief, washing your hand after using the bathroom is not for preventing contamination from urine and faces. Washing your hands after using the bathroom is done to prevent contamination of bacteria and viruses from the interval in-between bathroom session.

Think about it, your hand is the only body that is constantly in contact with objects in your life. Your feet are in your shoes and your body is concealed by clothes. You probably don't like your head to be touching stuff all the time. So, that leaves the hand.

* Not touching your face with your hands

Especially if you did not wash your hands with soaps.

* Changing your pillows sheets every week, and your bed sheets and blanket every two weeks.

The other time when your face touches something is when you sleep.

* Don't sleep on the side of your bed where your feet was

Unless you are confident that you have clean feet or that you wash your sleep every time before you went to sleep, please sleep only on the up-side of your bed.

* Keep your nails short.

Bacteria are logged into your fingers and toe nails, even if you can't see it.

The treatment

Pimple causes scar if not treated properly. The number one cause of scars is finger nails. Follows the instruction below and you will have less likely chances to occur:

1. Wait for the yellow tip of your pimple to appear.

If your pimple is still all read, popping it will causes more damage because you need to apply a lot more forces to get the blocked pus out.

2. Wash your hand and face before you begin.

3. Plan a soft tissue or cotton on your pimple and use your finger short nails to pop the pimple

4. Pull your skin until the pimple pop.

If this doesn't work, you either have to wait for a one to three days and try again. If it still doesn't work, then you have no choice but to push or consult your local dermatologist. As a man, I just push my pimples if pull the skin around the skin doesn't work.

5. Pull (or push if pull doesn’t work) the skin around your pimple gently until no more pus came out.

6. Massage the skin around the pimple for more pus to come out. Do it for a minute.

7. Wash the area around the pimple

8. Apply some face cream (or antiseptics if your face cream doesn't contain antiseptics chemicals).

Endnote

That's it. Note that this guide is provides as is. Consult your dermatologist if you want are flawless porcelain face. That's probably requires more intensive guide that what I have here. Anyway, I hope that this helps with some of the misconception that you might have regarding skin care.