How to Get Rid of Acne

Transcript I love this topic. Light Therapy for acne is a therapy that uses either blue or red light to treat acne. Blue light kills bacteria. Red light is anti-inflammatory and can penetrate deeper into the skin. It can actually deactivate sebaceous glands similarly but less effectively than Accutane. Even better than doing Light Therapy …

Transcript So this is also one of my favorite topics when talking about acne, is the more natural approach to your acne. There’s several supplements that I would recommend. The first would be Vitamin A, no more than 10,000 units every day. This sort of mimics Acutane without some of the more serious side effects. …

Transcript One of the most upsetting things for my patients about having acne is the scars that can often result. There are three main types of acne scars. The first is called an ice pick scar, which is like a pock mark, and, basically, it’s a very narrow, yet deep scar. The second type is …

Transcript So, if you have garden variety acne, usually normal make-up is enough to cover your pimples. But if you have very, very severe acne, sometimes that’s not enough. Green make-up can be very helpful in covering the redness associated with acne. But even better, is the make-up called Dermablend. Dermablend, was invented by a …

Transcript What I can’t stress enough, regardless of your skin type, is keep your skin regimen simple. People often do way too much to their skin, end up causing more trouble. If you have dry skin and you’re less likely to get pimples, what you should be using is a gentle soap-free cleanser, a moisturizer …

Transcript So a lot of having great skin has to do with your genes I know that is luck of the draw but there are so many choices that you can make to help yourself have great skin. So don’t smoke, get enough sleep, try to decrease stress in your life; it’s very hard but …

Transcript So, cystic acne is a type of acne that’s characterized by extreme redness and inflammation. It can occur on the face, the chest or the back. But it always occurs very deeply in the skin. The reason it’s painful is the cysts are in contact with pain nerve fibers. Please don’t try to pop …

Transcript [music] A lot of times people think that if a little bit is good, a lot is better. So I have patients coming in washing their face like 10 times a day, exfoliating. And they’re just making a mess of things. So take a step back, work with your dermatologist to devise a regimen …

Transcript So, what are common skincare do’s and don’ts? Number one, don’t over wash your face, twice a day is plenty. And if you want to just wash it at night that’s fine as well. And choose a cleanser that works with your skin type whether oily, combination, or dry. The second don’t is don’t …

Transcript So a blackhead is essentially a clogged pore. What we talk about when we say we’re going to prevent blackheads, we are just preventing clogged pores. A few different ingredients can be in this. An alpha, beta, or polyhydroxy acid can be helpful, as well as a prescription retinoid, like Retina-A, Tazorac or Atrolin. …

Transcript So for those of you who don’t know what microdermabrasion is, it’s a modality that uses either crystals or industrial grade diamonds to smooth the face and it takes off the very top layers of the skin. Now that sounds scary but it’s actually not painful. It can be helpful in improving the texture …

Transcript There are many different acne medicines besides Accutane. There are topical antibiotics and those include Clindamycin, Sulfur, Azelaic Acid and Benzoyl Peroxide. There are also topical retinoids and those include Atrolin, Tazorac, Differin, and Retin A. Then, there are the oral medicines for acne. Those include the the antibiotics Doxycycline, Minocycline, and Tetracycline. Sulfur …

Transcript A lot of patients ask me if they should be getting acne facials. While I do think acne facials can be beneficial for someone that has a lot of blackheads and whiteheads, I do worry sometimes, about an aesthetician that goes a little overboard, trying to over-extract. What happens with over-extraction, is you get …

Transcript If you already have blackheads, there are a few different ways you can get rid of them. One is by using the correct ingredients in your products. I think the best ingredients to minimize blackheads are retinoids like Retin-A, Tazorac, and Atralin; and the alpha, beta, and poly-hydroxy acids. if you prefer natural products, …

Transcript So, if you have truly severe acne, probably your choice of products is not going to be enough to get rid of the acne. There’s certain rules that should apply. You should look for products that are noncomedogenic. That means just that they don’t cause pimples. Another thing to watch out for is overusing …

Transcript So there are several treatments for cystic acne. The first one, and by far the best one, is Accutane. Accutane is a Vitamin A derivative. It’s a pill that you take for six months. The reason it’s such a wonderful treatment for cystic acne is that over 90% of people are better at the …

Transcript I’m sure all of you have heard of Proactiv. It’s a very well marketed treatment plan. What it is, is a three step program that uses benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, and glycolic acid to treat your acne. I don’t have a problem with Proactiv for mild acne. What I do find surprising is that …

Transcript I’m Dr. Cybele Fishman, a board certified dermatologist who’s been practicing in New York City for nine years. After graduating from NYU Medical School, I studied dermatology at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine and I did a melanoma fellowship at Harvard. My practice is a mix of medical and cosmetic dermatology. I love …

Transcript So lot of people like to use baking soda in many ways. Some people use it like an exfoliant and some people use it as a spot treatment for acne. So now if you are using it and it’s working well for you, I have no problem with your continuing to use it. However, …

Transcript Clarisonic is a hand-held brush that’s meant to be used with any cleanser to clean your face. The company says that you can remove ore dirt and oil because of the 300 movements per second or sonic frequency that the brush moves in. I’m not sure how I feel about the Clarisonic. Part of …

Transcript Hormonal acne is a type of acne that you see in women, usually in their 20s, 30s, or 40s. It has to do with hormonal imbalances. There may be too much testosterone, or there may be abnormal ratios of other hormones like LH or FSH, as well as DHEAS. Hormonal acne looks different from …

Transcript So what do you do if you have just a huge pimple? So first of all don’t freak out. Second of all do not try to pop it and I know it’s gonna be very hard to follow that direction. But please don’t, because you will just make it worse. What are things you …

Transcript So, the most important thing to do if you have scalp acne, is take a close look at your products. You want to make sure you’re not using any leave in conditioners, and if you are, make sure you don’t put them close to the scalp. Keep them on the ends of your hair. …

Transcript I think the biggest mistake you can make when trying to cover up acne is just you keep caking on acne thinking that can cover it trying to cover your severe acne so i think there are few things that can help.First of all if u have pimple green makeup can be very helpful …

Transcript Many of the same things we use for acne on the face, you can also use on the chest and back, like topical antibiotics, benzoyl peroxide, and retinoids. There are two things I’d like to point out about body acne. One is when you go to the gym, after you work out, make sure …

Transcript So, patients often complain that their pimples really hurt. And the reason that is, is when you have a very deep pimple, or what we might call an acne cyst, it’s arising so deep in the skin that it’s actually in contact with nerves that transmit pain. So, what happens is you have a …

Transcript So let me try to explain why it’s so important to prevent clogged pores. This is the hair follicle or the pore, and this is the sebaceous gland, also known as the oil gland. What happens when the pore gets clogged, is it gets clogged with the cells that line it as well as …

Transcript I think the cornerstone of any acne therapy is a retinoid. Retinoids are prescription medicines like Retin-A, Tazorac or Atralin. These are so important, because they prevent the clogging of the pore, and that’s really the first step in the development of any acne lesion, whether it be whitehead, or pimple or pustule or …

Transcript So how to get rid of acne and pimples once and for all? This is sort of impossible, I don’t wanna lie; however I think by far the best medicine we have for getting rid of acne and pimples once and for all is Accutane. Now let me explain a little bit about Accutane …

Transcript I use a lot of supplements in my treatments for acne. This is because I believe that you don’t just treat acne from the outside, but you actually need to treat it from the inside as well. So, I prescribe supplements that I believe are anti-inflammatory in the body, and thus the skin. The …

Transcript There are a few home acne remedies that work and they’re also inexpensive which is nice. One is you can take raw unprocessed honey and use it as a spot treatment on your pimples. You can leave it on for about 30 seconds. This has both anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. The second thing you …

Transcript I’m going to be very honest with you. I love Accutane. I prescribe it a lot. I think it is a wonder drug that changes people’s lives. I’ve had so many patients with really severe acne. They won’t go on dates, they don’t go to work because of their acne. And Accutane really is …

Transcript Please don’t pop your pimples. I know it’s hard to resist, but you’re doing a lot of damage. When you try to squeeze a pimple, you’re adding more inflammation to that area. And by adding more inflammation, you make it more likely that you’re going to get a red mark or even worse, a …

Transcript There are many ways to get rid of acne scars. I think one of the best is using one of the new fractional oblated lasers. Examples of these are Fraxel, a firm ultrapulse. Basically they smooth away the top layers of the skin, thus getting rid of the scars in the process. Another very …

Transcript This is absolutely one of my favorite topics. Some people say that diet and acne are not related, and I think that’s crazy. How can what you put in your body not affect the largest organ in your body? It just makes no sense. A good diet is very important in limiting acne. What …

Transcript The really terrible thing about getting a pimple is not the pimple itself, but when it goes away it leaves an annoying reminder that it was there. If you have fair skin a pimple’s going to leave a red mark which takes a long time to go away. If you have a darker complexion, …

Transcript So there are many lasers now that are used to treat acne. Some of them target the sebaceous gland or the oil gland and the way they work is by shrinking the gland and making it less active. An example of that is the smooth beam laser. Some lasers also use broadband light to …

Transcript When both boys and girls go through puberty there’s a surge in the testosterone levels which activate the sebaceous gland, or the oil gland to make more oil. This is sort of what sets off teenage acne. Teenage acne is most commonly seen in the t-zone. Furthermore, teenage acne is considered a normal part …

Transcript Patients always say to me, “I definitely break out more when I’m stressed out.” And there’s a reason for that. When you’re stressed out, and that can be because you’re stressed out on your job. It also could be stress because you’re not getting enough sleep or you’re traveling a lot. But anytime you’re …

Transcript So one of the very common treatments for female acne are birth control pills. And the reason that birth control pills help is they help regulate the hormones. Sometimes what happens in women is the balance between estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and some of the other reproductive hormones gets out of whack. And what birth …

Transcript So, there are two kinds of antibiotics that we use to treat acne. One kind is topical, and that means things you put on your face, so washes, creams, lotions. And the most common ones are clindamycin and sulfur antibiotics, and benzoyl peroxide also has some antibiotic activity. The oral antibiotics we use most …

Transcript So basically, an acne cyst is just a bigger, badder, uglier version of a pimple. There’s a few different cysts. While a pimple will take place around this level of the skin, an acne cyst is taking place way down here. And the reason it hurts is that the inflammation is in contact with …

Transcript So aspirin is salicylic acid which is the same ingredient that’s found in many over-the-counter pimple preparations. If you want to use salicylic acid on a pimple, this is what you need to do. Crush an aspirin and mix it with about a tablespoon of water until you get a nice thick paste. Then …