Acne Health and Prevention

When I first went to my doctor to get my acne problem looked at, he did three things. He prescribed me an antibiotic to help kill the bacteria. He also prescribed me a facial cleanser that I was to use a couple times of day. (I later found some over the counter stuff that helped better). Finally, he recommended that I get more exercise if I wanted to help clear up my acne. This seemed counter intuitive to me though. Doesn’t working out make you sweat? Doesn’t stress cause acne and working out cause stress? He assured me that I was thinking about it all wrong and not only does working out help cure acne, but it makes you a healthier person as whole.

How does working out help to get rid of acne? Exercise works on many levels and all of them help to clear your acne in some way. First of all, while leaving sweat unwashed to spawn bacteria can REALLY cause acne, sweating itself is actually good for your acne and good for your skin. Sweating clears out all your pores of bacteria and other undesirables and actually works as a kind of purification system with your skin. By building up a sweat for a while, you’re actually cleansing your skin and filtering your pores.

Exercise also helps force the body to get back into a natural rhythm. A big part of acne, particularly teenage acne is caused by hormone levels being out of sync. It’s been proven in many a medical study that exercise helps to regulate the production and regulation of hormones throughout the body. By staying and keeping active, you get a better shot at getting those levels under control and thus helping get rid of your acne.

Finally, while exercise is stressful on the body during the actual exercise part, your body is flooded with feel good endorphins that greatly lower stress levels after your routine is complete. This in turn leaves you feeling renewed and refreshed for the rest of the day and thus able to deal better with stress. That’s not to mention that exercise itself burns calories, makes you look better, thinner, while also making you stronger and more agile.

Tips for fighting acne and working out:

Don’t OVER do it: Too much exercise is unhealthy and dangerous. Your body needs time to restore and repair itself after a heavy work out session, so its best to limit work outs to every OTHER day. Also, too much exercise will put added stress on your body, which can make acne worse.

Wash yourself immediately after: You won’t catch acne the first few minutes that you sweat but if you work out heavily and don’t wash yourself, you’ve just turned yourself and your face into the perfect breeding ground for bacteria that can really flame up acne. After every work out, make sure you hit the showers!

Use the right kind of clothing: Acne can be caused by continuous friction against the skin. Especially when this friction is coarse damp cloth. Make sure you wear airy light clothing when working out that wears light on your body and can handle a little moisture.

Use Sunscreen: If you’re exercising outside, make sure that you use a good sunscreen that isn’t too oily. A little sun will actually HELP your acne, but too much will actually cause it to be worse. Just like anything else in life, moderation is key so moderate your exercise, and moderate your sun exposure!

Just do it! – The main problem people have in exercising is actually getting off their butt and doing it. The thing is, exercise to get rid of acne doesn’t have to be the rigorous exercise in the gym. Play some basketball or football, go for a hike, a jog, or a walk and bring the dogs with ya! As long as you’re out doing something, its better than reading and worrying about your problem.