No Blemish No Acne Forever

Stress Leading to Acne and Other Skin Blemishes

The latest research has shown that stress not only affects your weight and heart but stress can do a number on your skin, too! That's right. Stress can actually cause rashes, acne and many other blemishes as well.

When you feel stress, your body level of cortisol (IE: stress hormone) rises, this in turn can raise your blood sugar. Higher blood sugar levels are, in turn, correlated with increased skin aging. It is believed that, the next step leads to sugar molecules attacking your skin's collagen and elastin.

Acne and other skin blemishes result from high blood sugar levels. Of course, your levels of epinephrine soar when you're in stressful situations. That particular hormone is associated with decreased blood flow to the skin, which can make your complexion appear dull and give you dark circles under the eyes. Also, the skin barrier is compromised due to stress and in turn leads to decreased protection from harmful outside irritants which help hold moisture in your skin. This can eventually lead to allergic reactions, rashes, acne and other blemishes.

What Can Be Done?

In graduate school we often discuss ways in which to decrease stress. Many of the answers that came out of our class have stuck with me and perhaps they can be of assistance to you to:

Get plenty of sleep. The average adult should get between seven and eight hours of sleep a night.

Eat a well balanced diet. Try to incorporate all of the important nutrients and vitamins into you schedule. Perhaps the best plan is to eat light periodic meals, every two to three hours is a good start. You may also consider going on a low fat diet.

Pray/Meditate. Take care of yourself spiritually. Do the things that you need to in order to nurture the whole self.

Exercise. A good thirty minute brisk walk will do it. Remember not to think about stressful events while you are exercising otherwise this will defeat the purpose.It is also important to remember to burn fat while exercising.

In closing, let me remind you that you are the only one in control of your stress levels. Sure, there are many external forces vying for you time and talents but ultimately only one person can choose to deal with the pressures of life in a healthy manner. That is you. My hope is that you feel less stress as a result of reading this blog not more, hope it worked. Good Luck

10 Sure Fire Ways to Get Rid of an Acne Blemish

These recommendations were taken from a poll of our readers. In the coming days there will be more to this list of "Sure Fire Ways to Get Rid of an Acne Blemish."

1. Home face wash for an acne blemish: Mix together 1 or 2mls each of the following: witch hazel, tea-tree and sweet fennel essential oils, adding essential oil of geranium for women and essential oil of rosewood for men. Mix with 300mls of water. Shake before use, as the oils will float on top of the water during storage. Dab affected areas with cotton wool two or three times a day. The oils will clean and unclog giving antibiotic-like protection to the skin and help with acne blemish.

2. Clean face with cotton wool dipped in rose water 2-3 times a day

3. Aloe Vera juice applied twice a day can greatly speed up the healing of acne blemishes.

4. Some herbal acne blemish home remedies...
Burdock leaf tea.
Lavender essential oil (mix 1:10 with water)
Tincture of calendula flowers.
Tea tree essential oil (mix 1:10 with water)
Liquefy cabbage leaves with witch hazel, strain and add two drops of lemon oil. Use as a lotion.

5. Rub fresh garlic on and around pimples (acne, blemish). Pimples will disappear without a mark with regular applications.

6. Make a paste of ground radish seeds with water and apply on face to remove blackheads.

7. Large pores on facial skin can be treated with paste of sandalwood powder with masoor dal.

8. Honey is a great remedy for skin blemishes and acne because the honey kills bacteria.

9. Put toothpaste on your pimple before you go to bed, should help reduce swelling overnight. Make sure it is the paste not the gel. One of the most popular acne home remedies.

10. Another method is to massage the face with the skin of lemon before washing with lukewarm water.

*Check back soon as we will be posting the rest of our results form the poll (Sure Fire Ways to Get Rid of an Acne Blemish).

Sure Fire Ways to Get Rid of an Acne Blemish