Adolescent Acne – Angst Alleviation
Adolescence, don’t you just love it? Well, adolescents oft times have certain misgivings about it, one of these misgivings being acne skin care. Pimples persecute many a youthful teen, that time when an individual finds himself, herself, what have you, amidst the process of identifying his, or her, very uniqueness on this orb as an individual. Medical professionals when called upon to shed light on this litany of pimple problems are wont to suggest that in an attempt to improve the condition of the skin, a person had best practice specific steps to take care of acne areas.
Across the expanse of this orb, our Mommy Earth, young folks of every stripe and character are familiar with this severe skin ailment, which affects not only the mere surface, that which peers and elders can see and comment upon (“Hey, Puss Face, get in line! Behind me, Grease Ball!”), but as well below the surface, layered levels of this organ not seen so casually by the naked eye. Too, acne happens not just on the countenance; neck, chest, back and buttocks can provide the venue for adolescent acne affliction.In the past several million minutes, give or take a second or two, untold tens of zillions — well, okay, not that many, but a lot, anyway — of skin care specialists, people ranging from underground anti-acne activists to grinning, grasping grandmothers, with the occasional doctor type thrown in for good measure, have engaged in studies focusing on the prevention of pimple problems, looking for the magic formula of common sense that stops acne formation dead in its agitating advance.
Well, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, dogs and cats, mice and men, it is your good fortune that within this brief memo yours truly lists three simple yet powerful points to ponder and then apply to the task of having healthier skin, leaving one free of the punctilious peer fear nonsense of awful acne attacks in social settings. As Austin Powers might say: “Yeah, Baby!Pimple problem prevention point number one. Be gentle. Vigorous scrubbing is most definitely NOT encouraged.
Taking coarse-grade sandpaper to your skin in an effort to achieve a satisfying sense of personal hygiene is the wrong thing to be doing in that doing so, actually attacking the acne with attitude, shotgun blasts to the face, metaphorically speaking, will only improve the chances that acne-approved germs already found on the face have a much better chance for survival, and thus, more acne. It may seem to go against so-called common sense, but DO NOT SCRUB. Also, do not wash your face in boiling acids like the kind found in the blood of those lovable ETs in the “Alien” film franchise series. You’ve seen what that blood does to the good-guy Predator aliens, haven’t you? So, no astringent skin care products, no matter what it says on the label, which is probably just advertising anyway and not some kind soul’s honest opinion.
Well, okay, if there are pools of oil on your skin, astringents may come in handy — but be forewarned, apply astringent solutions only to those oily areas, and we’re talking fried chicken oily, sharp cheddar oily, motor pool floor greasy, grease monkey nasty. No, rather than dropping napalm on your acne, instead of clawing it off with the nail-pulling end of a hammer, being gentle with your skin is the key to this first pimple problem prevention point. To get rid of the day’s supply of pimple-producing, acne-invigorating bacteria which occurs through the good graces of Nature on many a person’s mug, at least two times each day, employ a mild cleanser to clean the skin with tender loving care.
Again, be gentle. As David Gilmour, or whoever it was in Pink Floyd, has said: “Careful with that axe, Eugene.”Pimple problem prevention point number two. Don’t touch. During the course of the day, placing the fingers upon the skin stretched over one’s face, measuring the mass of acne affliction often being the motivation here, checking to find out if it is still really there perhaps, who knows why people do this (probably some psychologist of human behavior would be my guess), is a big no-no. Pinching, prodding, twisting, pulling, squeezing, scratching and tapping — just plain refrain from frequent fingering as, as numerous souls who consider this to be a most urgently imperative acne prevention piece of advice will tell you, it just causes ugly infection and even uglier scars. And if it’s already too late, those lesions are already lingering amidst your facial pores, then lay off on the touching and rubbing if at all humanly possible.
As First Lady Reagan was known to intone: “Just say no.”Pimple problem prevention point number three. Avoid oily makeup. In other words, select your cosmetics with care. And don’t forget about your hair, if you have any — the hair on your head, that is. So shampoo should be oil-free, as well as your blush, eye shadow, foundation and moisturizers, in order to avoid the onset of acne ache. Oily hair products are known for closing the comedo door, and closed comedones result in blackheads becoming whiteheads, both of which are due to greasy gunk in the skin pores. (Try not to imagine that in your mind’s eye, the picture gets real blurry and you will cry in your mind.) Applications of hair products marked mysteriously as “noncomedogenic”, that’s the ticket here. And well, greasy makeup? I think you get the picture; just don’t imagine it . . . .
As Yoko Ono warbles — okay, never mind about that.Statistically (maybe), a plethora of people upon the planet fret over the appearance of the complexion, getting all confused over the ole popular pithy saying, “Beauty is only skin deep.” Confusion leads to frustration, which discombobulates one into desperation, and the next thing you know, high-priced advertising schemes have you convinced that the only answer to an acneless existence and movie-star facial charm is buying tons of high-priced beauty products that are designed by evil Illuminati ilk to do just the opposite of what you were originally hoping for, and there you are doing the “big no-no” you are instructed against in pimple problem prevention point number two. In concluding this pithy pathway to fresh and vibrant skin clear of nasty acne, following these three simple but important steps might also make you healthy, wealthy and wise, but only if you are consistent. Of course if you are an adolescent, you can just forget the whole thing, you probably have more compelling business to attend to then to bother even reading this piece in the first place. But anyway, good luck.
