Acne is by far the most common skin condition on the planet. It is estimated that more than 50 million people around the world are dealing with some kind of zit breakout at any given time. In fact, more than 70% of people will have an acne episode at some point in their lives. Usually, it is not uncommon for a breakout to leave a trail of marks and scars in its wake, and this is where acne scar removal methods come into play. Getting rid of scars is not healthy and aesthetically pleasing for your complexion but it is also a good way of hedging your skin against future breakouts by encouraging regeneration of new skin cells.
Acne scars, nonetheless, are not entirely a bad thing. If anything, they are part of the healing process and a sign that your body is attempting to correct some of the flaws brought about by overactive oil glands and blocked skin pores. It is, therefore, imperative to make sure that you don’t needlessly irritate your skin in a desperate attempt to get rid of the scars. You’d be surprised how often a new breakout is triggered after attempting a very rigorous scar removal routine just after an acne episode.
Speaking of which, natural and less-invasive treatment options and home remedies are a good way of ensuring that you don’t aggravate your symptoms as you attempt to get rid of the scars. Here’s a quick but detailed premise to that.
Black Seed Oil to Get Rid of Scars left After Papules Have Healed
Scientifically known as Nigella Sativa, this special ointment has been used in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Western Asia for its legendary medicinal properties. And this is not surprising considering that it is extracted from an ancient medicinal plant. Thanks to its widespread availability and popularity, the emollient can easily be found online and its active ingredients even feature in most quick acne spot treatment conventional remedies.
Apart from its renowned antiviral and antibacterial properties, the oil is also anti-inflammatory. And this is something that boosts its scar reducing properties significantly, especially if you take into account that its healing properties are beyond reproach. However, stopping inflammation is not the only way that black seed oil aids in the removal of acne scars, extensive studies have shown that it is quite helpful in evening out hyperpigmentation or even inhibiting breakouts of pimples altogether.
Honey as a Teenage Acne Treatment Option
The thing about honey is that you don’t need a trip to your nearest drugstore to get your hands on this potential acne scar remover. Raw and unprocessed honey works better than the variety you can find in supermarkets and, in fact, this explains why honey has been used for various medicinal purposes for generations. It’s a recognized treatment option for managing scalds, serious trauma wounds and even herpes.
The same research that unearthed the unrivalled wound healing properties of honey also suggests that it is also a potential remedy for scarring. Applying honey directly on a wound, for example, has been shown to speed up the rate at which it dries up and starts healing. Besides, honey’s antibacterial properties have time and again proven to be quite adept at inhibiting the activity of acne-causing bacteria.
What’s even more interesting is that honey has the ability to combat other unrelated infections that would otherwise precipitate an acne breakout or cause your skin to breakout.
Rosehip Seed Oil – A Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution
Dark spots are a dermatological nightmare especially as the years go by and age starts catching up with you. It even gets worse if you are predisposed to acne breakouts and pimples in your youthful years. Fortunately, there are several natural remedies to combat age spots and marks from healed acne lesions – rosehip seed oil.
Marketed mainly as an anti-aging solution, it is only recently that skin specialists began appreciating its ability to accelerate healing and promote the correct healing of scars. And although this was first majorly used in managing surgical scars, tests carried out on acne marks have also yielded some impressive results. Applying rosehip seed oil twice a day, for instance, has been observed to be beneficial in reducing pigmentation and the appearance of blemishes, discoloration and scars.
Aloe Vera- One of the Best Acne Treatment Options Available Today
Aloe vera, like honey, is one of the most effective acne scar removers that you can land effortlessly for cheap. It’s even possible to grow it yourself in your backyard and harvest it occasionally for your skin care routine. Otherwise, you can find a huge variety of aloe vera gels, creams and ointments in standard pharmacies and drugstores across the country.
Besides being a standard home remedy thanks to its revered medicinal properties, it’s ability to effect quick healing of wounds can be extended to aid in fading acne scars. Several observations and detailed research, for instance, have shed crucial light to how applying aloe vera gel directly on wounds reduced the size of the scar tissue and kept progressive inflammation at bay. All of these combine to make it an excellent additive to any acne-fighting regimen regardless of your skin type.
A Combination of Sulfur for Acne and Lemon Juice
There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that can attest to the superior pimple-fighting properties that lemons pack. But it is the ability to fight hyperpigmentation, blemishes and discoloration that it excels greatly. You see, apart from being an antifungal and ant-bacteria agent, lemon juice is a mild exfoliant thanks to its slightly acidic pH. In short, it can oversee the sloughing off of dead skin cells from the face that will then be replaced by newly regenerated ones that will cover the scars and marks left after a torrid acne episode.
Sulfur, on the other hand, has plenty of useful anti-microbial properties up its sleeve. While lemon juice will stimulate the regrowth of new skin cells, sulfur will stop an acne breakout in its track thereby lessening the extent of damage sustained. Speaking of which, its action as a topical acne treatment is almost similar to that of salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide. The only difference here is that sulfur tends to be much gentler on the skin than the two. And this makes it an excellent acne treatment option for people with easily inflamed skin.
In addition to this, sulfur is thought to aid in the unclogging and unplugging of skin pores by drying out the dead skin. Application of lemon juice should do the trick of removing this layer consequently paving way for a new and fresher epidermis.
Final Thoughts
The truth is that there are very few proven and reliable home remedies for acne scars. But compared to the more expensive lotions, ointment and emollients whose effects and scar-elimination properties are as equally unproven, simple home remedies look like the better gamble to take. If anything, there are many other unseen benefits of going 100% natural compared to relying on industrial treatments. What’s more, all of these scar removal methods are largely non-invasive and relatively quite affordable to the common man. This goes a long way in banishing the common myth that you require a ton of money to get and maintain a movie-star like complexion.
