Helping your teens battle acne

The teenage years are challenging enough, so the last thing you want for your teens is hormone-induced skin problems adding to list of reasons to feel awkward or self-conscious. Arbonne Australia and New Zealand product expert and National Training Manager Jacinda van Drongelen explains how to manage problem skin.

It’s important to first understand what is happening when teens are experiencing problem skin. Acne and breakouts occur when pores become clogged from an increase in oil production along with decreased cellular turnover.

Each pore on the surface of the skin is an opening to a follicle. The follicle contains a hair and a microscopic oil gland. The gland deposits oil on the hairs, which act as a wick, bringing it up to the surface of the skin. In a healthy skin ecosystem, dead skin cells rise to the surface of the skin to be shed when skin produces excess oil.

When these dead skin cells stick together, they become trapped, forming a plug or a clog in the pore. This creates the perfect environment for acne bacteria to multiply. This causes the pore to become inflamed, red, and swollen. If left without treatment, dark spots, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, and scarring can occur. That’s when we see those purple markings in the skin.

Here are two lifestyle tips to help your teen avoid acne:

  1. Picking and squeezing blemishes will only open them up to outside bacteria and can lead to further inflammation.
  2. Dietary choices are important. While it’s a myth that if you eat a chocolate you’ll get a pimple, a poor diet with nutritional imbalances will inhibit skin from looking and feeling it’s best. To achieve healthy-looking, balanced skin, you should avoid a high intake of processed food, refined carbohydrates, and sugar, and increase your intake of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. It’s also important to optimise digestion with probiotics along with digestive enzymes and to add healthy fats such as Omega-3s.
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