What causes pimples?
Our body naturally produces oil, known as sebum, which keeps hair & skin soft. Our skin keeps shedding dead cells of its outer layer and replaces them with new ones. [That’s why face creams cannot make you fairer permanently]
In teenagers and young adults, due to changes in hormones, skin produces too much oil. The dead skin cells together with this excess oil clogs hair follicles on the face. Our Skin has bacteria called C. acnes which feeds on this oil. This bacteria reaches the clogged follicles for the oil and causes infection which appear as pimples.
As hormones stabilize on reaching adulthood, pimples go away automatically.
How to get rid of pimples?
By changing hormone levels with medicine, sebum levels and pimples can be reduced. This option is not good as messing with hormones have serious side effects.
Getting rid of pimple bacteria is the solution.
Antibiotics
Though antibiotics kill pimple bacteria, they shouldn’t be taken orally as they cause side effects by killing helpful bacteria also. Hence antibiotics should be applied directly to the face.
Salicylic acid and Azelaic acid are famous antibiotics for pimple care. Most face creams made for pimples use them. You can find one such cream and get rid of pimples.
Many ‘natural’ pimple creams claimed to be made with neem, tulsi etc. herbs actually use Salicylic acid or similar synthesized chemicals. Such products are priced higher but not better than others.
Problem with antibiotic creams
- Some Antibiotics may not work after a few months as pimple bacteria develops resistance
- Manufacturers may use artificial colors, preservatives, fragrances which are not good for skin
Honey for pimples
Honey kills pimple bacteria. Clean the face, apply unprocessed original honey to face, wash after 30 minutes. Do this twice a day. Most pimples go away within a week.
How does honey work for pimples
- Honey absorbs moisture from microbes and break their structure
- Enzymes in honey produce mild acid when exposed to air
- It also has multiple natural compounds from flowers and bees
Since microbes cannot survive in honey for these reasons it never spoils. For the same reason, applying honey alone to face kills pimple bacteria. Due to its complex compounds that work together, bacteria won’t develop resistance.
Unlike face creams, original honey doesn’t have artificial colors, preservatives, fragrance. Prefer buying it from reliable sources as many big brands process honey so much that it looses its natural properties.
About the author
Karthik Kotturu, founder – No Mix Kart .com, is a graduate of IIM Trichy.
He does thorough research to get high-quality products for this website and, using what he learns, writes regularly on Quora & this blog.
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Quora:https://www.quora.com/profile/Karthik-Kotturu-1