We've all been there. Waking up in the morning, and seeing those zits covering your face. For some, this is an on-going problem, where for others, it will go away in a day or two. I had bad acne once, so I decided to share some tips I used to get rid of it.

1. Wash your face. This doesn't mean to the point where you look like a germaphobe. 3 times a day should be fine. Maybe more, if you are doing anything that will get you sweaty. Try and wash with a nice soft soap, and warm water.

2. Baby powder. Now you might look silly putting baby powder on your face, but it helps reduce the oils on your skin, and in your pores. Try to avoid anything with perfumes and fragrances in them.

3. Drink water. Most people think it's a myth that drinking a lot of water will get rid of, or prevent acne. 8 Glasses a day, (Or however much you might like to drink), will help. The water will help flush out any unwanted waste from your body, so it doesn't have to store it. It also helps rehydrate dead skin cells which can clog pores.

4. Wash your pillow, or pillow covers. Dead skin and dirt can build up pretty quickly on pillows, and laying on that dirt for 8 hours or more isn't health for your skin. Try and wash your pillow cases to keep them as dirt free as possible.

5. Sun, sun, and more sun. Getting outside and getting fresh air can help with keeping your skin clear. Vitamin D is essential for healthy skin, and a nice walk outside can reduce stress.

6. Stay away from the caffiene, and the junk food. Caffiene can increase hormone production, which will in turn, produce more acne. Eating lots of sugary snacks will produce insulin, which will in turn produce a greasy substance on your skin, which can promote bacteria growth.

And finally, Try and stay away from from over the counter antibiotics. They can often do more harm than good. They have potential to make your body dependent on them, and there is a chance they could irritate the skin. If your acne is bad enough that you think you need antibiotics, the consult a doctor.

[edit on (9/6/0808 by Hexidecimal]

I did a number of self experiments over the course of a couple years for a bodybuilding mag out of the UK a while back. The actual article is quite long but here was my outline that I kept. Enjoy, feel free to ask for clarification on something. Also, one that's not there that I've found effective is dish soap; I used Dawn on my face and body, very good result when combined with medication. Try to get the regular kind without scent as it will burn if you picked at any of your zits.

Benzyl peroxide + Retinoic Acid

Dose/Duration: Applied AM & PM for over a year
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Prescription: No
Side Effects: Dry skin
Effect on acne: Minimal but some
Bottom line: Decent for minor acne limited to your face, OTC as well.

Vitamin B6

Dose/Duration: 10,000mg /day for 4 months
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Prescription: No
Side Effects: None
Effect on acne: None
Bottom line: Waste of money

Dalacin + Desquam cream

Dose/Duration: Applied AM & PM for ~2 years
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Treatment
Prescription: Yes
Side Effects: Dry skin
Effect on acne: Minimal
Bottom line: I used this cream when I was younger, a pharmacist made it up for me; it helped some by drying out the applied area.

Pro-Active solutions

Dose/Duration: Applied AM & PM for 3 months
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Prescription: No
Side Effects: Dry skin
Effect on acne: Minimal
Bottom line: Only thing I've ever purchased off an infomercial... it died out the acne, reduced it a little but didn't do a much better job than simple Oxypads and it's much more expensive. Not worth it.

Tetracycline

Dose/Duration: 500mg 2x a day for 3 months
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Prescription: Yes
Side Effects: None
Effect on acne: Decrease in acne for 1st month, came back for following 2 months of the treatment until it was discontinued
Bottom line: Waste of time and not recommended for bodybuilders since its effectiveness is greatly decreased when food is present in the stomach.

Erythromycin

Dose/Duration: 500mg 2x a day for 3 months
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Prescription: Yes
Side Effects: Upset stomach after taking it
Effect on acne: Minimal
Bottom line: Not much better than Tetracycline, wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Doxycycline

Dose/Duration: 50mg 3x a day - discontinued within a week
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Prescription: Yes
Side Effects: Made me severely nauseous with or without food
Effect on acne: N/A
Bottom line: Didn't agree with my stomach.

Clindamycin

Dose/Duration: 100mg 3x a day
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Prescription: Yes
Side Effects: None
Effect on acne: Minimal
Bottom line: Wouldn't do it again or recommend it, very little result.

Minocycline

Dose/Duration: 50mg 3x a day for 3-6 months
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Prescription: Yes
Side Effects: Change in skin pigment, makes my skin appear very red.
Effect on acne: Significant.
Bottom line: I was skeptical after so many other anti-biotics have failed to help me but this one has worked very well. Recommended.

Accutane

Dose/Duration: 60mg /day for 6 months, 70mg /day for 6 months, 20mg /day for 3 months
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Prescription: Yes
Side Effects: Dry skin, cracked/bleeding lips, dry/bleeding nose, dry eyes, and severe sensitivity to the sun at high doses, requires monthly blood tests for liver function
Effect on acne: Extremely effective, clears me up with in 1 month and stays that way, a couple months after treatment ends acne often returns but is reduced in severity each time.
Bottom line: Highly recommended to anyone who’s tried everything else, but start at a low dose, 70mg was hell for me with the dryness and sun burns, 60mg was tolerable, just finished 20mg a month ago and that was very effective with almost no sides.

My daughter had severe acne and it turned out that she was having an allergic reaction to the sebum (natural oils in the skin).

After trials of various methods we finally got it under control.

Keep hair off of the face.
Wash gently with warm water throughout the day NO SOAP
No makeup (she went foundationless for a month till the acne was under control and then found she didn't want/need the foundation anymore)
EFFACLEAR - a truly good product and it was well worth the extra cost. 2 x per day with the cleanser and then followed up with the "toner". Within a month her acne was nearly gone.

We tried a ton of products that failed effaclear was the only one that delivered excellent results.

The above poster is quite right too that drinking more water can be helpful, getting good sleep is as well, keeping bedding clean etc etc.

the Effa Clear we found at Shoppers Drug Mart (canada) not sure where else it could be found.

in the summer time...go swimming a lot, the chemicals in pools help A LOT.

Plus you sweat in the pool mix that with cleaning out your pores...its about the best thing you can do for your problem face.

Just a suggestion.

some good suggestions there, though i REALLY don't recommend the use of soap!
(on my thread there is a brilliant site which you can make your own skincare products so all you are putting on your face are natural things like milk, juice, oats etc... check out the first link insha'Allaah!
"it's all about the natural" thread...)

secondly i HIGHLY recommend water to flush your body out, and try to avoid teas and things which are diuretics and will cause you to go to the loo A LOT, thus flushing a lot of the water out of the body that you need!

as for sun, (and this is before i was a muslim) i found that the sun helped TEMPORARILY... like when i went on holiday to tunisia ni heat of 44 degrees, my skin cleared and when i returened to the uk it came back WORSE than before...

this is because your skin, when it tans, is actually DEFENDING itself from the sun, because of the harmful rays, and this is why health experts say that 15minutes in the sun is enough!
sun used to make my skin worse most of the time, and i find that since i came to islaam and have started wearing the niqaab, my face has become hundreds of times better than it ever was!
this may be due to the fact that i now AVOID soaps and chemicals and use natural products, such as blackseed oil and other things you will find on the website i recommended, rather than using chemical "medicinal" products... (i used to be left with red rashes or burns over my face after using them!)

vitamin d is good for your skin but you can take in this from plenty if different foods also...

and yes DO NOT USE ANTIBIOTICS even if your doctor suggests it!
i was prescribed them from the age of 13 untill the age of 16/17!
my body became so reliant on it that whenever i would run out i would break out in such horrendous acne, that i made the decision to stop it! it clearly wasn't working for me atall. i didn't want to take them for the rest of my life!!!

praise to God, now i have changed my lifestyle with eating healthier, using natural products on my skin, cutting stress levels etc, my skin is the best in over 8 years!

I agree with the people who recommend against using any but the gentlest soaps on your face if you're prone to breaking out. I know it seems counterintuitive, and it just feels so good to scrub your face clean if you have problem skin, but it has always made breakouts worse for me. I had a dermatologist give me Cetaphil back when it was still under development, and it's still my favorite thing to use when I'm stressed out (and even in my mid-thirties, I still break out from time to time).

I also preferred using benzoyl peroxide only as a spot treatment. It did seem to dry out zits and make them go away faster, but it just increased the sensitivity of my skin (and therefore redness and breakouts) when I used it all over.

Avoid all unnecessary fragrances. This is such a pet peeve of mine. Why would you want to put extra chemicals that do nothing but try to smell nice on skin that's inflamed already?

For washing, if you really can't stand not using soap, I've found that Dove Unscented, Basis, and most gentle, unscented, glycerin soaps are okay.

Finally, one thing that I wish someone had told me as a teenager -- don't be afraid or embarrassed to see a dermatologist if your acne is troubling you. It does not mean that you're vain or spoiled or anything like that.