Ever wondered where you got those stubborn acne scars from?
Well, the answer may be just around the corner. While touching pimples had never been recommended by skincare providers, to avoid local spreading of the infection, and acne recurrence, it has of late been strongly associated with adamant acne scars, say experts.
You will be surprised to know that the very process of healing of a little pimple is associated with a small scarring. The germ-fighters present in the blood are summoned at the pimple-point to fight against the bacteria, which leaves a minor lesion or scar at the place.
But if you touch, squeeze, pop, or press the zit, you make it harder for the germ-fighters to do their job, leading to more scarring.
More scar tissue on your face will take longer time to fade, as scar tissue has different pattern of blood circulation, different elasticity, and different concentration of pigments from normal skin.
Another way you could be etching acne scars on your face is by increasing the size of your acne with your finger-touch.
Acne is triggered by bacteria at the hair follicle that generate skin-irritating acid. The body tries to combat these bacteria by throwing up a pimple on your face.
If you press or squeeze the pimple, the acids are pushed deeper into the blood and the body now has to throw up a larger zit on your face to fight it!
By popping a pimple you also damage a little of the surrounding skin. So now the body not only has to heal the scar, but also the damaged skin and the infection only gets worse with your unclean hands touching it.
So this is the rule of the thumb – DON’T touch your pimples. When you do, make sure it’s only for the purpose of washing (very gently, though).
Don’t scrub your pimples if you want to avoid skin damage and awkward scarring. Keep them clean, dry, and let the body’s immunity system do its work.
If scarring has already occurred, you can try some the following home remedies to get rid of it:
- Apply the juice of fresh lemon directly on your acne with moist cotton balls. Lemon juice has a lightening effect on skin tone and is a natural bleach.
- Prepare a paste by mixing sandalwood powder and rose water and apply as a facial mask on the scarred area. Wear it overnight if possible and in the morning rinse it completely off with water.
- Apply egg whites. They work on smaller scars.
- Use fresh cucumber paste applied topically as face-mask to reduce scars.
- Applying lavender oil regularly two times a day can help to reduce the size of scars.
- Oral consumption of honey or its topical application is also known to have desirable effect on acne scars.
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