How to Get Rid of Arm Acne
Most people get acne on their face, neck, or shoulders at some point in their life, but few are prepared to deal with acne on their arms, or with under arm acne. Pimples on your arms may have started forming just recently, or this could be a problem you’ve been living with for years. Either way, it’s embarrassing, and you just want it gone as quickly as possible.
Thankfully, from a treatment standpoint, arm acne is really no different than facial acne. It is developed in the same way. Excess sebum (oil) on your skin clogs a pore, causing dead skin cells and bacteria to become trapped in the pore. Bacteria feed off the oil and skin cells, multiplying quickly and causing a miniature infection.
The result is a natural immune system response. Inflammation begins as your body battles the bacteria, and as a result, the pore swells up, turns red, and fills with puss. This is how a “zit” is formed. The process is the same no matter where it takes place on your body, and this is exactly what causes acne arm bumps.
Now that you understand how acne on your arms is formed, we can move on to the important part – making it go away!
Top 3 Steps to Getting Rid of Arm Acne:
Keep the Area Clean
If you don’t take a shower every day, now is a good time to start. If you already take one every day, it might be a good idea to wash your hands and arms throughout the day. Normal soap or body wash can irritate and dry out your arms, and in some cases can actually make your arm acne worse. With that in mind, stick to an acne cleanser made for the face.
Medicate the Area
If you don’t want to add an additional step, you can just use an acne wash containing an acne medication. Using this once per day in the shower will knock out both step 1 and 2. The two most common medications are salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide. For body acne, salicylic acid is the most common active ingredient, with most washes containing around 2% of this ingredient.
Avoid Irritation
Keep your arms free of dirt, oil, grease, and anything that might rub on them. There are two reasons for this. The first being that you need to keep your arms clean to avoid clogging the pores, and the second being that foreign objects abrading your arms will irritate the skin, and that leads to arm acne. Whatever you do, don’t pick at your zits or attempt to squeeze them. Leave them alone, and they will heal faster. If your arms get grease or just feel oily after awhile, wash them immediately with an acne cleanser and warm water.
These three steps will help you get started with treatment. Arm acne may take several weeks to begin disappearing even with treatment, so if you don’t see results right away, don’t give up. Many new zits that pop up have actually been forming for a week or more – they just haven’t become inflamed yet.
Another type of acne you may experience is under arm acne. This area isn’t highly visible, but it may prove to be quite uncomfortable and embarrassing none the less. The first thing to do in this situation is evaluate your need for an actual antiperspirant. Since these, by design, plug up the pores in your arm pits, switching to a simple deodorant that does not contain an antiperspirant ingredient is all many people need to clear their under arm acne.
Beyond this simple tip, you can also follow the previously mentioned 3 step system for arm acne. Just apply those methods to your under arm area instead.
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