The psychological harm acne or Zits causes it’s many sufferers should not be underestimated; however, many effective treatments are available. A great deal of effort is going into research for a cure; these days, even with serious cases, there are many skin care treatments available. Although the number of acne skin care products and treatments might at first seem endless, they can actually be categorized into three areas:

* Preventive

* Drugstore or Internet: Treatments that do not require a prescription

* Specialized, on-prescription acne products

General or preventative acne products form a large section of the skin care market; for example, special toners and skin cleansers. This is a market where many people use this type of product every day to condition their skin; many use these products to protect their skin from the environment even if they do not have the acne condition. Other acne skin care products, like skin cleansers for instance, are more specific about their job; devised primarily to limit the amount of oil or sebum forming in the pores. When the pores become clogged with this oil, bacteria which can cause the problem begin to grow.

Other skin care treatments can help exfoliate the skin; most can even be purchased over the Internet in addition to normal outlets. They work by reducing oil plus other contaminants from the skin and in the pores; this can reduce harmful bacteria and stop their chance of growth. Many different, specially formulated acne skin care products designed to reduce the problems have now been made available without prescription. A bacterium that aids the formation of acne is stopped by creams and cleansers that contain benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid; these include products which extract the unwanted oil from the skin.

It is often a good idea to start with a product that has lower concentration of benzoyl peroxide (e.g. 5 percent) to see how the skin responds; an alternative to this includes products which contain alpha hydroxy acid. As with any type of zit cream, you may need to try a few acne skin care products until you find one that will suit your skin; if none of them work then you would be advised to contact your skin specialist. Only doctors or skin care specialists can prescribe some medications, including the use of antibiotics and certain ointments.

In some case your doctor may suggest the pustules are drained of harmful contents under local anesthetic; although this is a minor procedure, if it were performed by the person themselves it could result in skin damage. Your doctor may even suggest a course of hormone therapy as a skin care treatment; hormonal changes are known to cause acne and such skin care treatments often effective. Science has produced many effective treatments for this unkind condition.

Vanity plays a large part in the use of popular anti-ageing skin care products and treatments; it is not unreasonable to want to continue looking youthful for as long as possible when you consider how much longer most of us are living! This is achieved in beauty products by promoting the growth of connective tissue using the protein collagen which is the most abundant in the skin of all animals; approximately one quarter of the protein contained in skin is collagen. Most anti-ageing products (collagen included) fall into a category of natural everyday products we all use; known as antioxidants, they are the body’s method of slowing down the ageing process.

One of the best known anti-oxidants is vitamin C and despite continual research, no-one body involved can decide just exactly how much our body should consume on a daily basis. Skin care treatments that are based on vitamin C, pose the problem of becoming oxidized themselves as they come into contact with air during their usage.

More stable skin care treatments are now available that are almost as efficient and actually cost less to manufacture. Unfortunately the anti-oxidant products used to replace vitamin C are not as effective but as vitamin E and lipoic acid can both have the same effect; this is not too much of a problem.

The body uses vitamin E as an antioxidant and to increase the natural defense we have against sickness; it has many functions including inhibiting the formation of cancer cells. Another of these is lipoic acid which is found in every cell of our body to help generate energy for us to live; it is also able to help reduce and restore the skin’s aging process.

Another group of products used to reduce the visible signs of ageing are phytochemicals which are compounds extracted from various plants and used in many anti-ageing skin care products. Another benefit of phytochemicals, like those of alpha-lipoic acid, is their ability to reduce the prevalence of certain cancers; for instance:

* Prostate Cancer in Men

* Breast Cancer

* Colon Cancer

These are all on the increase around the world.

It has also been discovered that there are anti-ageing benefits to vitamins B5, B6 and B12. This just goes to highlight just how complex and far reaching the whole field of anti-ageing skin care products is and why so much more research is required. Gradually, new discoveries will be made to advance our understanding of the aging process; more long term effective methods will eventually be found to reverse or slow down the effects of aging.

The amount of research going on in this field will undoubtedly bring results in time, hopefully bringing down the cost of these anti-ageing skin care products in addition to increasing their reliability. A person should never accept that everything science devises in relation to skin care and anti-aging is always going to be the best; it is doubtful if science can replace natural skin care remedies. Simple things that can make a difference in slowing the signs of ageing; these include physical activity, restful sleep, maintaining good dietary habits and removing stress from your life.