How To Get Rid Of Acne Breakouts: A Complete Guide To Clear Skin

Acne can affect more than just your skin— even mild breakouts can make you feel less confident, uncomfortable and embarrassed about your skin.

We know the feeling.

Everyone including friends, family, neighbors and strangers always want to start conversations with – Use this cream or that.

But little do they know that their pity, mocking jokes and unsolicited acne remedy advice gives you more self esteem issues. It could feel so bad that you hardly upload any bare faced pictures on Whatsapp or Instagram or even want to leave the house unnecessarily or even when you decide to go out putting on heavy makeup is a must.

We know you’re tired of hiding behind make-ups every single day for months and have tried everything from expensive tablets, organic creams, facials but nothing seems to work for your acne or sometimes it could feel like it’s working and after a week or two it’s back.

Don’t lose hope. This guide will help breakdown in details step by step what causes breakouts in the first place, how to know the type of acne you’re battling (because each type requires different treatments) and exactly what to do to finally get long lasting results with your acne issues.

To get rid of acne, you need to keep the pores clear, balance oil, and accelerate the shedding of dead skin cell.

So just how do we go about doing all of those things? Keep scrolling, This might be the most revealing post you’ll find on the internet today on how to get rid of acne breakouts and maintain a clear healthy skin.

To defeat acne, you need to first understand what causes it and how skin pores and hair follicles contributes to acne build up.

Pores are tiny openings on the skin whereas hair follicles are like pathways through which oil passes from the glands where they are produced and comes out to the skin surface via the pore openings to lubricate skin.

How Healthy Pores Work

We’d use a simple analogy to explain better how pores work:

You’re familiar with gutters right? Most major roads around have them. The job of the gutter is to provide efficient passage of water into a canal or larger water body so stagnant water don’t spoil the road infrastructures.

When you pour more dirty water on the gutter and there is no way for it to move it fills up faster, stays stagnant and gets clogged up together with debris like sachet water, empty cans etc.

After awhile bacteria starts to flourish on the clogged stagnant gutter causing serious pollution and health risk.

Your pores have a very important job just like the street gutters. The skin’s natural oil, called sebum travels up the follicle carrying dead skin cells with it and (in a perfect world) comes out through the pores to help keep the skin supple, moisturized, and healthy.

You don't want to stop production of sebum or shrink away pores, but rather to keep them functioning normally to have healthy skin.

Blocked Pores and How Acne Forms

Acne is a disorder of the pores. All acne blemishes begin as a pore blockage.

Usually, your pores do a great job of sweeping out oil, dead skin cells, and other debris that may end up there. But sometimes things could go wrong. Instead of being cleared up and out of the pore, oil and dead cells become trapped in the hair follicle and clogs the pore.

As more oil gets produced, it remains trapped. The trapped oil mixes with dead skin cells and other debris creating a breeding and feeding ground for bacteria. The growing bacteria irritate the follicle and oil gland which triggers redness and swelling causing acne.

It actually takes about 30 days for a pimple to form. You read that right, 30 days for that pimple to brew underneath your skin without your notice so when you change something in your routine and then experience a breakout a few days later, it’s not the change that brought it on. That breakout has been brewing for weeks.

So it makes more sense now why Acne comes from the Greek word akmḗ meaning “facial eruption” because the acne you can see is the top of the volcano. The real problem is happening below the surface.

Thankfully, it's not hard to stop acne breakouts once you understand how it forms, works and it’s stages.

It is important to understand that not every acne has the same life span. Knowing which type of acne you’re suffering from will help determine the most appropriate treatments to get rid of it fast.

Regardless of what kind of blemishes you’re experiencing, there is a solution for you but first let us get to know the exact type of acne you're dealing with.

There are two main categories of acne – Inflammatory and Non-Inflammatory. Together, both categories are made up of 6 different types of acne. We’ll discuss the 6 different types of acne, how they form, what they look like and exactly what you can do to get rid of them.

Non Inflamed Acne

Non-inflammatory acne occurs when pores become clogged or closed, which leads to two types of acne blemishes: blackheads and whiteheads.

This type of acne is usually easier to treat, so over-the-counter (OTC) treatments may work.

Types Of Non Inflamed Acne

1. Whiteheads

This type of acne develops underneath the skin and appears when excess oil and dead skin cells clog the opening of the pore. If the pore closes up, you’ll notice a small flesh-colored or white-colored bumps. These are whiteheads.

It’s important to note that whiteheads can’t be removed or fixed by squeezing them, so don’t try to pop them on your own. Otherwise you may end up with scars.

2. Blackheads

These are similar to whiteheads, but when the debris clogging the pore pushes through and becomes exposed to the air, it reacts with oxygen and turns black.

The black dots aren’t dirt, so resist scrubbing. It will only worsen your acne.

Blackheads aren’t covered by skin like a whitehead. Instead, they rise to the skin’s surface.

Inflamed Acne

This is a more severe type of acne.

While non-inflamed acne is caused by two factors - sebum and dead skin cells which clogs pores, Acne becomes inflamed when a third factor, Bacteria joins the party.

When usually harmless bacteria becomes trapped inside airless clogged pores, Inflamed acne develops. As the bacteria multiplies, your skin may become red, tender, swollen and uncomfortable. Sometimes, you may notice several large inflamed acne lesions develop close to each other.

Because it’s so visible, inflamed acne can have a serious effect on both your appearance and your self-confidence.

It can vary in severity from small papules and pustules to severe cystic or nodular acne which all could cause scarring and dark spots that may affect your skin’s appearance after your acne breakouts clear.

Luckily, inflamed acne can almost always be treated. In fact, with the right combination of acne medication, self-care and good habits, it’s possible to treat even the most severe inflamed acne breakouts and enjoy clear, blemish-free skin.

Below, we’ve discussed 4 types of inflamed acne, as well as the symptoms you may notice if you’re prone to inflamed acne breakouts.

We’ve also shared science-based, proven treatment options that you can use to get rid of severe acne and prevent it from coming back.

Types Of Inflamed Acne

1. Papules

2. Pustules

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3. Nodules

Nodular acne consists of flesh-colored or red bumps that are deep under the skin’s surface. Nodular acne is usually a result of the C. acnes bacteria causing a painful infection deep within the pore.

Since OTC (over the counter) treatments work on the surface level of your skin, they aren’t as effective for nodular acne. A dermatologist can help you get rid of acne nodules with prescription-strength benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid, antibiotics, Retinoids, or birth control pills (for women).

If medications don’t work, your doctor may drain the nodules by hand or use a laser or chemical peel, a process that removes the outer layer of skin.

This is the final phase of acne where bacterial infection keeps multiplying which causes inflammation into deeper layers of your skin forming hard bumps without pus and are considered one of the most severe forms of acne.

4. Cysts

Cystic acne is the worst and most severe form of acne and is also the result of an infection very deep within the skin. Acne cysts are large, red, inflamed, painful, boil-like and pus-filled bumps. Cysts are softer than nodules because they are pus-filled and often burst, infecting the surrounding skin.

Cystic acne is the most difficult acne to treat. Your dermatologist can help you fight cysts with medications like isotretinoin (an oral retinoid also sold under the brands Claravis, Myorisan, Zenatane, and others), antibiotics, topical retinol cream for acne , birth control pills (for women), or spironolactone (Aldactone). Spironolactone, like birth control, can help reduce androgen levels. However, it is only used to treat acne in women because it can cause unwanted side effects in men.

You may require multiple medications in order to get rid of cystic acne. Your provider may recommend injecting stubborn cysts with steroids in order to treat them directly and get rid of the inflammation.

When cystic acne occurs with nodular acne, it’s referred to as nodulocystic acne. Both of these forms of severe acne can potentially damage your skin and leave behind permanent acne scarring.

The 5-Step Acne Routine For Clear Skin

Niacinamide helps to control excess oil, maintain balance and prevent clogged pores. It also has anti-Inflammatory Properties to soothe irritated skin and reduce the redness associated with acne.

Salicylic acid serum helps unclog blocked pores by breaking down and removing dead skin cells and oil.

Apply Niacinamide first then followed by Retinol on two alternate nights a week. Niacinamide and retinol are skin care soulmates, especially for supporting the appearance of a smoother, more even skin tone and texture.

Unveil a smoother, more radiant complexion with Salicylic Acid 2% clay mask – a powerful clay and kaolin treatment targeting clogged pores and dead skin.