If you or someone you love suffers from acne – what you want to know is what you can do about it. Yes, you can do it — look better, feel better, and raise your self-esteem by getting rid of your acne cheaply, naturally and for good. Keeping your skin clear doesn’t have to be a trying experience with so many cheaper natural treatments available today.

Nearly 80 percent of people from ages 11 to 30 years have acne, most often on the face, chest and back. Acne is the most common skin disease. Numerous studies have revealed that acne is not simply a problem of the young; it also afflicts people of many ages, and can severely affect their daily lives. Nearly 17 million people in the United States have acne.

I think the cause of acne is related to our acidic, inflammatory ‘standard American diet’ (SAD) and that would also influence all of our hormones including stress hormones. If you’ve heard that dirty skin causes acne, it doesn’t – it’s a myth. The liver gets rid of toxins from bad food, drugs and chemicals and sends them through the skin resulting in eruptions, acne, pimples and other skin disorders.

Some natural home remedies include dabbing on non-gel toothpaste or lemon juice to dry out zits. When you wash your face use a soft touch, taking care not to rub or scrub your skin. This is a little messy but you can try making a paste by mixing three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon together and applying the paste on your pimples at bedtime for two weeks, and wash it off each morning; honey has anti-bacterial action – a cheap, natural home remedy.

One helpful remedy seems to be to use ice to reduce the swelling caused by inflamed pimples: rub it over the blemishes for 2-3 minutes. A new, non-invasive treatment using red light and blue light in combination has been extremely successful on severe acne. Try a diligent application of coconut oil several times a day and at bedtime to see the healing benefits.

Make sure to stay out of the sun if you’re taking any acne medications. The treatment plan for acne includes trying to heal the pimples, stopping new pimples from forming, preventing scarring and helping reduce embarrassment. If you wear make-up choose it carefully; it should be oil free.

Coconut oil is one of the best, if not the best, treatments I’ve found for acne. It bears repeating, you want to be good to your skin and never pop or squeeze a pimple no matter how tempting. Treatment with raw apple cider vinegar will work better on your skin if it isn’t already noticeably irritated from acne medicines, acne products or other failed treatment.

If you’re going to buy acne products, it’s much more worth your while to buy acne-treating products that work against current pimples and prevent the occurrence of new ones. Popping pimples can cause infection and scarring; best not to do it.

To cure yourself of acne, you need to correct the problems going on inside of your body that are causing the acne. Besides external acne treatment it’s even more important to work from the inside out too. When you change your diet, your lesions should start getting better within a week or two, with significant improvement the first month.

The best acne treatment is a diet that will help the body eliminate waste; if you’re eating the standard American diet (SAD) it’ll be reflected in your skin. Adding a lot of fresh, raw fruit to the diet has helped many people clear their skin up; there are tons of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in fruits.

Good clear skin is often a reflection of a good digestive system. For an easy fiber boost, mix in two tablespoons of ground up flaxseeds into raw applesauce, from two to three apples, made in your food processor. Eating foods with essential fatty acids are particularly important to people with dry skin or acne.

Get plenty of sunshine on your arms and legs; sunshine triggers the production of Vitamin D3 which is essential to having healthy skin. Drink freshly extracted carrot juice, if you can, every day; carrot juice is an excellent cleanser for the liver, great for the skin and contains tons of nutrients, all beneficial for acne.

Fortunately, many people have discovered through trial and error how to cure their acne. In any case, try not to panic about your acne and take it day by day. There is hope – keep researching and testing.