How can you prevent acne? Well, if there were an easy answer, everyone would be doing it, but there are more solutions to the problem of acne than you might think. Even if you can’t completely prevent acne, there are a number of ways to make your acne fade quicker and make new acne less likely to form on your face or elsewhere on your body.

How to Prevent Acne: Good Hygiene

Having acne does not mean you are “dirty,” but practicing good hygiene can be a good place to start your battle to prevent acne. Wash your face with soap and water and take showers regularly, but be careful not to over wash, as this can dry out skin. It can also be a good idea to use an exfoliant to get rid of excess dead skin cells. Acne causing bacteria needs debris like dead skin to make acne, so the more of this you can get rid of, the more you can reduce your level of acne.

How to Prevent Acne: Benzoyl Peroxide

When regular washing doesn’t do the trick, it’s time to bring in the big guns. Benzoyl peroxide has been found to be one of the most effective acne fighters around. Acne forms in clogged pores around your skin’s hair follicles, and benzoyl peroxide unclogs those pores and kills the acne causing bacteria deep within the skin. This enables increased speed in acne fading and can also ward off future outbreaks of acne.

How to Prevent Acne: Acne Control Systems

Applying a topical over the counter benzoyl peroxide solution to specific pimples can be all right if you’re just seeing one or two pimples here and there from time to time. But for serious breakouts, you need a complete acne care system. That means multiple products that you use every day. Fortunately, such systems exist. They are designed to combine just the right formulation of benzoyl peroxide with other ingredients that boost the skin’s vitality and allow the maximum benefit from the acne control medication. When used as instructed every day for several weeks, many people see significant results with respect to a reduction in their level of acne. Once acne is gone, the best way to prevent acne in the future is to continue using the system in the same way for as long as you wish to stay free of acne.

More on Acne Prevention

There is no way to completely prevent acne. Who gets acne, the severity of the acne that they can expect, and the length of time they can expect to suffer from acne is largely a function of genetics. Acne is a chronic condition, not a disease that can be cured. That being said, with benzoyl peroxide and good hygiene, acne can be managed to such an extent that the treatment is almost indistinguishable from prevention. If a quality benzoyl peroxide acne care system is not providing you with the results you want, consult with a dermatologist to talk about your options.