You’ve been waiting for your baby to arrive for 9 months and now he/she is here you’re panicked by the newborn baby acne your child has developed.  Your maternal instincts immediately kick in and you want to rid your baby of this awful condition as soon as possible.

The best place to start is to understand what baby acne is and the main causes.

This condition is also known as acne neonatorum and occurs in a fifth of newborn babies.  It is possible for newborn baby acne to be evident immediately after birth but the majority of cases are reported to surface anywhere from 2 weeks to five months old.

As a parent I ran to the doctor at the sign of any acne, rash or ailment.  However, the doctor didn’t provide any magic cure, instead she told me that it was harmless and to let nature run it’s course.  If it persists for a long period of time with no signs of clearing up then it’s best to consult your doctor for any underlying causes.

What causes baby acne?

As with most conditions there is more than one cause of baby acne.  Below are a few of the main factors.

* Just like adult acne, it can be caused by skin irritation.
* A reaction to medicines.
* It’s not uncommon for lotions and oils to cause the condition.
* The placenta allows the mothers hormones to pass to the baby which causes an imbalane and in turn can cause acne.  However, as the baby matures, it loses the mother’s hormones and the hormonal balance is restored.

Treatments?

- Cleansing the face of the baby to ensure dirt, food or milk doesn’t sit on your babies skin for long.  Make sure you cleanse gently to prevent skin irritation and further breakouts.

- Bear in mind that creams or oils are likely to cause further problems and should  be avoided at this time.

- One of the best tips from mothers, although difficult to justify at first, is to let the baby acne run its course and let it disappear on its own.

- Babies skin is really soft and sensitive so it’s best to use a different detergent than you use for yourself.

The best thing to do is to enjoy your time with your baby and before you know it that newborn baby acne that had you worrying will be gone.  And the next time you see acne will probably be when your child is in their teens!

Genital acne (Hidradenitis Suppurativa), also referred to as folliculitis, is a bit different to acne in other areas of the body like your face, back or chest for example.

It may look the same but it isn’t caused by pores being clogged by excessive sebum (oil) production by the sebaceous glands.  The culprit of genital acne is the apocrine glands which can become clogged with sweat which allows bacteria to breed.

This type of acne can occur in both male and female bodies and it can occur in any area which has apocrine glands, like your underarm area and scalp.  It is reported that women are more likely to experience this type of acne than men.

If you suspect that you have genital acne make sure that there isn’t the possiblity it could be something else.  If you can’t determine this yourself you consult your doctor to put yourself at ease.

It’s wise to know what the main causes of this condition are so that you can eliminate any if possible:

*wearing tight fitted clothes

*some laundry detergents and soaps

*ingrown hair

*sex

Immediately you might see some changes you could make, like wearing clothing that isn’t too tight against the skin to allow air to circulate and prevent sweat from getting trapped on the skin.  You could change your laundry brand to something less sensitive.

As for ingrown hair, you could exfoliate after shaving/waxing etc which does help some people.  If your ingrown hair problem is more severe it could be best to seek professional advice from your doctor.

As far as treatment of this type of acne is concerned, you should follow similar treatment and precautions as you would with normal ace. The general rule of thumb is to not pick or squeeze genital acne as this will only spread the bacteria and lead to more acne.

In treating genital acne the best treatment involves keeping the area clean and bacteria free.  Having a regular routine to cleanse the area with an antiseptic, hydrogen or benzoyl peroxide is recommended.

They sound fantastic those blackhead remover tools don’t they?

But can a little tool like that actually clear your pores and remove blackheads? … And more importantly do they stay away for good?

Here’s a  review of my experience with this blackhead treatment.

A few of my blackheads on my nose were quite deep and the tool did get most of them out …. however it did come at a price.  I had to press really hard for the deep rooted ones which hurt a bit.

For the blackheads that were closer to the surface, they came out easier but I still had a few problems.  If you have sensitive skin then you may experience the same reaction.

The areas that I worked on turned rudolph red until the next day and I had some circle marks were i’d used the removal tool.

Not good when you have party to go to that night!  … if your using one make sure you use it a day or two before a special occasion in case that happens to you!

Obviously the less pressure you put on your skin the less likely you are to have circle marks that last long.  With that being said though, some of the blackheads just won’t budge unless you apply some pressure so it really is a catch 22.

Basically, in my experience the blackhead remover tool is a quick fix but the blackheads have a tendency of coming back.  So you are never really getting to the root cause of the blackheads, you are basically just getting rid of them and hoping they won’t come back.

I guess the main reason blackhead remover tools exist is to stop nail marks from squeezing too hard. They also stop the spread of bacteria from your hands touching your face and the infected area.

Just remember that the blackhead tools are designed to make it easier and cleaner to remove blackheads … but they are not a cure.

It’s a cheap handy little tool to have while your working on clearing your blackheads.