How long does it take for inflammatory acne to go away? How to safely treat inflammatory acne at home

In the previous article, we learned about inflammatory acne and cases where you should not squeeze inflammatory acne . Continuing this topic, let's join Dermalogica to answer the question: How long does inflammatory acne take to go away? Let's explore how to safely treat inflammatory acne at home according to advice from dermatologists.

How dangerous is inflammatory acne?

Inflammatory acne often appears as swollen, hard red spots on the surface of the skin. When we gently press on the acne, we will feel pain. In the initial stage of inflammatory acne, we often do not see acne. After a while, when the acne is inflamed, yellow or green pus will appear on the surface of the acne. 

Inflammatory acne is usually 5-10mm in size. Compared to other types of acne, inflammatory acne is considered one of the severe types of acne. Inflammatory acne, if not treated properly, will easily leave dark spots and acne scars. The more severe the damage caused by inflammatory acne, the higher the scarring sequelae after acne.

Inflammatory acne can "grow" singly or develop in clusters in common areas such as: chin, forehead, cheeks... starting individually or in clusters in locations such as cheeks, forehead, nose and chin, … on the face. Squeezing inflamed acne is also not recommended by dermatologists. Because squeezing acne can cause inflammation, swelling, pain, and acne recurring many times. Makes treating acne difficult.

Factors affecting inflammatory acne

We all know that the cause of inflammatory acne is clogged pores and bacterial attack. However, there are many factors that influence acne inflammation to appear or acne to become more severe. Here are some factors that affect inflammatory acne:

• Not cleaning your skin properly: this is the most important step in your daily skin care routine. Removing dirt, excess cosmetics, excess oil... on the skin's surface not only helps eliminate acne-causing agents. It also helps the skin absorb products in the next skin care step better.
• Touching your face: This is a bad habit that causes acne on the skin. There are many harmful bacteria on the hands. Therefore, when we constantly put our hands on our face to touch and pick at acne, bacteria will enter. Creates more serious acne inflammation on the skin.
• Unhealthy diet: greatly affects skin health and acne on the skin. Some foods you should limit when your skin is acne-prone include: sweets, carbonated drinks, coffee, spicy and greasy foods.
• In addition, factors that affect acne can include: stress, hormonal disorders during puberty. Or when women become pregnant, there is a sudden change in daily routine...

How long does it take for acne to go away?

It is very difficult to give an exact answer to the question: how long does it take for inflammatory acne to go away? The time it takes for acne to clear will be greatly affected by factors including:

• What type of inflammatory acne are you experiencing?
• Your lifestyle and nutrition?
• Are you using skin acne treatment products or oral medications?

Normally, with some types of small inflammatory acne without cores, the acne will disappear on its own after a few days. With acne, the time can last up to 4-6 weeks. In particular, with some forms of severe inflammatory acne such as pimples and cystic acne, the time will last much longer. You will even need to seek medical intervention to treat these types of acne.

How to safely treat acne at home

Instead of waiting until the acne inflammation goes away or heals on its own. We can absolutely apply a number of methods to help quickly reduce the inflammatory process. Thanks to this, acne will clear up faster and reduce the risk of acne scars and dark spots. So what is the safe way to treat inflammatory acne at home? Let's continue to learn with Dermalogica!

#1 Wash your face with cleaning products containing gentle ingredients

Whether your skin is normal or has acne, cleansing your skin is always a must. However, when your skin is acne-prone, you should be careful when choosing skin cleansing products. Because when you have acne, your skin is very sensitive and the acne can completely burst, causing bacteria to spread to other skin areas if not cleaned properly.

• Do: Choose gentle skin cleansing products that produce little or moderate foam
• Avoid: Granular cleansing products that contain BHA and create a lot of foam. Because they make acne break easily and make skin drier.

#2 Change your lifestyle habits

Some daily habits seem harmless but can make your skin condition worse. Therefore, you should change bad habits to support the acne treatment process and prevent acne from returning.

• Avoid touching your face: bacteria on your hands will make inflammation worse.
• Clean your phone: Phone screens often come into contact with hands. Then, when we answer the phone, we unconsciously transfer bacteria from our hands to our face through the phone. So, clean your phone with alcohol at least 1-2 times a day!
• Unhealthy lifestyle you need to avoid: staying up late, using too much sweets, eating spicy, greasy foods... Instead, try to go to bed early before 11 o'clock. At the same time, use boiled or steamed foods instead of fried foods. Don't forget to add green vegetables and fruits to your daily menu!

#3 Use additional anti-inflammatory products

When your skin is experiencing inflammatory acne, you should focus on anti-inflammatory products instead of dark spots treatment products. If pustules and inflammatory acne do not go away, dark spots or acne scars will not be improved. Therefore, prioritize products containing active ingredients that support inflammation treatment such as: Benzoyl Peroxide, Clindamycin, BHA...

Dermalogica hopes that with the information in this article, you will have the answer to the question: How long does it take for inflammatory acne to go away? With safe ways to treat inflammatory acne at home. Surely you will be able to quickly "say goodbye" to acne, inflammation, and cystic acne, right? Join Dermalogica in the following useful columns!