Cystic acne is like… next-level acne. It grabs a hold of your skin way down deep and produces bigger, badder, and redder blemishes than your average whitehead or blackhead ever will. It’s persistent and often painful. Basically, cystic acne isn't playing around. Here are four steps to safely — and quickly — treat it.
- Understand It
The best acne treatment starts with smarts! What we’re saying is, knowledge is power when it comes to cystic acne.
A cystic blemish is born from the same oily, hormonal, pore-clogging conditions as most regular pimples. It just takes things one step further thanks to the addition of bacteria.
Most blemishes are the product of hormonal responses. Your hormones get triggered by stress, your period, your love and devotion to dairy products — the list goes on!
When this happens, your body produces too much oil and it clogs your pores, resulting in a zit. Cystic acne happens when bacteria enters the equation and creates an infected, pus-filled pimple with roots that go deep under the surface of your skin. Yikes.
Cystic acne is most common in men in their teens and 20s, but it also frequently affects women and individuals as old as 50. We always say this -- but yes, adults get acne too! Its haunting grounds are the same as those affected by run-of-the-mill blemishes, including your face, chest, shoulders, and back.
- Ice, ice (it), baby!
Cystic acne usually presents itself before actually breaking through your skin's surface to interrupt your date, birthday party, or regular Wednesday. As soon as you feel that all-too-familiar throb, slap an ice cube on the affected area. The best products for cystic acne will shrink the blood vessels supplying the cyst that gives cystic acne its name, and ice is a great way to jumpstart this process. It can minimize redness, swelling, and the cystic blemish's overall size!
- Resist the Urge to Pop It
Popping a cystic blemish is veeeeeery tempting — and a very bad idea. If you pop that mega-zit, you'll unleash the very bacteria that made it cystic acne in the first place! At best, this will make your breakout last longer. At worse, it will lead to additional breakouts, so just don't do it. Instead, massage that sucker with an organic face wash and call it a day.
- Attack It (*nicely)
Cystic acne can sometimes be a big deal. As such, it requires calling in the big guns — acne treatment-wise, that is. First, choose a face wash for cystic acne that won't irritate your skin. Usually, that means going organic.
After washing your skin 2x a day with a gentle cleanser, consider adding a targeted acne product to your bedtime routine. Skip the potentially harsh ingredients and opt for an organic acne oil. Making a nontoxic cystic acne treatment part of your routine can reduce irritation and inflammation, as well as safely eliminate the bacteria that spurs cystic breakouts.
Cystic acne is no joke. It can be painful — literally and figuratively — and its cause is rarely your fault. Choose organic blemish fighters to give your skin the safe, nontoxic care that it deserves all while busting up the bacteria that breeds cystic acne. You deserve it.
