For most of us that take pride in the way we look, the thought of suffering with acne or Zits, may at first seem awful; although it undoubtedly causes distress, a number of topical remedies are available. A great deal of effort is going into research for a cure; now, some of these skin conditions are gradually being conquered. For those people that require treatment, the acne skin care products required fall broadly into a number of categories including:

*Preventive

*Over-the-Counter: Treatments for conditions that do not require prescription

*Prescription only: Requires visit to doctor

Those that fall into the preventative category are based around general skin conditioning to help stop acne from forming; these include cleansers, make-up removers and other similar products that can help prevent the condition. This is a market where many people use this type of product every day to condition their skin; often used by those who want to prevent future skin problems from occurring. Some of these products are designed to act like an acne skin care product and act against the causes of this complaint; they ensure the facial pores (and other areas) remain free of oil. These products prevent the oil from getting trapped in pores and can hamper the growth of bacteria, this can lead to the bad skin condition.

Skin care treatments such as exfoliation skin peels, clean the skin and help control the spread of the condition; most can even be purchased over the Internet in addition to normal outlets. The peels clean the skin by removing all surface pollution and dead skin cells which can block the pores. The growth of the skin care market has allowed even more specialized acne skin care products to be available without the need to visit the doctor. Treatments that are effective contain the ingredients benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid; these include creams, cleansers and peels that slow down acne formation.

It is often a good idea to start with a product that has lower concentration of benzoyl peroxide (e.g. 5 percent) to see how the skin responds; if a reaction occurs, a cleaner or cream containing alpha hydroxy acid should be safe. It might just be a case of trial and error to find an acne skin care product that works; if finding something that works is proving difficult, your dermatologist should be able to help. On-prescription treatments are prescribed by a dermatologist and can include ointments that can be applied on the affected area or oral antibiotics or just any topical ointment.

In more serious cases your skin care specialist may decide that a small surgical procedure can be used to remove the oil and infection from your pores; this is not something you should ever attempt yourself. Another effective course of skin care treatment is hormone therapy; hormonal changes are known to cause acne and such skin care treatments often effective. The end result is dealing with this skin complaint is not the problem it once was, there are now a huge range of products specifically formulated for the task.