Acne Vulgaris or cystic acne is a common skin disease usually seen more in teenage boys and men.  Often the worst breakouts that can occur in the skin, these nodules or lesions are quite painful and raised and can often leave disfiguring scars.  Usually it causes red, scaly patches on the skin that have can also contain black heads or white heads and pimples.  It also occurs more in areas of the skin that have the most oil secreting or sebaceous glands.  Maybe this was handed down from your family or perhaps you are just unlucky but this type of acne can cause not just physical but also emotional damage so this article contains some well used hidden gems of home remedies to treat the skin when the medication purchased at your local pharmacy may not be working.

Cystic Acne – What is it?

As stated above cystic acne can develop on the face and other areas of the body where sebaceous or oil producing glands are numerous.  This is the most severe form of acne and causes deep and large inflamed nodules that are quite painful.  They can sometimes measure up to a few centimeters in size.  The cysts form under the skin and are soft and often contain bacteria, white blood cells and dead cells.  Unfortunately there is not simply one cause of cystic acne.  It is based on the secretion of too much oil, bacteria and dead cells that get stuck under the skin.  Cystic acne is simply your skins inflammatory response to healing this small infection and it works over time.  It sends numerous white blood cells to the area to heal the bacteria and then a cyst forms.  But this problem isn’t your fault.  This cystic acne is often just simply an inherited condition because heredity does play an important role; however, there are some other factors that can play a part in causing this cystic acne.

• Hormonal changes in the body
• Stress
• Over washing of skin
• Picking or squeezing pimples
• Changing skin cleanser too often

Natural Home Remedies

Believe it or not your kitchen cabinets contain a plethora of ingredients to help treat your cystic acne in a natural fashion.  Everything from fruit to simple combinations from other items in your kitchen can help calm inflammation, shrink painful cysts and also help minimize future outbreaks.  Below are a few ideas of simple kitchen remedies to help you rebuild healthier skin.

• Baking Soda and Sea Salt  - By mixing a small amount of baking soda, sea salt and water and applying it to affected areas a few times a week you can see a significant change in your cystic acne.  Use more baking soda than salt and make a paste texture of the ingredients.  Baking soda is a natural anti-inflammatory agent that is often found in many house hold products from toothpaste to laundry detergent.  Due to its anti-inflammatory nature it can help reduce the swelling and redness resulting from cystic acne.  It is also able to lighten things acting as a natural bleaching agent therefore it can also help minimize the discoloration caused by cystic acne.

• Apple Cider Vinegar – apple cider vinegar is able to promote blood circulation in the smaller capillaries of the skin and because of this is can help the healing process speed up.  It is antiseptic and can kill the bacteria that are often at the root of cystic acne.  And most importantly it balances the pH of the skin.  Add some lavender, rosemary, or elderflower to the vinegar when you are placing it onto your skin.  You want to apply this to the skin as you would a toner with a cotton ball in small stroking fashion with a damp cotton ball.
• Honey and Aspirin – most people don’t realize how wonderful honey is as an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agent.  Probably not well known, but honey contains an enzyme in it which produces hydrogen peroxide which in large part causes honey to be highly anti-microbial.  It helps with acne because it can minimize and kill bacteria while at the same time adding much needed moisture to the skin.  It is important to get a high quality honey.  As well aspirin is anti-inflammatory and acts as to exfoliate the skin in this mask.  The combination of ingredients and amount of ingredients is important in this case.  When starting this mask begin with three 325 mg aspirin tablets, dissolved in one tsp. of water mixed with two tbsp. of honey.  This mask might be irritating to the skin, so do a small patch test before covering your entire face.
• Egg White – egg whites are excellent for the skin and some people go as far to say as they are a face lift for the skin.  Egg whites are drying and can help to tighten and firm the skin.  They can help to draw out and dry up the pus which is lying within the cysts of the cystic acne.   You want to apply either an entire egg white or too to the entire face or you can dab a bit of egg white onto the cysts and leave it overnight.
• Aloe – Aloe has long been used to treat skin problems, namely it is a go to product for treating sunburns.  However there is a reason for it, the gel inside of aloe has so many vitamins and minerals including vitamin E which is important for the skin.  Also aloe has roughly the same pH level as the ski so it helps heal the skin in a rapid manner.  Aloe works on cystic acne by helping the function of fibroblasts within the skin.  These cells are those which are responsible for creating collagen and elastin which actually form the structure of the skin.  They are what make our skin look supple and soft, the help us to look younger!
• Mango – mangos can help treat cystic acne because they are very high in beta carotene or vitamin A.  Vitamin A is what Retin-A is based on, so here you can obtain a very natural dose of vitamin A.  The use of either the pulp or the skin of the mango topically can help treat cystic acne.