There are millions of people around the world who suffer with acne (Zits); however, medical science continues to look at new remedies. Research into the causes, and possible treatments, for the condition is ongoing; this is good news with the range of effective skin care treatments improving all the time. Most acne skin care products can be broken down into three main areas:

* Preventive

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

* Prescription only treatments

General or preventative acne products form a large section of the skin care market; these include cleansers, make-up removers and other similar products that can help prevent the condition. In the real sense, these products are just those that should be part of your daily routine; in many instances the user has never had a skin condition to worry about. Many of these cleansers act in almost exactly the same way as acne skin care products; they work by limiting the production of sebum/oil and prevent clogging of skin pores. 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. This type of peel helps reduce the chance of oil clogging up the pores as well as removing other skin impurities; this can reduce the bacterium growth on your skin. Many different, specially formulated acne skin care products designed to reduce the problems have now been made available without prescription. These products have benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid as ingredients which cause a bad reaction in the bacterium. they work by removing the excess oil from the skin and halt the growth of acne.

Generally it is best to start using this type of product with only a small amount of benzoyl peroxide (less than 5.5 percent is recommended), just to see how the skin reacts; if a reaction occurs, a cleaner or cream containing alpha hydroxy acid should be safe. Because we all have different types of skin, more than one type of acne skin care product may need to be tried; however, if finding an effective remedy it is proving to be a problem then consult with your doctor, or skin care specialist. If you do need to see your doctor or skin care specialist then he may give you a prescription for antibiotics or special ointments.

Under certain circumstances, having the infected material removed from the pores under a local anesthetic may be suggested by your dermatologist; although this is a minor procedure, if it were performed by the person themselves it could result in skin damage. Your doctor may even suggest a course of hormone therapy as a skin care treatment; studies show that hormone based skin care treatments often prove effective. Tackling this skin condition is not the problem it once was and if treated properly permanently marked skin does not have to happen.

It is quite normal to expect people to want to look attractive and this might explain why anti-ageing skin care products are so successful; the growth in popularity is due in no small part to the fact that we are all living and working longer. This group of beauty products generally works by enabling the synthesis of collagen, the main protein of connective tissue in animals and the most abundant in our body; collagen makes up approximately 25 percent of the total protein in the skin. Most anti-ageing products (collagen included) fall into a category of natural everyday products we all use; called antioxidants, they help flush out toxins from the body and help reduce the signs of aging.

Vitamin C is probably one of the better known anti-oxidants in use today but the debate about the daily quota required is ongoing. Skin care treatments that are based on vitamin C, pose the problem of becoming oxidized themselves as they come into contact with air during their usage.

More stable skin care treatments are now available that are almost as efficient and actually cost less to manufacture. These new anti-oxidant products are not quite as good as vitamin C although other naturally occurring compounds, vitamin E and lipoic acid can achieve the same effect.

The body uses vitamin E as an antioxidant and to increase the natural defense we have against sickness; it helps build resistance against infection like cancer for example. Lipoic acid is found in every single human cell and helps provide energy; it can also help reduce the aging process which affects the skin.

Other compounds called phytochemicals have proved to be beneficial in the formulation of anti-ageing skin care products; they are removed from various plants. Another benefit of phytochemicals, like those of alpha-lipoic acid, is their ability to reduce the prevalence of certain cancers; for instance:

* Prostate Cancer

* Cancer that attacks the Breast

* Cancer of the Colon

These three types of cancer are also becoming a global problem.

It has also been discovered that there are anti-ageing benefits to vitamins B5, B6 and B12. The use of anti-ageing skin care products is a huge scientific field to research and has far greater potential than just producing goods that reduce the visible signs of age. Gradually, new discoveries will be made to advance our understanding of the aging process; there is still a long way to go however, before methods that successfully reduce the effects of age are commonplace.

There may be many challenges still to overcome but in time scientists believe they will succeed in producing more effective anti-ageing skin care products that are less expensive and available to more people. At the moment though, science is still behind the field of natural anti-aging methods; we must not forget however, that there are many more natural methods we can all use to reduce the signs of aging on a regular basis. Drinking plenty of water, getting a good night’s sleep, exercising regularly, maintaining healthy eating habits and keeping stress at bay are an essential means of delaying the ageing process.