20 Tips To Get Rid of Scalp Acne For good
Are you sick and tired of scalp acne?
In the previous post we saw what causes scalp acne and natural way to treat them.
But wouldn’t it be way better to keep acne from developing in the first place?
From my extensive research I found that it’s not that difficult to prevent scalp acne.
Do you want to know how?
Read on…for simple and useful tips to keep scalp acne away for good.
20 Tips to Get Rid of Scalp Acne for Good
1. Drink More Water
Just drinking plain water throughout the day is the simplest ways to keep scalp pimples at bay. Water not only hydrates your skin but it helps flush out waste matter from your body– which if not removed may cause breakouts and other issues.
Aim to drink 2 to 3 litres (6 to 8 glasses) of water daily. To add a little flavour, you can try skin-soothing teas like chamomile or mint.
2. Exercise Your Acne Away
Exercise is another simple way to beat scalp acne. Exercise not just helps reduce stress levels; it also helps to keep our hormones in balance. This is great because acne is often caused by stress or wacky hormones. Plus, when you workout, you sweat more regularly, which encourages free flow of sebum – thus unclogging your blocked pores.
For healthy scalp and shiny hair, try to get your body moving at least three times a week for a good half hour or more.
3. Chill!
Some studies link stress with the severity of pimples. So just relax! And this doesn’t mean you go on a permanent vacation. When you work, study or do your house work – focus on the task at hand, so basically be in the present and stop worrying about what happened or what is to happen. May be you want to allocate a special worry time – say around 15 minutes in the afternoon – and at that time just fret about anything and everything and finish it off.
Some good stress busters are: exercise, yoga, meditation, gardening, going for walks, spending time with family and friends, playing music or sports – whatever works for you.
4. Spend some time in the sun
If your weather allows, expose your skin to sunshine each day, even if it’s for a few minutes. Natural sunlight has incredible healing powers for your skin.
However limit your time in the sun, as too much sunlight can increase inflammation and redness and flare up acne.
5. Get a good night sleep
It’s called beauty sleep for a reason – as it’s the best time to rejuvenate your skin. Your body’s cellular renewal team has the night shift and that is when you are getting all repair and renovation done. So make sure you get enough and wake up refreshed.
If you have difficultly falling asleep practice yoga nidra – a form of relaxing yoga that helps your body and mind calm down. (Learn how to do here)
6. Stay out of hot water
A steamy hot shower may feel great, but it’s one of the worst things you can do for your scalp and hair. Not only does the heat strip natural oils, but it can make your pimples red and inflamed.
So it’s best to use lukewarm water to wash your hair. You can end with a cool water to help close your pores.
7. Don’t overwash your hair
If you are suffering from on-going acne problems, don’t wash your hair every day. Frequent and vigorous washing can irritate your scalp and make acne worse. Also, If you “over clean” you can end up drying out your scalp, which will then try and compensate by making that much more oil – and excess oil as you know is no #1 culprit for creating the pimples.
Shampoo every alternate day or once in every 2 days. And if your hair feels oily in between, instead of shampooing again, use an herbal rinse to freshen up. Mint and green tea rinse are especially useful to tackle acne.
8. Review Your Shampoo
Shampoos with a lot fragrance and harsh synthetics can irritate skin and cause pimples on your scalp, face and neck.
Consider using a sulphate-free shampoo with natural fragrance.
You can also make your own shampoo. Clays such as rhassoul and fullers earth (multani mitti) are great cleansers for oily scalp – as they help soak up excess oil and impurities from your scalp. You can also mix equal amounts of shikakai to the clay to create a all natural shampoo. Here are some more recipes.
9. Ditch Conditioner
Conditioners coat the hair and scalp and may cause too much oil/grease to be trapped against the scalp. So, give them a break.
If you are worried about how your hair will look after shampoo, try these amazing hair rinses – which won’t clog your pores, but make your hair look beautiful.
10. Change your pillow case weekly
All of the sweat, oil and dirt from your head is seeping into your pillow case every night. So if you don’t wash them regularly you’re basically putting your head on a pillow of sweat and dirt f0r 6-8 hours. Not a good idea, as unclean dirty pillow clovers and towels is perfect ground for bacteria to grow and thrive – leading to more breakouts.
So it makes sense to wash your pillow covers and towels at least weekly.
11. Clean your comb
As above, you don’t want to put the oil, dirt and dead skin cells from your comb back into your hair. Clean your brush/comb every time you wash your hair – as less oil and dirt also means less acne.
To clean your comb, mix a couple of drops of shampoo and lukewarm water in a cup, swish your brushes around, rinse with lukewarm water, pat dry, and lay flat to air dry – it just takes a minute. If there is too much grease on your comb, use an old tooth brush to scrub it.
Also, avoid sharing your combs, brushes and hair accessories with your family and friends.
12. Hit the Showers After Exercise
While sweating is actually good for your skin – as it unclogs your pores – it’s not good if it left behind. This is because after the sweat dries it will again clog your pores and make your acne worse.
You don’t need to use shampoo or soap to clean the sweat, just warm water and some scrubbing will do.
13. Go easy on hair products
Hair styling products such as hair pomades, creams or gels can chock your pores and increase the chances of pimples. Try to avoid using them for a few weeks and see if that clears up your scalp
14. Brush/ comb your hair daily
One great way to avoid acne is by removing dead skin cells that are clogging your pores. Combing (several times) not only does that, it also boosts scalp circulation, bringing with it more oxygen and nutrients. And this boost of vitamins helps heal acne as well as improve the overall condition of your hair.
Every night before going to bed make a habit to comb your scalp several times. Be gentle on the areas that hurt, as you don’t want to injure the pimple.
You can either use a wide-tooth wood comb (buy here) or a bamboo pin hair brush – I have used this one and it’s quite good.
15. Give yourself a head massage
It’s very personal thing but some people prefer head massage over combing. It will provide similar benefits as combing, plus there is one advantage. When use your finger to head massage you have more control compared to combing – where there is chance to break or hurt the pimple. If you have active pimples just avoid too much brushing.
Note: You can massage your scalp with or without oils. Since oil is one of the culprits in forming the acne you want to be really careful in which oils you select. Oils such as grapeseed, argan, jojoba and sunflower are non-comedogenic – meaning they do not block the pores. Also, don’t leave the oil for too long – an hour or two will provide your scalp good nourishment and moisturisation – this is especially beneficial if your scalp is going dry after shampooing.
16. Let your scalp breathe
Wearing a hat, scarf or tight hair style all the time can cause the grease to build-up in certain areas. This is especially true if you use lots of hair products.
You don’t have to give up hats and scarves altogether. Just keep your hair loose and uncovered for a few days – till your acne goes away.
17. Quit smoking
According to a recent study published in British Journal of Dermatology, smokers are 4 times more likely to suffer acne compared with non-smokers.
How smoking causes acne: Nicotine and other chemicals in smoke increase the skin turnover –>> this chokes the blood vessels –>> causing lack of oxygen to the skin –>> that alters the composition of sebum (skin’s natural oils). And as you know Sticky sebum + dead skin cells = Acne
Not sure if smoking has any benefit at all? Just plain and simple advise – Quit asap.
18. Meditate
Take time each day to meditate or do pranayam (breathing exercise). Even 5-10 minutes of quiet “connected” or “prayer” time every morning makes a huge difference for many people – especially those who suffer from suffer stress related acne. (How to meditate and more benefits of meditation here.)
19. Avoid these foods
For adults, acne often results from internal toxicity. If your system is overloaded it begins to dump toxins into the skin – and the result is acne and other skin problems.
- White bread, pizza, tea, coffee, fries, greasy burger-type foods, cola type drinks (many of which contain as many as eight teaspoons of sugar), cakes, sweets and so on. These types of foods have to be greatly reduced if you’re trying to clear up your acne.
- Most factory-produced, pre-packed meals, breakfast cereals, cakes, biscuits and pies – these are high in sugar, salt and ‘bad’ fat, which is not good news for your skin or your overall health.
20. Eat Healthy
Diet plays a vital role in curing acne. Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and an organ of elimination (e.g. sweating), which is why problems on its surface are often a sign of underlying issues. Simply treating it from the outside will not heal the problem. It’s important to eat a well-balanced diet which help to nourish and heal your skin from the inside out. You can try and include these acne-busting foods…
- Vitamin A is essential for healthy skin. Include sweet potato, pumkin, squash, carrots, broccoli, dark leafy greens, apricot, liver, and peppers in your diet.
- Eat more beetroot- which is a great liver cleanser. (Here’s a recipe for yummy beetroot salad.)
- Include more fresh vegetables, fruits (such as figs, dates, watermelon), lentils, and beans in your diet – these are rich in antioxidants, fibres and essential vitamins and mineral.
- Omega-3 fats aid in skin repair and rejuvenation. Foods that contain omega-3 include flax seed, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, salmon, sardines, and mackerel.
- Zinc is also important to help heal the acne. Foods that contain zinc are: pumkin seeds, sesame seeds, cashews, peanut, peas, lamb, turkey, lentils, chickpeas, and shrimp.
- Consider taking ahigh quality probiotic. Probiotics are healthy bacteria that reside mainly in our intestine. They are important for good digestive health as well as proper absorption of nutrients.
Do you follow any of the above tips? Have they helped you clear up your acne? Please share below!
