HOW VITAMIN C CAN DIMINISH THE APPEARANCE OF ACNE SCARS

 The skin care benefits of vitamin C are plentiful and useful to know. From maintaining a healthy, youthful glow to your complexion to reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, vitamin C should be a highly considered product to add into your skincare routine. 

WHAT IS VITAMIN C? 

Vitamin C is not something our bodies can synthesize on their own. It is water-soluble which means that we must continuously replenish it from the food that we eat. Being a water-soluble vitamin means that it is easily dissolved within the body and the kidneys will excrete the excess of this vitamin in the urine. 

WHERE CAN WE GET VITAMIN C? 

Most, if not all fruits and vegetables contain some amount of vitamin C. However if you are looking for a higher intake of the vitamin, here are some foods to try: 

• Cantaloupe
• Citrus fruits and juices, such as orange and grapefruit
• Kiwi Fruit
• Mango
• Papaya
• Pineapple
• Watermelon

Vegetables are also a great source of vitamin C. If you are not one to enjoy fruits, some vegetables to try are: 

• Broccoli
• Green and red peppers
• Sweet and white potatoes
• Tomatoes and tomato juice

There are also some other foods that contain vitamin C. When shopping for food make sure to look for the word “fortified” on the labels. This means the product has an added amount of minerals and vitamins. This is a way to get vitamins in foods that do not naturally have vitamins within them. 

WHY IS VITAMIN C GOOD FOR YOUR SCARS? 

Vitamin C is great for not only clearing up existing acne, but also healing scars that are caused by acne. Vitamin C can be used topically to help with existing scars or it can be ingested in order to begin working on diminishing scars. 

What we are really interested in here is the effect vitamin C has on the coloring of the skin after an acne scar forms. Vitamin C is great for helping to minimize the discoloration that is often caused by scarring. Silicone scar gels and strips help to reduce the noticeability of scars that are on the body and by doing this they are working with the discoloration of your skin where there is a scar. This is similar to the effects Vitamin C has on scarred areas left behind by acne. It works on reducing the discoloration in your skin to leave the scar less noticeable. 

HOW TO BENEFIT FROM VITAMIN C? 

To topically reduce an acne scar on the face, apply a vitamin C serum directly to the scarred area. After your physical acne has diminished you may be left with post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. All this means is that your skin, in the area where the acne breakout was, will be a darker color than it usually or naturally is. This is not damaging to your health in any way, however it can be extremely noticeable and quite the nuisance. 

Using the Vitamin C serum topically can help to reduce this discoloration in the skin where your acne once was. This will help the area to fade back to its natural color and the hyperpigmentation will become less noticeable over time. Vitamin C also helps to reduce the amount of inflammation in the skin due to acne. 

There are several brands that sell highly rated topical vitamin C products but be sure to check with your doctor before beginning any applications to be certain this is the right course of action for your acne scars. The other way to receive vitamin C is to make sure you are eating many foods that are rich with vitamin C. 

Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin that cannot be stored within the body. This means that humans need to consume a large amount of it to get the dosage that they need. Vitamin C is considered to be an antioxidant due to its power to eliminate free radicals which are extremely harmful to the skin. Therefore, enough vitamin C means the reduction of free radicals affecting your skin. Our bodies are equipped with the ability to fight off free radicals, however if we become overly stressed with this job, the levels of free radicals affecting us significantly increases. This is termed oxidative stress. Vitamin C has the ability to to significantly lower oxidative stress levels within our bodies. 

HOW MUCH VITAMIN C IS TOO MUCH? 

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) reflects how much of each vitamin a person should get per day. How much of a vitamin you need depends on your age and gender. As far as vitamin C goes for adults: 

• Men age 19 and older: 90 mg/day
• Women age 19 and older: 75 mg/day
• Pregnant women: 85 mg/day
• Breastfeeding women: 120 mg/day

Vitamin C is extremely important for our skin and overall health. The benefits of the correct dosage can help the appearance of your skin on the outside and can help with your bodies health on the inside. If you believe that you might not be getting the correct amount of vitamin C in your diet, be sure to speak with your doctor concerning how to up your dosage in a safe and healthy way.