Have you ever heard about using neem for acne and acne scars? Is neem good for acne scars, pimples and blemishes? To be honest, for natural acne treatments, neem is among the best and most effective. A lot of teenagers suffer from acne, which could be extremely traumatic.
Neem is a huge evergreen tropical plant in the Meliaceae family. Originated from Southeast Asia, nowadays, neem could be found in over 30 countries in Asia, Africa, and Americas. Known for the medicinal properties, neem has been used for a long period of time, particularly in ayurvedic medicine, to deal with some skin conditions, including septic sores, malaria, jaundice, high blood pressure, shingles, eczema, and acne as well. Usually, herbal remedies using various parts of neem, including leaves, bark, fruit, and oil (seeds).
How is Effective Using Neem for Acne Scars?
Actually, there is not magical cure for acne which is warranted to eliminate acne and prevent future acne and pimple breakouts, or to work for everybody. Neem is not an exception. However, if you use in a correct and persistent way, neem will assist you in treating already existed acne pimples as well as scars.
Neem leaves, bark, oil and fruits have medicinal properties which help to deal with the redness, inflammation, and scar tissue formation accompanied with acne breakouts.
MORE: how to use neem for scabies
How Does Neem Work for Acne and Acne Scars?
Some most significant healing benefits of neem for acne-prone skin include:
- Antibacterial properties: neem oil and leaves consist of significant antibacterial properties helping to take control and kill the P.acnes bacteria which trigger the redness and inflammation.
- Antioxidant properties: in neem tree, there is a substance named Quercetin which is claimed to possess antioxidant properties useful for fighting free radicals in the human skin.
- Natural astringent: Neem is the natural astringent, so it keeps your skin taut. If applied regularly, it will reduce inflammation and alleviate the appearance of acne scars.
- Natural moisturizer: the despite oily skin and acne are closely relevant, dry skin could make acne worse by boosting the production of sebum in the human skin. This means that neem could be useful in healing acne pimples by maintaining the hydration of skin.
- Despite neem does not directly remove all causes and symptoms of acne, it contributes to healthy skin and play a big part in treating acne.
Using neem for acne scars does not cause side-effects which are often associated with synthetic chemical treatments, including allergic reactions, redness and skin rashes.
How To Use Neem For Acne Scars
The neem oil gotten from neem seeds contains a wide range of active bioflavonoids, including Nimbidin and Quercetin, and a lot of essential fatty acids like oleic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid and palmitic acid. Neem oil can help in treating even the most severe cases of acne breakouts, such as nodular and cystic acne.
There are many ways you can use neem for acne scars. The following list made by Wikiyeah.com includes 7 out of the simplest methods:
1. Neem Paste
- Take a small amount of fresh neem leaves, use a pestle and mortar to create a good paste.
- Add water to crush more easily
- Take a cotton ball to apply this paste over your breakouts
- Wait for 30 minutes before rinsing with cool water and pat it dry
- Do this once per day
2. Neem Oil
To prevent stinging or itching, you should dilute neem oil with coconut oil, jojoba oil, olive oil or other carrier oils.
- Add several drops of coconut oil or olive oil with neem oil
- Take a cotton ball to apply the mixture over your breakouts
- Massage it the area for 2 minutes and wait overnight or till it dries out
- Rinse it off with water, pat dry
- Do it every day
3. Neem And Multani Mitti
- Mix 1 tablespoon of neem leaves and the same amount of Fuller’s earth (Multani Mitti) together
- Add rose water into to create a good paste
- Apply it to your breakouts
- Wait for 15 minutes before rinsing it off with tepid water and pat dry
- Do it every day
4. Nem And Yogurt
- Take neem leaves to crush into a poweder
- Mix the power and gram flour as the ratio of 1:1
- Add yogurt to create a good pate
- Using the fingertips to gently massage that paste over your skin for 3 minutes
- Rinse it off after it gets dry
- Do it every day
5. Neem And Sandalwood / Turmeric / Calamine Powder
- You can mix neem powder with or neem extract with either of sandalwood or turmeric or calamine powder as the ratio of 1:1.
- Add some water to create a good paste.
- Use your fingertips or a cotton ball to apply the paste over your breakout as a spot treatment
- Wait for 20-25 minutes and rinse it off with water
- Repeat it every day
6. Neem Water
- Add fresh neem leaves to 2 cups of water, boil it up
- Decrease the heat and let it simmer for about 5 minutes
- After removing it from the heat, let it steep for 10 minutes
- After straining, discard the leaves
- Pour the neem-infused water into a spray bottle
- Spritz your clean skin with neem water
- Do it twice per day
7. Neem And Cucumber
- Take a cucumber, peel and chop it
- Put the cucumber into a blender and mix it till smooth
- Mix the pureed cucumber with the proper amount of neem oil
- Gently massage that paste into your skin, let it dry
- Wash it off with water, pat dry
- Do this routine thrice per week
8. Neem Bath
- This can help to treat your back acne and chest acne.
After running a hot bath - Stir in a proper amount of fresh neem leaves before adding several drops of the neem oil
- Soak in for 15 minutes or so
- Have a shower with plain water after that
- Repeat thrice per week
In addition to the common methods above, you can use neem for acne scars by combining it with eucalyptus, French Clay, Rosemary; or with grade seed oil and apple cider vinegar; or with rose water and lemon juice; or with basil and honey; or with milk and turmeric. Other forms include using neem tea or neem juice for getting the similar results of treating acne and acne scars.
Are Neem Capsules Good For Acne?
In addition to the forms above, neem is also existed in capsule form. If you take neem capsules regularly, it will help detoxify your body internally, thereby preventing bacterial from triggering acne. It is shown that neem supplements could help the human liver break down and eradicate toxins which cause acne. It is recommended that the appropriate dosage of using neem capsules is often 2. You need to take it with meals and consult a doctor to get the best advice. If lucky, you will see good result in just 1 week.