When you’re dealing with acne, you’ll do just about anything to get rid of breakouts asap.

First things first though. You may think that acne is a topical issue. News flash: it’s not.

Acne is a symptom of an internal problem.

In order to clear your skin for good, you need to address the root causes of acne, including:

• Poor gut health
• Liver toxicity
• Hormonal imbalance
• Nutrient deficiencies
• Chronic stress
• Inflammation

In my program, The Clear Skin Solution, I work with my clients to correct these six acne-causing areas through proper diet, supplementation and lifestyle choices. This is where your focus should be when it comes to looking for a solution to stop your breakouts from occurring in the first place.

While you can’t use topicals to eliminate acne, you can use them to help speed up recovery from an active breakout. Here are 9 tips to get rid of breakouts fast:

Topical Tips

1. Spot Treatment

If you have one or a few pesky pimples, spot treatments like salicylic acid, tea tree oil or black cumin seed can be helpful to get rid of breakouts quickly.

When used in personal care products, salicylic acid is derived from willow bark tree and has several skin-soothing effects. This oil-soluble ingredient is antibacterial and anti-inflammatory as it rapidly reduces oil and bacteria, clears your pores and brings down the swelling. Plus, salicylic acid helps exfoliate your skin by removing dead skin cells leaving your skin smooth.

Thanks to its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, tea tree oil is another spot treatment option that can help clear up red, inflamed and painful pimples. This essential oil cleanses and rejuvenates your skin by unblocking the sebaceous glands and then unclogging the pores. Tea tree oil also has antibacterial effects that can help destroy propioni acnes bacteria, which are a culprit for breakouts.

Black cumin seed is a super effective spot treatment as well. This oil has antibacterial properties that can kill various strains of acne-promoting bacteria. Black cumin seed oil can also prevent scarring because of its high levels of zinc that speed up the healing process.

Keep in mind though that acne spot treatments are meant to quickly heal individual pimples, and thus, shouldn’t be applied to your whole face but only directly on the pimple because they can irritate and dry out the rest of your face.

Try: BeautyCounter SOS Spot Treatment or doTERRA Tea Tree Essential Oil

2. Vitamin C Serum

It’s one thing to clear up acne, but it’s a whole other challenge to clear up acne scars. Vitamin C serum is a spot treatment that can help you with that. This serum can reduce scarring because it promotes tissue regeneration and collagen production. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant that can brighten and even out your skin tone.

Try: BeautyCounter All Bright C Serum

3. Avoid Makeup

I totally get it…When you breakout, the last thing you want is for people to notice, so you cover it up with a pound of foundation. But unfortunately, the addition of makeup clogs your pores and increases the amount of bacteria and oil that can get trapped allowing acne to flourish.

If you do wear makeup, make sure to chose non-comedogenic and consider double cleansing to ensure your fully remove it before bed.

4. Ice It

Applying ice can reduce swelling and inflammation in the cystic “under the skin” pimples. Just wrap some ice cubes in a clean towel and put it on the breakout area for 10 to 15 minutes. Don’t keep the ice on for longer than 20 minutes though because it can damage your skin.

5. Don’t Pick

As tempting as it may be, do not squeeze or try to pop the pimple. It’s deep under the skin and the more you touch it, the angrier and redder it will get. If you do pop it, bacteria in the pimple can spread to other areas under the skin causing more pimples to pop up. So do not touch it at all. Picking or squeezing can also increase swelling and the likelihood of scarring.

Diet and Lifestyle Tips

1. Eat Zinc-Rich Foods

Zinc is an essential mineral that can repair and rejuvenate the skin. It helps control inflammation and assists in creating new cells to speed up wound healing. Since zinc is a key player in cell production and turnover, it can help reduce the amount of oil produced by the skin. To summarize, zinc is a powerhouse nutrient to help get rid of breakouts. Bonus? It also helps balance hormones, which can be a big player in acne.

Try: The Clear Skin Smoothie, Pumpkin Seeds, Sesame Seeds, Spinach, or Raw Cacao

2. Nix Dairy and Sugar

These two trigger foods can increase inflammation and worsen acne by contributing to intestinal permeability (aka leaky gut). When dairy and sugar enter the gut, they can damage the cells that line the small intestine leaving a hole. This allows tiny undigested food particles and toxins to enter into your bloodstream and lymphatic system. Since the majority of your immune system lies within your gut, this can lead to acute inflammation throughout the body and then acne. Both dairy and sugar can also spike insulin levels, which results in more breakouts.

Try: Avoid refined sugar and focus on non-dairy alternatives like nut milks, coconut yogurt and cashew cheese.

3. Try Turmeric

Many studies have shown that turmeric’s active compound, curcumin, is more beneficial at reducing pain and inflammation than pharmaceuticals. It’s an antioxidant and has powerful anti-inflammatory effects as it can help with acne by reducing redness, soothing pimples and brightening the skin. So if you’re needing to get rid of breakouts fast, add turmeric to your dishes.

Try: Spiced Red Lentil Soup, Golden Milk (and topically) Brightening Turmeric Face Mask)

4. Reduce Stress

As many women know, stress can trigger breakouts. I actually have an entire module on it in my acne-program, The Clear Skin Solution. When you are stressed the eff out, your adrenal glands overproduce hormones like cortisol, androgen and DHEA. This increases oil production, which clogs pores and then results in additional acne. Stress also increases blood flow and expands your blood vessels, causing your skin to look more inflamed. On top of this, stress weakens your immune system and a properly functioning immune system is crucial to fighting acne.

Try: Meditation, tapping, light exercise, a candle-lit bath, getting 8 hours of sleep and going to bed before 10 p.m.