After getting acne under control, the first thing on your mind is probably socializing, shopping and generally leaving your skin related health woes behind. But if antibiotics were apart of your acne axing regime, you may want probiotics to be apart of your acne-afterlife.

Patricia Raymond, a gastroenterologist and assistant professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, finds that antibiotic usage can negatively impact the colon. Raymond explains, "As antibiotics work to treat a disease, they also kill off healthy micro-organisms in the gastrointestinal tract, paving the way for harmful bacteria to take over."

Probiotics are bacteria that co-exist in the colon with so-called "bad" colon bacteria. About 100 trillion microorganisms populate a healthy bowel. Probiotics balance the pathogen (harmful microorganisms) count, aid digestion and nutrient absorption, and facilitate immune function.

If the number of probiotics drops significantly- due to acne antibiotic usage- other health problems like diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome could result.

You can restore probiotic stability after a series of acne antibiotics in three simple steps.

1. Eat foods that help probiotics thrive

2. Minimize your stress level

3. Take the right probiotics in the right proportions

1.Eat foods that help probiotics thrive

Gary Huffnagle, PhD, of the University of Michigan Health System, is a pioneering researcher into the world of probiotics. Huffnagle recommends supporting probiotic growth by increasing the amount of cultured dairy products you eat, such as cheeses and yogurt.

To encourage probiotics from these dairy products to multiply even further, Huffnagle suggests consuming foods like spices, tea, red wine, berries, apples and beans.

2.Minimize your stress level

Not only should you minimize stress because research teams at Wake Forrest University discovered that stress aggravates acne prone skin, but stress also weakens the colon where probiotics need to work. Research has implicated chronic stress in the development of irritable bowel syndrome and in the worsening of inflammatory bowel disease symptoms.

Moreover, stress sensitizes the gut which increases the likelihood of yet another acne culprit-- developing allergies to certain foods. Reducing your stress level while using probiotic therapy will allow the helpful bacteria to flourish while preempting acne outbreaks.

3.Take the right probiotics in the right proportions

Pharmacist and complementary medicine advocate Dr. Author Presser says the important intestinal bacteria include Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus (L.) Acidophilus, L. Rhamnosus, L. Plantrarum, L. Bulgaricus, Streptococcus Faecium and Streptococcus Thermophilus. Presser recommends taking probiotic supplements that contain all seven bacteria. In his book, The Nature Pharmacist's Vitamin Primer, Presser points out, "look for a product that contains FOS, fructooligosacchrides."