Your Health's Journal

Acne is something just about everyone is familiar with. Whether you started getting breakouts as pre-teen or teenager, in your early adulthood, or not until later in life, it can be frustrating, annoying, and embarrassing.

It is a lot more common than you might think, with 40-50 million people in the United States suffering from it, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, not to mention people in the rest of the world.

Some forms of acne can be severe and obvious, even painful when you start developing cystic acne. Other forms of acne might be dependent on your lifestyle, diet, ands tress levels. Even more common is when you just get it due to very minor changes in your day-to-day life, and might not even realize those habits are causing your breakouts.

This is exactly what we are going to talk about today. Keep reading to learn more about some of those less common and sneaky causes of acne.

1. Your Skincare Routine

Believe it or not, one of the sneakiest causes of acne is actually how you take care of your skin. Of course you know that you need to wash your face every day, remove makeup at night, and be careful what is on your skin when you sleep. However, there are more skincare situations that might cause breakouts to occur or acne conditions to flare-up.

One is that you have recently switched to a new product. Your acne could be related to that product, whether because it contains ingredients you have not used before, or your skin is having a negative reaction to it. Consider what your skin is doing when you try a new product, and don’t switch too many products at the same time.

You also want to be sure you have a good skincare routine twice a day, like clockwork.

The better you are with keeping up with it, the better your skin will look.

2. Excessive Haircare Products

Another potential cause of your acne has nothing to do with products you do or don’t put on your face, at least not intentionally. This is where what you put in your hair makes a difference. It is almost impossible to keep your hair completely away from your face, so what you put in your hair to style it each day, often ends up on your skin.

Think about all those wonderful products you add to your hair to add softness, shine, and body. Products like oils, moisturizer, hair spray, and pomade can all eventually get onto your face and clog your pores. This eventually leads to breakouts.

What can you do about it? Think about what you use on your hair, and whether or not you can switch up your haircare routine to start with. If you can’t, you can try some more hairstyles that keep hair from your face, and make sure you are not touching your face after touching your hair. Always wash your face really well at the end of the day to clean your pores and use face masks to get deep down.

3. Your Stress Levels

This tends to be surprising to some, and not so much to others. When you think of acne and what might be causing it, you probably think about things like needing to wash your face more, touch it a little less, and cut back on sugar. However, your emotional stress can take a big toll on the health of your skin.

There are many forms of stress, which just about everyone has. You might be stressed from work, having relationship troubles, or just have everyday stress from trying to be responsible, take care of your family and household, and still struggle to find time for yourself.

Regardless of where the stress comes from, it might be the cause of your acne and other skin imperfections. If you think this is the case, now is the time to start looking for natural ways to relieve stress. Here are some ideas to help get you started:

• Start writing in a journal every day
• Make time for yourself – even if it’s just a morning cup of coffee or tea
• Get more exercise to release endorphins
• Stay away from people who are toxic and causing more stress
• Try a hobby or creative activity that offers some distraction

4. You Have a Hormonal Imbalance

When was the last time you went to the doctor and had bloodwork done? If it has been a while, you might have hormones that are all out of whack. This is a very common, but less known, cause of acne. It is extremely common for women especially to have a hormonal imbalance they don’t even realize they have.

” The signs of hormonal imbalances are so subtle and often come on slowly, so you
might not realize it is happening. Perhaps your breakouts are happening more
frequently, you are a little more fatigued, or your menstrual cycle is slightly off. Without
proper care from a doctor, this might start getting worse and lead to other side effects.”

If you have acne that you can’t find a cause for and is not being treated with all the products you have tried, a trip to your doctor is the next best step. Ask to get tested for a hormonal imbalance and you just might find the answer you are looking for.

5. Removing Facial Hair

Lastly, the cause of your acne may be from a cosmetic choice, such as removing hair. If you are waxing, plucking, or shaving your face, eyebrows, and upper lip, that might be causing the acne. These types of hair removal treatments often lead to the skin tissue getting irritated and inflamed. This may deepen your pores, which creates the perfect environment for bacteria to sneak in their and clog them. The good news is that this is usually temporary, so as long as you care for your skin, you should be able to keep removing hair and treat your acne.

Readers, if you notice any changes in your skin, consult a healthcare professional or dermatologist in your community. However, whether you have dry skin due to excessive hygiene, dry skin because it’s just the way you are, spots on your skin, etc., it still doesn’t mean you’re suffering from a contagious disease. Sometimes, it’s due to stress, dust or toxic elements in your environment. Until next time!

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Anne-Vasthi