What Are The Causes of Acne Breakouts?
What Are The Causes of Acne Breakouts?
There are many contributing causes of acne breakout. Acne results from unhealthy toxins built up in the body over time. Some of the most common causes of acne include diet, stress, hormones, environment, bacteria, medicine, makeup, etc. It’s initiated by blocked hair follicles, the thought being that the follicles become blocked after abnormal flaking of the cells. The blocked follicle gets larger and ruptures, which causes oil to leak into the skin. This causes swelling and inflammation.
There are antibiotics for acne treatment, but the most effective acne treatment you can do is by being conscientious about the following causes. Most associate acne with puberty and adolescense; however, these are also big causes of adult acne, and there’s even baby acne treatment available.
Most Common Causes of Acne Breakouts:
Hormones: We all know that puberty is a big contributor to acne (duh!). That’s because "sex hormones" (androgens) peak during puberty, which is why so many acne sufferers are adolescents and teens. Hormones are also a cause of flare-ups during menstruation, and is why there’s a relation between pregnancy and acne.
Diet: Although it’s a cliche, you really are what you eat, and your diet is very important in how you feel. If your diet includes a lot of sugars and carbohydrates, it will aggravate the acne. We know how chocolate and acne are related! People put way too much unhealthy food and drink in their bodies that have little to no nutritional value. And, although your body can process a certain amount of toxins, this overloads the digestive process, and causes the toxins to be dispursed throughout your body.
A healthy body is obviously much more immune to infections, bacteria, and viruses. That’s why some people are more prone to illness than others. It’s also known to be one of the root causes for cancer, which only required a change in diet to eliminate the cancer (noted cases). It’s also the root cause of acne breakout.
This is based on your body’s pH balance. Your body relies on a delicatebalance of acid and alkali. The pH (potential of Hydrogen) of any substance is measured by a range of 0 to 14; 0 is the most acidic, 14 the most alkaline, and 7 neutral, which is where you want to be. We all hear about how good water is for us. This is because the human body is about 75% water, and water is neutral with a pH of exactly 7. So, our body needs to be as neutral as possible.
Everything we put into our body has a pH level. As we all know, the majority of food today is way too acidic; from processed foods you buy in the stores to the "to go" and fried foods available everywhere. All of these have an acidic effect on the body, and cause excess toxins to build up.
Stress: Stress is a big contributor to production of the hormone cortisol, which aggravates acne. When you’re stressed, your body queues the skin’s oil glands to enlarge, which secretes more oil, resulting in blackheads, white heads and pimples.
Your Environment: The environment you live in has a big impact on your skin and overall health. Pollution and humidity are not good for your skin, and high humidity actually causes your skin to "swell".
Your Family Genes: Acne’s inherited, and severe cases known as cystic acne usually come from heredity.
Oily or heavy Make up: Oily makeup obviously makes your skin oily, which makes the problem worse if your skin is already oily. And, heavy makeup will clog your pores.
Abrasive cleansers: If you use strong exfoliators to cleanse, they can damage skin and spread infections.
Vitamins / Medicines / Steroids: Vitamin A for acne is helpful. But, although vitamins are good for your body, anything in excess, including vitamins, can have bad effects. One example is excess of a vitamin for acne, such as B1, B6, and B12. It can lead to acne flare-ups, so you should also avoid over-use of these, as anything. They always say "Moderation", and it’s true.
Squeezing or Picking Your Whiteheads Pimples and Blackheads: Doing this can obviously cause scarring, and actually sends the infection deeper under your skin. One of the best solutions for acne scars is not to do this!
If you really want to get at the root cause of acne breakout and make it your last acne solution, be conscientious about your diet, don’t use heavy or oily makeup, don’t over-use vitamins, medicine, etc., be aware of your environment, and try to keep your stress level low, which not only helps reduce acne, but your overall health.
Published by: Julie Eley 3/19/09
To learn more about pregnancy and acne click here
Tagged with: causes of acne breakouts during pregnancy • causes of adult acne • most effective acne treatment during pregnancy • solutions for acne scars • vitamin a for ac • whiteheads pimples • your last acne solution
Filed under: Acne Treatment During Pregnancy
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
