What causes your skin problems?

Acne is known to be the most common skin condition in the world. Usually it disappears on its own, but there are people who struggle  with acne even in adulthood.

What Causes Acne?

Most people focus on the acne treatment and do not try to understand the cause of their acne. Some of the many possibilities are diet, hormones, vitamin deficiency, genetics, and stress.

The effects of acne are known to everyone – inflammation, redness, scars, pimples, and, worst of all, low self-esteem. Gathering information regarding the best acne treatment requires a thorough research, however, understanding what causes acne and the possible treatments will be of a great help in your search for the right acne treatment solution for you.

What Are The Direct Causes Of Acne?

Pimples, whiteheads, and blackheads are caused by the excessive amount of oil substance known as sebum, produced inside the hair follicles, which are located beneath the skin’s surface. For people with clear skin, the released oil settles on the surface of the skin by moving up the follicle wall. However, too much oil can cause the skin pores to become clogged and this will prevent the oil from escaping.

The clogged pores are the perfect environment for bacteria, together with the dead skin cells they clog the pores further. If there is no inflammation near the pore and depending on how many skin cells cover the opening of the follicle, the clogged area may become a whitehead or blackhead.

In case the bacteria causes inflammation, a more severe form of acne called “acne vulgaris” will occur. Effective acne treatment products will get rid of the bacteria hidden inside the skin pores and remove the cells that cover them, which results in allowing the oils to escape.

What Are The Indirect Causes Of Acne?

We have already discussed that excess sebum can lead to cyst, pimples, blackheads and whiteheads, but we have not covered the following question: What makes the skin pores to produce too much oil?

There are two important factors that take a major part in the production of oil — genetics and hormones. Fluctuating hormones can change the amount of oil that is released into the pores, and the unpredictable nature of the hormones can make finding an effective acne treatment hard.

During the teenage years, the body changes physically and hormonally, these alterations can cause stimulation oil-producing sebaceous glands. Genetic predisposition is another factor in the release of oil.

It is unfortunate, but some individuals are more prone to releasing large amounts of oil. This might be the reason for adults having breakouts, even after being physically mature. However, being genetically pre-dispositioned to acne does not prevent you from finding the right acne treatment solutions for your face and body.

Does Alcohol Cause Acne?

The amount of people who think drinking alcohol causes acne outbreaks is growing all the time. Even though alcohol can affect the skin in many ways, it is very rarely a direct cause of acne.

Alcohol, like most of the things related to breakouts and acne, will affect different individuals in different ways. Some might get pimples after having a single drink whilst others drink as much as they wish would have no noticeable effect on their skin.

There might be little evidence proving that alcohol causes acne, however, there is some definite relationship.

  • Regular drinking will negatively affect your immune system, which will prevent it from keeping the acne bacteria under control. With a weakened immune system bacteria will have an easier time building up in your skin pores.
  • Alcohol can affect the hormone levels in your body and one of the well known direct causes of acne breakouts is an imbalance in estrogen or testosterone levels.
  • When people are stressed they often drink, increased stress levels are likely to affect the hormones in your body, the combination of the two might have an adverse effect on your skin.
  • It is a common knowledge that fact that regularly consuming sufficient amount of alcohol leads to liver damage and reduces liver functionality. The liver is one of the main organs involved in maintaining clear and healthy skin. It helps maintain steady blood sugar levels, regulates the number of hormones in the body, also gets rid of toxins.
  • It is a well know fact that alcohol lowers the water content in your body’s and water is vital for removing inflammatory toxins, which can aggravate acne. Also, skin pores shrunk because of the alcohol which makes them more likely to clog

Even though the consumption of alcohol may result in aggravated acne, that doesn’t mean that you should never drink again. Moderate consumption of alcohol is unlikely to affect your skin, however, as mentioned it will vary from person to person.

Does Stress Cause Acne?

It is hard to say that acne is a direct cause of stress but it is known that stress can aggravate the acne. However, with the right strategy, there is no reason why you wouldn’t be able to deal with it. There are few tips you can follow to manage your stress level in order to clear up your skin.

First, you should understand what the word “stress” means. When dealing with acne, we refer to stress is an undue feeling of physical or emotional strain. The majority of the people think of stress as something to do with emotions; but, physical stress can cause acne.

A large number of factors can lead to emotional stress, for example, anxiety because of an important meeting, relationship issues, bullying or too much workload. Physical stress can result from too much exercising without proper rest, busy lifestyle or the often use of drugs.

The build up bacteria in the clogged pores in the skin results in acne. The stress is known to cause an inflammatory response in the skin which and can lead to the breaking of the walls of the pores. These phenomena lead to the pores to turn red and get filled with pus ( known as pimples).

Furthermore, stress makes the adrenal gland produce higher levels of male sex hormones (androgens) which can lead to more acne.

The best solution is to try and get rid of stress. As long as you do not overdo it, exercising can be a way reduce stress in your everyday lives. Exercising increases the oxygen to flow to the brain and leads to a decrease in the stress response. Three sessions a week, each half hour long can have a big impact on your body and mind. If exercising every other day is not for you then you can also try breathing exercises and be sure to always have a good night’s sleep.

The connection between acne and stress is not very clear, but it exists and should be considered when fighting acne.