Acne can be a difficult time in a person’s life. The presence of acne is normally evident once you enter puberty better known as early adolescents. The scary thing about acne is that, some people suffer from mild acne while others may suffer from a more severe case. Since acne can affect the face, neck, back and even chest, it can be a really difficult time for the sufferer often leading to bullying and a change in social lifestyle.
Severity of acne can depend on several factors. I would like to go over some of the leading causes of acne in a person’s life. Once we determine the cause, we can start to address the treatments that are available.
Puberty or Hormonal Changes
This phase as puberty usually starts around the age of 13 to 25, however some people can start puberty either earlier or even later. Sometimes people even end this phase before the age of 25 or later. During this part in life, your body goes through many chemical changes mostly hormonal imbalance. The increase in male sex hormones called androgens cause the follicular glands to grow larger and make more sebum. The gland are responsible for producing sebum which is a combination of oil and skin cells. When these cells enter the surface of the skin, you begin to develop acne. The presence of increase production of sebum without the right treatment measures can lead to acne and depending on the sebum level, acne severity can be assessed.
With the extra production of sebum your follicles can become blocked and this is when the bacteria and oil start to block the natural cleansing of toxins from within the skin.
Your Diet
Many people are not aware that the food they consume can cause acne to form on the skin. Much of the food we eat can cause your hormone levels to increase causing increased production of sebum, the chemical responsible for acne breakouts.
Dairy like whole milk can cause acne because the cows used during milk processing may be pregnant and already have high levels of hormones. Consume this milk will cause an imbalance in your hormone levels by either boosting your hormone levels or increase your sugar levels which directly influences your hormone levels. Here’s a tip, if you suffer from acne, keep a close eye on the fat content of the dairy products that you are purchasing.
Refined Carbohydrates which consist of grains and refined sugars can be very bad for acne sufferers. These sugars can increase the sugar levels in the blood which leads to an hormonal imbalance. The problem with refined carbs is that the machinery used to process these carbs stripes away the nutrients and removes important vitamins and minerals. These nutrients are great for cleansing the blood and cleaning the skin. Since the nutrients are missing from the refined grains, they enter the blood stream very quickly causing a sudden spike in blood sugar levels causing a quick onset of acne breakouts.
Stress And Anxiety
Stress over the years can play a crucial role in your life. The negative effects of stress has been known to cause many of the deadly diseases. Heart attacks, cancer, hair loss and many more all come from lifestyle stress. Another common attribute of stress is acne breakouts. Stress can cause many internal changes within the human body starting with the obvious which is hormonal changes. During puberty, we are already experiencing higher than normal stress levels and the onset of stress just aggravates this condition. Stress is boosting your hormonal levels more leading to extra product of sebum furthermore leading to acne.
Secondly, stress interferes with your sleeping pattern. During sleep the human body is responsible for balancing hormone levels and your immune system is hard at work detoxing and cleansing your body. Since stress can decrease the function of your immune system by 40%, you are decreasing the chances of your system cleaning bacteria from your skin. Your acne may take longer to clear up or even may flare up due to hormonal increases.
Genetics
There is not much knowledge about how genetics play a role in severity of acne but research has shown that it does play a role. If you have a long family history of severe acne than you are most likely to suffer from acne yourself. It is thought that since androgen gland releases hormones called sebum and depending on the levels released this determines your acne severity. If your family has a history of severe acne, it can be related to increased levels of sebum in the blood. This can have a direct impact on your hormone levels and how much is released into your blood stream blocking your follicles.
To get a better understanding, it’s like male pattern baldness, if your family history has seen males in your family losing hair at an early age, you are most probably going to suffer the same fate.