Acne, acne, go away, come again… like never.
When it comes to skin breakouts, it can often seem like the whole world is against you. But did you know that acne affects somewhere between 40 and 50 million people every year? That’s a whole lotta people.
Sure this may be a small consolation but it’s nice to know you’re not alone, right?
Acne is officially the most common skin woe in the country and it can rear its head in many ways. From cysts and pimples to blackheads and whiteheads, this chronic inflammatory skin condition is real. The problem is that treating acne is often easier said than done. How so? Because it’s a complex little beast that can be triggered by all manner of factors. But first, let’s get one thing straight: even though there are many different types of acne – each with plenty of their own triggers – they’re all caused by one issue, blocked pores.
The One True Cause of Acne
Acne, in all its shapes and forms, occurs when too much sebum combines with dead skin cells at the surface of your skin and blocks up your pores. This results in two types of acne: inflammatory and non-inflammatory.
Non-inflammatory acne includes those two devils that are blackheads and whiteheads. Blackheads occur when oil and dead skin cells break through the skin’s follicles where they react with the air and turn black through a process called oxidization. Whiteheads, on the other hand are exactly the same thing but they’ve not broken the skin so the oil and dead skin cells become a paler-looking plug underneath the surface of your skin.
Meanwhile, inflammatory acne includes all the red stuff – papules and pustules (the smaller pimples), as well as nodules and cysts (the bigger, angrier ones). These arise when bacteria combines with the oil and dead skin cells, causing redness, irritation and, yes, you’ve guessed it, inflammation.
Whether you do or don’t have oily skin that's prone to one or all the different types of acne is largely down to genetics, but there are many other factors at play that can trigger breakouts. And good news (finally, right?), these other triggers are way more controllable than your genes.
Herein, five of the most common acne triggers – plus, what you can do to reduce your chances of being plagued by breakouts for the foreseeable future…
5 Common Acne Triggers
1. Hormones
After genetics, hormones are the biggest player in acne flare-ups. This is because certain hormones, mainly testosterone, cause your skin to produce more sebum which has nowhere to go but to clog up your pores. Furthermore, higher levels of testosterone increase inflammation in your skin and give rise to a certain bacteria in your skin’s microbiome called Propionibacterium acne (P.acnes). And there are no prizes for guessing what all this leads to. Hint: the clue is in the name!
Contrary to popular belief, testosterone is not something only the guys produce. Of course, the male body produces way more than the female’s, but everyone, no matter their gender, produces testosterone to a certain degree. Your levels of testosterone also change during the many stages of your life. They go up particularly during puberty which is why teenage acne is such a major issue. And hormonal fluctuations also occur through pregnancy, menstruation and the menopause which can trigger further breakouts in adult life. Joy.
Take Action: Hormone replacement therapy can be a very effective way to deal with serious hormone imbalance issues. If you think this might be affecting you, seek professional help from your healthcare provider.
2. Stress
Stress is another important factor when it comes to acne and it's also linked to your hormones.
When you’re stressed, your nervous system releases a whole bunch of hormones which cause your heart to pump faster, your breath to quicken and your muscles to tense up. In some cases, this is great and a very clever way for your body to prepare itself to go into fight or flight mode. However, constant stress means this influx of hormones becomes too much, stopping your body from resting and going back to its normal state. This can play havoc with your health, affecting your sleep, giving you headaches and potentially causing major problems with your digestion and reproductive system. It also exacerbates existing skin problems, including acne. Higher levels of cortisol (aka the stress hormone) have been shown to increase sebum production, encourage inflammation and upset healing which is seriously bad news if you have already have oily, pimple-prone skin.
Take Action: Dealing with stress is no walk in the park so if you’re having serious problems, seek advice from a professional. Other tricks you can do at home include yoga, deep breathing, improving your sleeping habits and knowing what causes your stress in the first place. Pinpointing triggers makes it much easier to take control, so try keeping a journal of your stress and give yourself some positive habits to practice in order to improve your emotional well being.
3. Poor Skincare Choices
Heavy skincare formulations are another no-no if you have oily skin that’s prone to acne flare-ups. This is because certain ingredients like butters and rich occlusives sit on the surface of your skin, causing a seal which clogs the pores even more.
The key is to look for skincare that’s non-comedogenic which means it’s been tested and proven to be less likely to block up your pores.
Take Action: There are many awesome ingredients for helping you fight the war against acne but our favorites are salicylic acid, retinol and tea tree oil.
Our Tea Tree Super Cleanser+, for example, teams tea tree with MSM, aloe and chamomile for a super effective face wash. And unlike other harsh cleansers that are loaded with harsh chemicals that can strip your skin, ours is mild enough to be used daily – without causing irritation. Combine this with our Tea Tree Super Serum+ which can be used daily to spot treat pimples, or twice a week as an all-over clarifying treatment, and you’ve got a pretty awesome base for a solid, acne-busting skincare regime.
4. Medications
Have you started taking new medications and noticed your skin is breaking out way more than normal? Chances are your meds could be affecting your skin. It’s not clear why some medications cause acne more than others, but common ones to be aware of are corticosteroids, birth control pills, antiepileptics, certain cancer medications and testosterone.
Take Action: These kinds of breakouts usually clear up once you’ve stopped or reduced your medication for a month, so if you’re experience drug-induced acne, speak to your healthcare provider about lowering your dose or trying an alternative medication. If this isn’t an option for you, they may also prescribe topical or oral acne treatments.
You should also ensure to keep your skin clean and healthy with a consistent skincare routine that includes acne-fighting heroes such as tea tree oil, salicylic acid, MSM and/or retinol. Not a massive fan of tea tree oil? No problem, Retinol Facial Serum is a great overnight treatment.
5. Your Clothes (Yes, Really!)
It may sound crazy but clothing can also exacerbate breakouts. In fact, this type of acne is so real it has a name: acne mechanica.
Acne mechanica occurs when stress from pressure, friction or the repeated rubbing of clothes against your skin causes localized pimples. Footballers often experience this across their backs and shoulders due to the padding in their gear; golfers get it around their foreheads from constantly wearing sports hats or caps, and healthcare workers are extremely prone to acne mechanica around areas where they wear PPE. The rise of maskne due to the recent global pandemic was also thanks to acne mechanica.
Take Action: Of course, the simplest solution here is to stop wearing whatever’s causing your breakouts – if you can, of course. You should also avoid potentially irritating skincare ingredients that might make matters worse. Retinol and glycolic acid, for example, are incredible skincare ingredients but when your barrier function is compromised, they can cause even further problems.
Instead, ensure your skin is cleansed and moisturized thoroughly twice daily with gentle ingredients that help balance and detox your skin. Try Charcoal Clarifying Cleanser and Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer.
And Finally…
Remember, acne solutions are a marathon, not a sprint, so don’t think your new lifestyle habits and skincare routine are going to work miracles by this time tomorrow. These things take a minute, so have patience, faith and stick with it.
