Each pore in your skin contains a hair follicle and sebaceous gland. Long story short, acne and pimples happen when your sebaceous glands become plugged up. Blockages occur when your skin is producing too much oil, dead skin accumulates in your pores, or you have a bacteria build-up in your pores. This generally happens in one of two ways:
- Blackheads: These are blockages that open on the surface of your skin, the black colour being caused by melanin reacting with oxygen. This may look like dirt in the pore, but it’s actually showing that your skin is congested with oil and/or bacteria
- Whiteheads: These occur under the skin, giving a white appearance, and bulging the follicle wall
Other pimple-type skin issues include:
- Papules: small red bumps caused by infected or inflames hair follicles
- Pustules: Red pimples that hold pus in their tips
- Nodules: Solid lumps under the skin
- Cysts: Large lumps that contain pus
There are some generally recognized risk factors to developing acne:
- hormonal changes (i.e. puberty/pregnancy). People in puberty are most at risk of developing acne. Puberty causes hormones to be released, which in turn, release more oil onto your face.
- certain medications (including birth control)
- a diet high in refined sugar and/or carbohydrates. Skim milk and chocolate have also been linked to acne, but studies are ongoing
- parents who had acne
- stress: while it won’t cause acne, it can make it worse
- friction or pressure on skin, such as cellphones, helmets and backpacks
Acne myths:
- it has not been proven that eating greasy foods leads to acne. However, working around a lot of grease can lead to acne due to more grease on the skin
- acne is not caused by dirty skin, nor do cosmetics cause acne (especially the oil free variety)
- just like in your gut, there is good and bad bacteria on your skin. It’s the bad bacteria that causes acne, but you’re not looking to get rid of it all
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