ZENMED Cosmetics

Could your lifestyle be the cause of your acne? No, but the way you live does affect your entire body. Your skin is no exception. The hours you keep, your career and even what you do in your spare time can take a toll on the epidermis. This is true especially for those who are prone to acne. Here are some everyday acne triggers that you may have never thought about and how to avoid them.

The environment in which you work is always at work on your skin. You should pay attention to everything your skin comes in contact with, especially anything that may be comedogenic (a substance that clogs pores). You could be interacting with these substances and not even know it. One example is the grease that is in the air in restaurants. This grease can cause your skin to film over, clogging your pores. Besides restaurants, oils from many other products are also comedogenic, including those used for factories, cars, and bicycles.

Believe it or not, sleep is one of the best things you can do to take care of your skin. Everyone knows that a full night’s sleep of eight hours or more can be miraculous for your skin. Why is sleep so good for you? It is because if you are well rested, your body has strong immunities that can fight off infection. Although a healthy immune system cannot eradicate acne entirely, it will help your pimples disappear more quickly. For this to work, it is vital that you keep your sleep schedule regular. Any eight hour time period is good for sleep, even if it is during the day. Therefore, if you end up working late, make sure you sleep late as well.

Exposure to sun can improve acne, however this is temporary benefit. Being out in the sun for prolonged periods can dry the skin and prod the sebaceous glands to produce more oil. This would cause the skin to shed old cells more often, this dead skin in contact with the excess oil produced creates the ideal environment for comedones (blocked pores).

While it is true that sunlight can improve acne at first, the effects are often short-lived. Too much exposure will dry out your skin and make your sebaceous glands produce extra oil. This in turn will make old skin cells slough off more often. Dead skin cells combined with extra oil makes the perfect combination for creating comedones (blocked pores).

Stress can lead to development of acne. “Ninety percent of my patients complain about what stress does to their skin. It has a huge impact, and it’s becoming a bigger problem every day,” says Katie Rodan, MD, a clinical professor of dermatology at Stanford University.

Emotional anxiety from various walks in life gets reflected on the face. This is purely a chemical connection. As the anxiety level increases, the adrenal glands start working and pumps the bloodstream with hormore - cortisol. Which in turn causes the sweat glands to produce more oil. When the sebaceous glands over produce, these oils mix with the dead skin cells and thereby clogging the pores and trapping the bacteria inside; this would cause more acne, which are more of inflamed papules, rather than blackheads or whiteheads.

It is highly unlikely you will be able to rid your entire life of stress. It is, after all, a normal part of life. A healthy lifestyle, however, can do much to diminish the damage. Make sure you eat well and get plenty of sleep every night, at least seven hours. These habits will help you ward off the negative effects stress can have on your body. Exercise of some sort, which could be as simple as taking a daily walk, is also good. You must also learn how to relax. Participation in calming activities like reading, taking a bath, and practicing yoga will help keep you content, which can go a long way toward keeping you healthy. This is vital for your entire body, not just your skin.