Puberty is a wonderful as well as a confusing phase we all go through. Not only your life but your body too go through major changes, and one of the biggest change that you all loathe the most is acne! Puberty is that time of life where the body experiences hormonal changes and imbalance.
To understand acne, you need to be familiar with what a sebaceous gland is. These are tiny sacs at the root of your pores on your skin which secretes an oily substance called sebum. Also, out of these pores, the dead skin cells are also pushed out. Initially, the sebum works to your skin, but when puberty hits, they go into overdrive, producing excessive sebum. This along with your dead skin cells, pollutants or make-up (for ladies) clog up your pores, while the sebum still keeps building up beneath the clog. The pore swells up and presto, you’re annoyed!
What makes it worse is that it is the best situation for a certain bacteria, Propionibacterium acnes which thrive in such clogged pores (talk about being opportunistic) and cause an infection. Now, this is simply the call for war which brings in your white blood cells (WBCs) to fight off the infection and now you get pus!
And that, my friend, is Acne one-Oh-one.
This goes on for a while till puberty ends and so does acne with it. But Nah-uh-uh, acne is not that simple. At least for some, because it enters their adulthood along with them. Now, this is where things get complicated.
So, what went wrong? Acne can arise due to any number of reasons. Let’s try and cover the main ones to help you on your quest for clear skin.
- Acne can be caused due to hormonal imbalances, especially in the case of women. It can also happen in the case of men who have a higher estrogen level. It’s imperative to understand the cause to treat the acne, therefore, visiting a dermatologist is the best thing to do here.
- Acne can be a reflection of an unhealthy lifestyle too. There’s a huge list of do’s and don’ts if it’s your lifestyle that’s causing you to break-out. Some of them include smoking, consumption of alcohol, high intake of oily, sugary or dairy products, etc. Of course, the triggering food is going to be different from person to person, so it’s important that you find out what’s your trigger.
- This can be done by first cutting out all types of acne-causing food and then adding them one by one to your diet and observing when you start to have acne.
- Adding in lots of green and leafy vegetables to your diet has also shown to help a lot.
- Lack of sleep and mounting stress is another reason why your pimples are there to give you company. So, it’s simple here, worry less and get optimum sleep.
- Apart from these, getting daily exercise would be a good idea because exercise makes you sweat and in-turn unclog your pores. But, do remember to take a shower after workouts. (Good for acne and unwanted body odour)
And finally, if everything else fails, make sure you take a visit to your dermatologist and expert advice as to what you ought to be doing. Oh! Side note, even a doctor might be helpless if you keep popping your pimples though (Yes! Your mother was right). So hands off your pimples and don’t pop them. Remember that the next time you spend your precious pocket money on over-the-counter medications.
So follow these tips and you’ll be taking those #no_edits #no_filter selfies in no time!