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Acne and pimples tend to form on one’s neck, back, face, chest and shoulders. These parts of skin contain the most oil glands with acne occurring due to hair follicles becoming plugged with dead skin cells and oil. Your hair follicles connect to oil glands that secrete sebum. Sebum’s main use is to lubricate skin and hair.

Upon an excess of sebum and dead skin cells being produced, the combination of both builds up in the hair follicles. These form soft plugs where the bacteria can be encouraged to thrive. If this gets infected, inflammation follows. The plugged pore could cause follicle walls to bulge producing a whitehead. The plug may also open to the surface and darken causing a blackhead. This could resemble dirt stuck in pores. But in reality the pore is congested with oil and bacteria that turns brown when exposed to air.

Acne and pimples are red spots with white centers developing through blocked hair follicles becoming infected or inflamed. Blockages and inflammation developing deep inside hair follicles are known to form lumps below the skin’s surface.

Factors worsening acne

Diet – experts point out key dietary factors such as bread and chips triggering acne and pimples. Chocolate is another common suspect for acne and pimples with recent studies showing men with acne who consumed chocolate showed an increase in acne and pimples.

Stress – this is a silent partner known to make acne worse.

Hormone – hormones known as Androgens increase in men and women during puberty to grow and create more sebum. With relation to pregnancy, hormonal changes and use of oral contraceptives are also known to affect sebum production. Low amounts of androgens are carried in women’s blood and tend to worsen acne and pimples.

Myths

Dirty skin – acne and pimples are not cause by dirt. On the contrary, scrubbing the skin too hard or using soaps or chemicals to cleanse your skin irritates the outer layer making acne and pimple formation even more prominent.

Greasy foods – consumption of greasy foods has minimal effect on acne and pimples. While working in a kitchen, oil collection will stick to the skin blocking hair follicles. This could further irritate the skin allowing more acne and pimples to grow.

Cosmetics – these do not necessarily cause more acne to grow especially when using oil-free makeup which does not clog pores. Removing makeup regularly helps your cause immensely.

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