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Your solution to feeling better, gaining energy or perhaps improving your appearance is exercise. However, you can’t seem to work out those pesky post-workout breakouts and wondering what’s the connection between exercise and acne. Exercising helps increase in the circulation of blood and nutrients to the skin, encouraging skin repair and creating a natural healthy glow. It also reduces stress levels, which in turn decreases fine lines and wrinkles. This all sounds good, but for people with acne exercising may also bring more breakouts. How disappointing to then working so hard, only to breakout afterward. But you don’t have to stop exercising, here’s what you should do to tackle this obstacle.
Exercise stimulates production of testosterone in both men and women, so if it is too intense it can increase the level of testosterone production and as a result – a level of a free testosterone in the blood. Since “free” testosterone (the one circulating in the blood) is the largest stimulator of secretion of the sebaceous glands that produce sebum (skin oil), and too much sebum cause of acne.
If you exercise intensely and you have acne, you might want to consider decreasing the intensity of your exercise.
For example, if you workout 7 days a week, consider exercising 3 or 4 days a week. Or you can also decreasing the hours you work out.
Does sweat cause acne? Directly, sweat is not a cause of acne but it can exasperate acne condition. The salts that are found within the sweat can irritate the skin and worsen the breakouts. Also seat may attract and bond keep dirt and dead skin cells that can clog pores, and bacteria that can induce inflammation.
Acne is primarily caused by an overproduction of sebum. An infection within the hair follicle can arise once it becomes blocked with skin oil (sebum) and dead skin allowing bacteria to thrive. As you workout, the sweat naturally cleanses its pores. On the other hand, once the sweat dries, bacteria are able to get in and project breakouts.
Even if sweat can contribute to acne, it doesn’t cause it. To better understand why sweat doesn’t cause acne, you need to understand the structure of the skin. Our skin contains two types of pores (hair follicles and sweat pores) and two types of sweat glands (eccrine and apocrine).
The sebum that works to lubricate the skin is found in the hair follicles. The sweat pores are connected to the eccrine sweat glands and apocrine glands. Eccrine glands are found throughout the whole body, and its purpose is to regulate high temperatures by bringing water from the pore to the surface of the skin. The apocrine glands job is to secrete an off-white sweat that encourages the growth of bacteria for body odor. These are found only in the armpits and pubic area.
Possible breakouts from exercising are often linked to the material and fabric that is worn during the activity. When unclean and moist clothing is rubbed against the skin for long periods of time, both oil and sweat mix creating those pimples. Take, for example, a football player wearing their helmet.
Each one of us has a unique routine, and knows how to achieve the best workout from inside to out. If you are unsure of your habits, check out our informative guide on how to exercise without aggravating your acne. To summarize, it is important to be aware of what you do before, during, and after your workouts. Ensure to remove makeup, protect skin from sunlight using sunscreen and clean exercising equipment BEFORE you exercise. DURING your workout, keep your hands away from your face and use a clean towel to wipe off the sweat. AFTER the workout, Pat skin dry the sweat with a clean towel, and take a shower. If you are looking for an more relaxing way to exercise, there is in fact 3 kinds of exercises to get healthy and distress the right way. Yoga, Pilates and Qigong are the matches to your needs!
Whether you exercise for fun or for the benefit, it is healthy for your well-being. Do not stop because it can trigger pimples, however, focus on fixing the root cause of acne itself,which is exactly what AcnEase does. Post-workout acne located on your face, chest, and back can be tackled by using AcnEase. This is a unique, safe and naturaltreatment designed to address your sebaceous glands and decrease future breakouts.
Not only is honey sweet, but it contains goodness for the skin too! Honey is found to contain antibacterial properties which will keep pore clear and clean. Honey also has a skin lightening agent that will decrease the appearance of scars. Burned skin and aid recovery can be calmed with using honey as this will restore hydration into the deepest layers of the skin. Try it!
What you need:
What to do:
First-time users!
If this is your first time using honey, there is a chance that you will feel an itchy feeling - don’t worry! Massage the itches area and try to keep the mask on for the full 10 - 15 minutes.
Warning! Don’t use more tea tree oil than is recommended. Remember, less is more. Too much tea tree oil can burn your skin. Always dilute essential oils with other oils/ingredients before application.
We want to hear from you! How do you prevent acne when working out? What are your secrets for keeping acne away? Tell us in the comments below!