It happens when you least expect it, and when you least want it to. One day you wake up, look in the mirror, and there they are in their red clustered, ugly glory; pimples. The first question that comes to the mind is along the lines of “why me?” as you begrudgingly cake makeup on your face to hide the break out(s). And for the rest of the day, you are quite possibly left feeling insecure with yourself. While you may have some sort of idea of why acne happens and how to treat it, you may not know the whole kit and caboodle.

Acne, according to Mayoclinic, occurs when the glands (connected to your hair follicles) secrete an oily substance known as sebum in excess along with dead skin cells. This causes them to build up in the hair follicles (pores) and thus it forms a soft plug. If bacteria infects the clogged pores, inflammation will be the result. There are many reasons why we break out, according to vasseurbeauty, and one of the biggest and unavoidable reasons is hormones. This is especially prevalent in females with their menstrual cycles, as hormones fluctuate during this time and can cause severe breakouts. Another big cause is stress. This is due to the fact that stress induces the adrenal glands into overproduction of cortisol (a steroid) which results in oilier skin; a breeding ground for acne. Touching your face subconsciously is another cause of breakouts, as your hands have millions of germs on them, and in touching your face you are spreading it to your pores. Vasseurbeauty even suggests that putting your phone to your ear to talk could be causing acne on the cheeks, because your phone also carries bacteria. Surprisingly, the amount of dairy and sugar you consume could be a cause. Breaking out on your chin, jawline, or neck area is a sign that your body has consumed more sugar and dairy than it can tolerate. Thus cutting down on sweets and dairy products may show some results. Lastly, not washing your face can be causing you blemishes, due to the fact your pores are never deeply cleaned. Therefore washing your face regularly may result in clearer skin (if that doesn’t work, prescription drugs specifically designed to help clear skin may be prescribed in severe cases).

Genetics are also a major cause of acne- therefore if one or both of your parents suffered with acne there is a good chance you will too. Although there is no exact reason why some people will never have acne, let alone a pimple, a day in their life,  a more recent UCLA study could have an explanation why. According to this study 1 in 5 people will rarely develop pimples despite the fact that acne causing bacteria lives on everyones skin. This is due to their discovery that there are “bad” strains of acne (cause pimples) and “good” strains (that may protect the skin). Using pore strips, researches lifted Propionibacterium acnes (bacteria that thrives in depths of oily pores) from the noses of 49 pimply and 52 clear-skinned volunteers. Using a genetic marker, they identified the strains of bacteria in each volunteer and noted if they suffered from acne. One of their findings was that in 1 of the 5 volunteers who suffered from acne, two unique strains were present that rarely occurred in the clear-skinned volunteers. Although the biggest discovery as they put it, was a finding of a third strain of P. acne (this strain is a natural defense mechanism that destroys the acne causing bacteria before it can infect the skin) found commonly in healthy skin, and rarely in acne prone skin. Thus not only did these researchers possibly find the reason why some people will never develop pimples, but they may have found a better treatment for acne sufferers.

Although don’t rejoice yet, as because with any experimental study there are many things that need to be considered before determining if such a discovery can be found to hold true. I do not conclude meta-analyses could be causing problems here due to the fact this seems to be one of the first experiments they have done. Although without meta-analyses, the conclusion that this strain could be a treatment and reason why some people will never get acne , may quite possibly be a false positive.

So while acne is a persistent pest for many of us, taking care of your skin and being cautious with what goes in your body can help alleviate the breakouts. Although if your acne is severe and causing you discomfort, seeing a dermatologist can help get the treatment you need to fight this persistent bacteria!