13 Reasons for Pimples

1. STRESS
   Adrenal gland produces more testosterone.
2. HUMIDITY and CLIMATE
   Swelling of the skin from heat or high water content pressurizes your follicles causing inflammation.
3. PRESSURE and FRICTION on your skin from – example:
   Clothing, athletic gear, back packs, hats, telephones, eye glasses, sitting in a high back chair, etc.
   Keep tinted cotton off your skin, example: shirts - navy, red, black - the tint causes acne - if you have to wear it wash clothing many times in your washer to remove the new excess tint. Wear only clean white cotton against your skin with no fabric softeners this includes fabric softener sheets in your dryer. Example: some nurses wear inexpensive men’s white cotton tee shirts under their scrubs to prevent body acne.
   Cupping your face in your hands.
   Excessive hair brushing.
   Face protection masks, clinical, construction work or other, head-sets.
   Facials and pimples - tell them not to massage your skin to prevent a break-out from pressure and friction.
4. PICKING
   1. Putting pressure on the follicle, causing the wall to rupture spreading debris and bacteria into the surrounding tissue. This may even cause the surrounding follicles to become involved in acne.
   2. Fingernails, can leave white scar ridges in the dermis that are very noticeable later often in your 50’s or 60's.
   3. Spreads bacteria from one picked area to another picked area.
5. INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS and AIR BORNE OILS - example:
   1. Fry cooking.
   2. Roof or road tarring.
   3. Spray painting.
   4. Air borne grease from working on cars or machinery.
6. FOOD
   1. Ingesting the oil of peanut, corn and wheat germ with high amounts of the hormone testosterone can make acne worse.
   2. Iodide, in foods and vitamins mixes into the blood stream and is excreted through the oil glands. The excretion causes irritation in the follicle producing acne. Some foods high in iodine are
   3. Salt.
   4. Seafood (kelp, squid, crab, sole, clams, shark, sea bass).
   5. Dairy (cheese, butter, some milk and ice cream products).
   6. Vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, onion, corm, brussel sprouts).
   7. Meat and poultry (beef liver, turkey, chicken, stew meat, hamburger).
   8. Snacks high in salt content: chips, wheat germ, lots more than these, e.g., pretzels, nuts, popcorn, etc.
7. COSMETICS
   1. Soaps.
   2. Sunscreens.
   3. Shampoos and conditioners.
   4. Foundations, pressed powder and blushes often cause or exasperate acne. Carefully check your product ingredients.
   5. Bumps or pimples under your blush? Use a rosy eye shadow instead - D & C acne causing red dyes are outlawed in eye shadows.
   6. Lipstick, lip liners, ChapStick or lip balms sitting on the outside of the lips can cause blackheads and pimples.
   7. A clinical instructor at the University of California in San Francisco, Kathy Fields, MD., says toothpaste can cause acne-like breakouts. Most notorious is tartar control, cinnamon flavoring and blue, red and or green tints that have irritating additives. Switch toothpastes to see if there is any change, and use less if the product is flowing onto your skin. Ingesting toothpaste can cause a fluoride acne flare.
   8. Mangoes have oil that is also found in poison oak, ivy and sumac, causing dermatitis.
      
8. MENSTRUAL CYCLE
9. PREGNANCY
10. BIRTHCONTROL PILLS
    1. Depo-Provera injection (medroxyprogesterone)
11. SUNLIGHT
    1. 20% of acne patients become worse with heat and sunlight.
    2. Heat causes swelling, reducing the size of the follicle opening, sealing in oil and bacteria.
12. SEASON changes.
13. DRUGS
    1. Hallucinogens - some are bromides, commonly found in Day & NyQuil, chlorides, iodides, halothane; and fluorides (toothpaste).
    2. High doses of B12 (cyanocobalamin).
    3. Oral or topical corticosteroids or steroids, oral anabolic steroids (danazol,stanolzolol).
    4. Dilantin, antidepressants - some are lithium carbonate (Lithium) and amoxapine, Danocrine (Danazol - used for women who have endometriosis and infertility).
    5. Cyclosporin.
    6. Cocaine, speed and marijuana.
    7. Antiepileptics (carbamazepine, phenytoin, phenobarbital).
    8. Antituberculous (ethionamide, isoniazid, rifampicin).