Does working out help acne

Of all the skin issues you can have, acne is frustrating.  We try our hardest to get rid of it but what about exercise?  Does working out help acne or does it make it worse?

Acne at any age

It doesn’t really matter what age you are, if you suffer from acne – it’s no doubt frustrating.  The obvious physical issue is that everyone can see the breakout if it’s on your face.  However, if the acne is on your neck, chest, upper arms, or back, people may not see it but that’s only because we cover ourselves up.  This isn’t a good thing but we do it because we feel embarrassed.

I really do know how this feels.  Either way, acne on any part of your body makes us feel self-conscious.  Basically, we try to hide and that means we can’t enjoy life or be ourselves.  That’s a problem.

What causes acne?

So, what causes acne?  For years, you may have been told that acne is because you haven’t washed your skin properly.  That’s not exactly true.  Yes, you do want to make sure you remove dirt, oil, and make-up that clog pores but acne can form for several reasons and clogged pores is only one of them.  Does exercise make acne worse?  Let’s fine out.

Other causes of acne

Acne can also find its way on our skin if we cleanse too much or too harshly.  If you’re washing your face too much, you’re stripping the natural oils that your skin needs – this tricks your skin to produce more oil, causing acne.  How often should you wash your face?  Generally, twice a day – once in the morning and once before you go to bed.  But, what about when we exercise?  We’ll get to that in a second.

You can also get acne from clogged pores – and not from only dirt, oil and make-up.  Your pores can get clogged from ingredients in skin care.  Shocking – I know.  Here’s a list of a few to stay away from if you’re acne prone.

Now to the exercise issue…

Exercise and skin

If the sweat that working out has you worried that you’ll break out, you don’t need to worry if you know how to manage this.  We already know that you should ‘generally’ wash your face only twice a day.  So, what does this mean if you’ve had a strenuous, heart-pumping workout in the middle of the day?  Does it mean that you should wait to wash your face before bed?  Or, does it mean you should jump in the shower and scrub off all that sweat?  The answer is quite simple.  Follow these guidelines:

1. Wash your face in the morning with a gentle cleanser.  Always a good idea.
2. If you exercise during the day or even if there was excessive sweating (i.e. you had a presentation that really made you nervous), it’s OK to splash some water on your face to remove the sweat from your face.  Then, use a washcloth on the rest of your body to remove the sweat.  You can also jump in the shower, if you prefer – BUT, just rinse off!  Do NOT, under any circumstances, wash your skin.  It’s not necessary and you’re doing more harm than good.
3. Wash your face in the evening and make sure you remove all the make-up.

That’s it!

Does working out help acne?

Now that you know how to remove that sweat without stripping the oils your skin needs, let’s answer the question:  ‘Does working out help acne’.  You’ll be happy to know that exercise is good for your skin.  The reason for this is because that sweat is removing toxins from your body – toxins that can contribute to acne.

Yoga would be a great workout to try – it’s low impact but can still get you to sweat out those toxins.

Another benefit is that it decreases stress and anxiety which is wonderful for skin (especially for wrinkles!).  One of the ways it does this is by decreasing cortisol levels.  Cortisol is your stress hormone.  The more of it you have traveling through your bloodstream the less hyaluronic acid you have.  While our bodies produce hyaluronic acid, its ability to do so decreases as we age so the last thing we want to do is to help it along by increasing our stress hormone.  Look timeless with exercise!

With a better mood, your mental health makes you smile more and enjoy life more.  When you feel good, you look good.  Does working out help acne?  Yes, so get that workout in and uncover your beautiful skin!