Combatting Winter Acne

The usual seasonal challenges of winter can create the perfect storm for acne to wreak havoc with your complexion. Understanding some of the causative factors and taking simple steps to address them can control your breakouts and calm your skin.

The festive season itself can give rise to stress with worries about getting everything done in time, buying gifts, having enough of the right food, and seeing (or not seeing) the right people among your friends and family. 

Stress affects our brain, stimulating the hypothalamus and pituitary glands. This leads to an increased production of cortisol, the stress hormone, which in turns causes increased excretion of oil onto the skin and makes us more prone to acne. 

Activities such as yoga can relax us or increasing exercise by doing home workouts can lower the cortisol and reduce the feelings of stress.

However, home workouts have recently been cited as one of the contributory causes to the rise in ‘body acne’, affecting the chest, buttocks and back. This is because after these home workouts, we are less likely to immediately shower and change- sitting around in sweaty clothes can exacerbate acne. Sitting around can also cause more friction between your skin, your clothes and your sofa - thus making spots more likely – and most of us do more sitting around during the dark days of winter.

On the topic of darkness, 68 people with acne were recently found to have lower vitamin D levels than healthy control subjects. It can’t be said from this that low vitamin levels contribute to causing acne, although it might; it could be that the psychological and social stresses of acne predispose affected people to spend less time outdoors. Whatever the nature of the association might be, a high proportion of people in the UK winters have low vitamin D, so taking a supplement may be sensible for most of us. We should also get outside when we can during winter – just to get the benefit of both light and exercise.

Partly from the effects of the festive season, and partly through seasonal variations in diet, many of us eat more refined carbohydrates in winter. Chocolate, potatoes and bread are the typical culprits  - and these foodstuffs are likely to worsen any predisposition to acne. So, keeping an eye on how much of these things you are consuming would be sensible as well as aiming to incorporate more fresh fruit and vegetables.

Finally, for various reasons, people don’t prioritise taking good care of their skin. A simple skincare routine using effective products on both your face and body can help fight back against acne and problem skin. Light therapy can also be used on the face and body to effectively kill the acne causing bacteria.

So – simple messages for improving post-Christmas winter acne would be:

• Combat your stress perhaps with yoga and exercise
• Beware of the after-effects of home workouts and shower/change immediately you have finished
• Avoid long periods of sitting around
• Get outside when you can
• Consider vitamin D supplements
• Limit your intake of refined carbohydrates
• Eat more fresh fruit and vegetables
• Establish an effective skincare routine
• Daily use of Lustre Clearskin devices