Why do I get pimples?

This is not a textbook about skin diseases. Such a book would be both long and boring. However, this section can help you to get to know why you have pimples.

You have hair over most of your body. Every hair has its root (just like a tree) in a so-called hair follicle. Tallow is continuously formed in the base of each hair follicle – like a kind of fat.

The tallow runs from the bottom of the hair follicle up to the skin, where it helps your skin being strong and supple.

What we have told you up until now is quite normal. Now on to the cause of pimples.

When you are about to enter puberty, you produce extra hormones – it is part of puberty. Due to the extra hormones, more tallow is produced in the hair follicle. At the same time, the hair follicle is blocked so the tallow cannot reach the skin and has to stay in the hair follicle. This means, that the hair follicle grows and grows due to the tallow – now you have a blackhead. The more tallow the bigger blackheads. This is the first step towards the pimple.

Bacteria is the next step. Bacteria is the reason why your blackheads develop into pimples. You have bacteria all over your body – which is quite normal. For unknown reasons some bacteria go into the hair follicle. The bacteria can lead to irritation of the hair follicle and the skin around it. The blackhead becomes a pimple, read and swollen, filled with yellow pus, that is close to breaking through the top. Pimples are not contagious because the bacteria that is in a pimple are found on everyone.

Causes for pimples:

Increased hormone production causes increased amount of tallow
Blocking of hair follicles so that the tallow cannot get out
Bacteria that irritate the hair follicle and the skin around it

Why me?

However, why are you particularly affected? To be honest, No one has the whole explanation. We know that some people are more sensitive to hormone exposure than others are. This means that they produce more tallow when the hormone production increases during puberty. This sensitivity is partly inherited. This means, that if your parents and siblings have had many pimples, you will also be affected.

Furthermore, it is known, that work with oil, chlorine or tar and use of make-up can worsen the pimples.

What does the diet mean?

Many advise against fat and smoked food, strong spices and chocolate. There are no studies to document this. As mentioned earlier, you do not get pimples from eating unhealthy food – pimples is a skin decease. However, there are many other good reasons why you should not live by chocolate, soda or French fries.

Important to know about pimples:

Not contagious
Partly hereditary
Worsened by oil, chlorine, tar and make-up
Not worsened by fat food