CAUSES: WHY ME?
Tanning and Ultraviolet Light
You’ve heard that sun tanning or sunburns can aggravate acne, but have you ever wondered how or why? It is essential to get sunshine so your body can manufacture vitamin D. IT helps in the development of healthy bones and prevents a variety of cancers.
However there is a catch 22 operating, because at the same time the sun can heal you , it can also harm you. Long-wave Ultraviolet Radiation – A Type (UVA) will give you a ‘healthy?’ glow yes, but it also has some carcinogenic effects as well. This is the type projected by tanning beds by the way. Medium-wave Ultraviolet Radiation (UVB) is what will give you a sunburn and at the same time help you process vitamin D activation. It has a stronger carcinogenic effect and it helps your skin age! (So if you go to a tanning bed with UVA, you will not be benefiting from vitamin producing aspects of sunlight.) And lastly short-wave (UVC) simply damages your cells at the nuclear level. Fortunately there are not many short waves in sunlight.
The melanin in your skin functions to block the radiation and reacts to sunlight by producing more of itself. Hence why your skin gets darker with sun exposure – it is protecting you. But in the meantime, your skin is getting dryer and tougher which makes the cells more actively interested in lubricating your skin with sebum. The dry tough skin makes it harder to get the sebum out, and you get Voila! Blocked pores.
A little understood effect of long term sun exposure is solar elastosis or ‘photo-aged’ skin. This condition adds ‘weathered’ cells on top of cells forming a pile of basophilic material making the skin furrowed and discolored and decreasing the production of collagen and making additional skin disorder possible.
If you have fair skin and top this off with a sunburn which fries the top layer of your epidermis, you have made your skin very sensitive and much more open to infection. You know how irritable you can get when you have a sunburn. Well think how those epidermis cells feel when they don’t have the luxury of tv or air conditioning to distract them from their misery. Just a thought.
Other External Factors
There are numerous other external factors which can contribute to skin breakouts such as skin allergies to nickle, rubber, hair dyes, chromates (Chromium compounds in cement) leather, paint, anti-rust compounds, matches or sulpher. Contact dermatitis caused by poison ivy, poison oak or poison sumac can create breakouts as will a constant rubbing with clothing.
Steam, saunas, or even humid weather can even cause the skin to erupt uncomfortably as can several different viruses.
Products can produce skin allergies as well. Perfumes, scented lotions, deodorant soaps, laundry detergents, shampoos, conditioners, and other cosmetic treatments can all cause breakouts. If you suspect allergies might be the cause of your breakouts, then get a work-up by a reputable allergist.
In any case, if you have concerns about unusual breakouts, by all means get a professional opinion on what could be causing it.
More about makeup, cleansers, and other cosmetic products will be discussed in the chapter entitled Miracle Cures.
Other External Factors – Hereditary Elements – Cell Memory
Like Mother, like daughter… Like father, like son…
If either one of your parents had acne, you’re at greater risk of getting it yourself. It’s that simple. If you want to get medical about it – it’s in your genetic makeup. If you want to get metaphysical about it – it’s in your cell memory. This means that even if you successfully change your chemical and physical makeup through diet and drugs, there may be deeper ‘ancestral’ emotional issues to overcome as well.
It is important to do an inventory of your family and their nervous dysfunctional habits. For me I had a critical mother, my father picked at his face occasionally and my brother developed eczema as a teen and also had a nasty nail biting habit,
I do believe that with concentrated effort, your heredity can be overcome. Not that you can change the color of your skin, but you can do things emotionally to circumvent a propensity towards certain conditions.
