Why is my face breaking out all of a sudden?

We all know that feeling when your skin care is going smoothly, then all of a sudden you’re experiencing break outs. This can be incredibly frustrating and it may be hard to detect the root cause.

Which in turn, leads to you wondering “Why is my skin breaking out now?” This is especially important when you’re trying to determine the next steps.

Luckily, Results Laser Clinic has you covered with our comprehensive guide. Our cosmetic nurses know that skin care is not “One size fits all“. This is why, we detail everything from the different causes to probable treatment solutions. This is so you can embark on the journey to clearer skin, sooner.

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What is a Break Out?

The first step to understanding, “Why is my skin breaking out all of a sudden?” is knowing what a break out is. For most people, a break out is just a pesky skin imperfection. However, this is defined as a skin abnormality, which includes pimples, blackheads and cystic acne.

This commonly occurs on regions of the skin with more oil glands. These include the face, chest and shoulders.

When you have a break out, you’ll find that you may experience redness, swelling or inflammation. This is because your pores are clogged with dead skin, oil, and (occasionally) bacteria!

Identifying Different Break Outs

When it comes to break outs, each one varies from each other. When you’re experiencing one, it’s important to understand the type your skin is prone to. This is so you can pinpoint the right treatment solution. For example, using a pimple treatment on blackheads can be a waste of time and money.

 

Pimples

If you’re experiencing pimples, you’ll find a spot with a white centre surrounded by redness. This occurs because bacteria is contained within a hair follicle on the skin.

Whiteheads

Although these can appear as small white bumps, it can also appear as yellow. This occurs because the comedone (Skin pore/follicle) is closed.

Blackheads

Just like the name, these are consistently black in appearance and come in small bumps. This is not to be confused with sebaceous filaments which can appear as brown or grey. These arise on the skin due to the comedone (Skin pore/follicle) being open.

 

 

What are the Common Causes of Breakouts?

So far, we’ve understood the types of break outs that commonly arise. However, you may be wondering “Why is my skin so bad all of a sudden?” When it comes to this, there are a range of factors to consider.

Our team has broken these down for you below:

• High Stress Levels: Stress does not directly correlate to you breaking out. However, this causes the stress hormone called “Cortisol.” This is because it enhances the production of oils.
• The Wrong Skincare Products: Have you recently started on a new product? The wrong skin care can cause inflammation and break outs on the skin.
• Poor Diet: Foods that spike blood sugar levels are important to avoid. These are otherwise known as “High glycemic” foods. This is responsible for enhancing skin inflammation and sebum production.
• Dehydration: If your water intake is too low, this can lead to the excess production of oil. This is because your skin is trying to make up for the dryness.
• Environmental Factors: Pollutants in the air and high humidity levels can trap dirt and oil on the skin. This can clog pores and trigger acne.

How to Treat Sudden Face Breakouts

Adjusting your lifestyle can help prevent acne breakouts in future. Take the time to reflect on your current skin care and dietary habits. This can help you identify certain areas, and make changes accordingly. Taking small steps at first can help you ease into this.

Skincare Routine

The right routine helps target blemishes, as well as protects and restore the skins barrier.

See our tips below:

• Look for products labelled as “Non comedogenic”
• Avoid oil based products
• Moisturise daily to maintain the skin barrier
• Cleanse daily to remove impurities
• Use a broad spectrum sunscreen for UV protection
• Exfoliate the skin weekly (Frequency of this varies)

Diet

Limit the consumption of foods that are “High glycemic” in your diet. This can prevent your acne from getting worse over time.

See our table below:

High Glycemic Food	Low Glycemic Alternative
White Bread	Whole Grain Bread
Regular Pasta	Whole Wheat Pasta
White Rice	Brown Rice or Quinoa
Soda	Sparkling Water with a Splash of Lemon

Stress Management

Have you noticed a shift in your stress levels? Turn to stress reducing activities such as yoga, meditation, or simply ones that you enjoy. This reduces hormonal acne triggers.

Over the Counter Medications

Try over-the-counter acne products to dry excess oil and promote peeling. Look for products containing benzoyl peroxide and adapalene as the active ingredients. You might also try products containing salicylic acid, glycolic acid or alpha hydroxy acids.

Prescription Medications

For persistent or severe acne, over the counter treatments can be ineffective. Instead, opt for a professional treatment plan. This can be done through consulting with your general practitioner, or dermatologist (Varies based on the treatment type.)

We’ve broken down some effective treatments:

• Topical Medications: These are concentrated ingredients applied to a certain bodily region. Some popular ingredients include: Salicylic acid (prevents growth of plugged hair follicles,) dapsone, antibiotics (Bacteria killing,) and retinoids (Treating mild to moderate acne.)
• Oral Medications: This is frequently used to treat more severe acne. These include isotretinoin (also known as Accutane,) anti androgen agents (For women only,) and antibiotics (Bacteria killing.)

Your Skincare Recap

Next time you ask yourself, “Why am I getting pimples on my face all of a sudden?” Remember this, your skin is as individual as you are.

It’s entirely normal for it to go through phases of purging, to being completely clear. Consider lifestyle factors like a lack of sleep, excessive exfoliating or drying skincare formulas.

These stress skin and imbalance the harmony of those prone to over-flow of oil, leading to stress acne. Acne breakouts which occur in adulthood as opposed to adolescence also possess a different underlying cause.

For further information, consult with a medical professional or your cosmetic nurse.

When Should I Turn to Cosmetic Treatments?

If you’re experiencing mild to moderate acne, it’s useful to consider professional treatments. At Results Laser Clinic, we offer a range of tailored facial treatment options.

These are designed to address skin concerns for a range of skin types and severities.

See some of our flexible skin treatments below:

• Chemical skin peels
• Microdermabrasion
• LED light therapy

For personalised advice and treatments, consult our cosmetic nurses.

Get in touch with us today!

FAQS

Why are my cheeks breaking out all of a sudden?

Where you’re experiencing breakouts can correlate to what’s causing it.

Here are some potential causes:

• Dirty phone
• Not changing the pillow case regularly
• Not washing your hair frequently enough
• Constant touching of the cheeks

Why am I suddenly breaking out even though my routine hasn’t changed?

Even if your routine hasn’t changed, stress or hormonal changes could still make you break out. Also, your skin might need different care now than before.

How to remove blackheads: DIY or skin treatments?

With Spring making a return soon, discover whether DIY or skin treatments are the better option in your blackhead removal journey to pore-fection! 

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What are blackheads and how are they formed?

When your skin is clear, the openings around a hair follicle are free from dead skin cells, allowing the production of oil to flow to the surface normally. Blackheads are formed when the opening around a hair follicle is clogged with dead skin cells and sebum(oil). What you should never do with blackheads

• Use abrasive cleansers and exfoliants as your skin can be irritated further
• Squeeze blackheads as the inflammation can be pushed deeper back into your skin and eventually cause scarring

How to prevent acne scars

We’ve all been there – scrubs, tears, every trick in the online skin bible in our pursuit in removing unwanted acne scars. To understand how skin treatments can resurface your skin back to smoothness, we explore the different types of acne scars and which treatments are best suited in the pursuit for your skin’s smoother future. Commonly associated with each other but fundamentally not the same, post inflammatory hyperpigmentation and acne scars are both visible, textural results that are often left behind from acne. 

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What is post inflammatory hyperpigmentation?

Post inflammatory hyperpigmentation occurs when there’s discolouration left on the skin. It’s a flat area that ranges in colour from red to pink, brown or purple dependant on your skin tone.  From disruptions in the healing process of wounds, rashes and pimples, inflammation arises from the trauma caused to the skin. When the skin heats up too much, melanin is produced, leaving a darker colour.  Not to despair, post inflammatory hyperpigmentation fades over time. However, if you have an event or just want to reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation, certain skin treatments can help in smoothing out the skin tone and texture such as Skin Needling using the innovative DermaPen technology. A motorised head containing micro needles safely punctures the skin, to trigger cellular repair and renewal to effectively reduce the appearance of an uneven complexion, scarring and your skin’s texture.

Acne treatments: Turn that Zit to Zilch with Chemical Peels and LED Light Therapy

Fluctuating hormones, changes in lifestyle and eating habits can stress out our skin. Investing in acne skin treatments, can help you turn that zit to zilch – read on to find out how.

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Addressing deeper issues (skin, that is)

There are causes of acne that can be preventable and those that are slightly more difficult.

Vamping up your beauty routine with acne treatments such as the Acne Beta Peel + LED Light

Therapy targets stubborn acne causing bacteria beneath the surface of your skin, banishing it to irrelevance and beyond!

The Acne Beta Peel uses a combination of Salicylic Acid and Dioic Acid to deeply exfoliate the skin, soothe redness or inflammation and reduce future breakouts. It can also treat

– Clogged pores

– Blocked comedones which are small skin coloured bumps often found on the   forehead and chin

Whilst the Acne Beta Peel deeply penetrates the skin to tackle acne causing bacteria, the healing properties from the LED Light Therapy treatment accelerates the healing process by
stimulating collagen and cellular repair.

Post treatment, Results Active Protect SPF50+ is a MUST HAVE as it ensures that your skin is nourished but also protected from the sun. Oil free and lightweight, it can be used under your everyday makeup long after your skin treatment to ensure that your face stays away from the harmful ageing rays of the Sun.

To maintain a clear complexion long after your treatments, Results Active Clean is an everyday cleanser for the face and neck. Sulphate and paraben free, it gently removes makeup and impurities without disrupting the pH balance of your skin.

Acne causes: Uncovering the dirt on acne causes

With 85% of Australians aged 15-24 years experiencing acne – we explore what causes acne and how skin treatments such as Acne Beta Peels and LED Light therapy can help your skin in restoring it to its former glory. Commonly appearing as small inflamed lumps on the skin’s surface, acne can affect our confidence and everyday tasks such as:

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• Working in a customer/client facing role as well as interactions in daily social interactions

To this day, society puts a heavy emphasis on outward appearance and the still prevalent misconception on how acne is formed doesn’t help either.

• Disrupting the application of makeup if the skin is broken

Whilst makeup can be carefully applied on top of acne, skin that is broken should not come into contact with makeup to ensure a smooth recovery process, minimising the risk of scarring as well as further irritation to the skin. As makeup brushes and applicators come into contact with your skin regularly, there’s a buildup of bacteria before your next brush cleanse. Bacteria on an open wound? A big no-no.

How to prevent acne: 4 steps to banish those blemishes!

Acne – it happens to the best of us, at the most unexpected times. But did you know with consistent maintenance of your skin through healthy lifestyle habits and effective skin treatments reduces your chances of experiencing acne? Let’s find out how!

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1. Cleanse

Tired from a night out or gym session and just want to sleep? Roll straight into bed and you’ll be taking a one-way ticket to the high chance of acne formation. Forecast? Cloudy with a chance of breakouts. Whether it’s sweat or makeup, the buildup of oil, skin debris and pollutants are some of the main causes of common acne. Common acne presents itself in the form of whiteheads and blackheads where dead skin cells, oil and/or bacteria is trapped in your pores. Cleansing your skin in the morning and night clears your skin from the amount of oil, dead skin cells and pollutants that have accumulated through the day. Did you know that the oils in your hair could be contributing to your breakouts? Ensuring that you wash your hair regularly, especially after a hot Summer’s day or a sweaty workout will reduce your chances of acne forming on your face.