People of all different ages, races and complexions get acne. Here we'll list some of the common causes of acne so that you can identify what may be causing your breakouts, making you better be able to treat it.

There are a number of different causes of acne which can be divided into two main categories. The first type would include things coming in direct contact with the skin like oil levels and bacterial colonization over the skin. The other type is indirect causes such as bad diet, stress and bad hygiene.

Bacterial acne causes

These little bacteria worsen the skin conditions as they enter the minute opening with a lot of dirt along with them to form acne. These bacteria fall under a category called as Propionibacterium and they mostly prefer to grow in hair follicles. These bacteria usually infect the follicles and similar to other infections they cause pain, swelling and redness over the skin. These infected follicles slowly come out of the skin surface because of the accumulation of dirt, bacteria and oil. These then slowly spread throughout the skin surface to create visually noticeable infected acne.

Acne caused by oil on the skin

Sweat glands similar to sebaceous glands produce specific oil which is called as sebum which is natural skin oil. At the time of adolescence the main reason for formation of acne is both the physical and psychological changes which occur in the teenager. This is because of the enormous alteration in hormonal activities in the body. The shift in hormone levels also arouses the activity of the sebaceous glands which then produce much more of the sebum gland. The oil due to its excess can easily block the skin pores and also all the bacteria and dirt like the above can cause the formation of visible acne.

Acne caused through dead skin cells

When dead skin cells start building up over your skin then they can also cause acne. Similar to plain bacteria or old dirt these dead skin cells could block up the minute openings on the skin and along with them the increased oil production in adolescence, would increase the chances for the formation of acne. It is only in recent years that the dead skin cells are removed more easily.

Diet as the cause of acne

To prevent the formation of acne it is important that you take a healthy diet. Diets that can cause acne are excessive fried or oily food and the intake of chocolate. This cause of acne is an indirect type as the fried foods would increase the body’s cholesterol levels that results in the metabolism of these foods into body oils. Chocolates and other sugary foods are converted into fat and stored in the body that would slowly result in the increase of oil from the skin. This means that you should avoid eating junk food and include more of fruits and vegetables in your diet to get proper nourishment from the food you eat and create a healthy skin. Fruit juices and vegetable juices help to eliminate toxins from the skin and increase the glow on the face.