5 replies to this topic

[12256847]

I went to the dermatologist 3 weeks ago and he prescribed me doxycycline and Epiduo gel. At first my face was clearing up dramatically but within the last few days it broke out badly. I have noticed that the clearer my skin got the more I touched my face, I guess I was making sure it was still clear, could this have caused this breakout?

[Jenny P]

My derm told me touching the face will cause acne. I don't really believe him.
I mean, I got clear multiple times in my life and all of those times I touched my face a lot. So it doesn't really make a difference. I think acne is more about hormones, insulin, and allergies than about being dirty. Because all the homeless people i have seen don't have any acne. They just have sun damaged skin.

[FindingMe]

It doesn't hurt not to. I mean it's not going to do any good, touching your face with (presumably) dirty hands can't make your face clearer. You should have to check if your face is still clear tho. That makes me think that you're thinking about it too much, which could make you stressed, especially if you do find a bump of some sort. Just do your regimen whenever you do it, and don't think about your skin after that until you're cleansing again and then maybe look to see if you have any new spots breaking out. No reason to constantly check if your face is clear by feeling it.

[cvd]

All the things I have read seem to indicate that touching your face can aggrevate acne. This is probably due to germs and oils on your hands irritating already inflammed skin. Plus some people just seem to be much more sensitive on their face. And when touching the face there is the unconscious picking at it that can happen. So the rule of don't touch your face helps. As for homeless people...if your skin was that exposed to the elements day in and day out and you had a layer of oil and grime on your skin, then your acne might not show up either. Plus it is not very often that one see adults with visible acne. This is part of what is so hard to be suffering with acne as an adult. But I guarantee you that there is a percentage of homeless people who have acne just like the rest of the population!

[SailorMercury]

Oh snap! I like to touch my face too, but I found that wearing makeup helps me not touch it as much, because I don't want to mess up my foundation. Maybe that will help? Oh, but if you're a guy... maybe not. XD;; Well, that's all I've got.

[lightersUP]

It's just a precaution to keep any additional bacteria away from your facial skin. There's harmless bacteria all over our skin but they wreak havoc through open wounds like acne spots. So if you have active acne anywhere on your face you probably don't want any dirty hands around. They can introduce extra bacteria to your face and make things worse. Just the thought of all this makes me cringe.