Not sure if this is the correct subforum. If not, feel free to move.
I moved out of my mother's house a little over a month ago and my face started breaking out like it has never before in many years. I couldn't identify what change in my lifestyle brought upon this. I eat about the same things and sleep roughly the same amount. I've also resumed the regimen 100% following these breakouts as opposed to when I was living at home, I would just apply 2.5% BP on my face about 3-4 times a week and stay relatively clear. Now I've been slathering on BP every day in an attempt to control it.
Now I remember that my mom's house has a nice state of the art water softening system. I also noticed my apartment now has pretty hard water that leaves deposits around the counters.
Anyone else have hard water cause breakouts? What are some recommendations on a filtered shower heads? I'd rather not spend $75-100 on a head not barely softens anything.
Thanks.
search the .org, you'll find other posts about water quality (and also sudden change in water quality) affecting skin. I use a filter I got from walmart for my shower, and I fill up a glass from that to wash my face with. It's definitely not the best filter, but it's better than nothing. It filters out chlorine but not fluoride.
The other thing that has helped me was to use a balancing cleanser. Basically, the cleanser balances your PH and negates the impact of hard water on the PH of your skin. So you could get away with an ok filter if you have a balancing cleanser.
Great topic
I am about as sensitive as anyone you may meet. Heck, I breakout in my mouth when I have dental surgery like getting wisdom teeth pulled.
For me at least, I believe hugely that hard water has ruined my skin acid mantle. I read an article from a derm about 6 weeks ago, and he stated he believes hard water is the cause for many skin issues like acne, eczema, rosacea, etc.. Mainly being the calcium when it mixes with human sebum, it can turn the sebum hard. Sebum should be thin and light, should be able to come up through our pores easily and helps protect our skin from bacteria. it helps keep your skin moist and firm free of cracks. If you have cracks, bacteria can get through. A good analogy would be your skin is like a brick wall, you want the mortar in between the bricks to not crack.
Not good if you are prone to break out.
Now, I do not allow hard water to touch my skin. I do not take showers anymore. I have been doing this regimen for over 4 weeks. Instead, I use distilled water only to wash my private areas, and splash onto to my face PM/AM. Distilled water is just clean plain water, no minerals like in purified or spring water. I just put some into a large wide bowl in the tub. Make sure the bowl is clean and your hands are clean. Only use a clean towel to pat dry, allowing skin to remain somewhat moist. I'm having good results.
Might be worth a try, but give it at least a month to really give it a chance to work. I'm trying to wean my neglected skin back to a balanced state and allow it to protect and moisturize itself naturally, and it may take months. Plus, my skin may be permanently damaged, so I don't know how much better it can get, but I'm prepared to do this the rest of my live, as a matter of fact, I like it - being completely natural and chemical free, and my skin right now after no hard water, no chemicals, is the best I can remember.
Best of luck
I'd like to update this thread. Since the original post, I've done two things:
1. Bought this and started showering with it exclusively (morning and night so I only washed my face when I showered): https://www.amazon.com/Culligan-WSH-C125-Wall-Mount-Capacity-Showerhead/dp/B0006VVN1S/
2. Started taking about 1000-2000 IU of Vitamin D everyday
I've noticed significant improvement in my skin and now it's back normal levels of breakout as I've experienced before the move (about one pimple a week on average with BP applied 5-6 days a week).
So that was it for me. I'd like to think the shower head impacted more than the Vitamin D, but I can't say for sure. For $25, I urge everyone to give it a shot.