What do Your Spots Mean? | The Art of Face Mapping


Spots on your face can mean several different things depending on where they're located. For example, forehead spots may be as a result of stress, whereas jawline spots could be due to a change in your hormone levels. Although, it's important to stress that if you have a reoccurring problem with acne or facial spots in general, you should seek the professional advice of a doctor, as I am not one! 

This blog post was done purely through research online as I am in no way qualified to deal with specific queries. This is merely just for those of you who were interested as to why spots may appear in one area on your face as opposed to others. For more in-depth, professional advice, please speak to your GP! 

Anyway, now that's all out of the way, I did some research myself as to why spots appear in certain areas on your body and whether they're linked to diet, hormones or are a more bacterial problem in general. I have left some links (at the end of this post) to sites I visited that would give me some insight into the topic, so please feel free to take a look through those as well! So without further a do, here's why you could be experiencing more spots on a certain area of your face.

The 'T' Zone

Your 'T' zone is (for most people) where the most oil builds up from around the face, and there are several reasons for this, however, despite common belief, stress is not a factor! Although, despite stress not being linked to an increase in oil production, it can still have a profound effect on the seriousness of your acne.

Numerous studies were carried out which would support this theory, including one published in a non-profit journal which stated that those who started the day tired would be more prone to acne than someone who received the appropriate amount of rest. Therefore, a link was found between being stressed, being tired and having a serious bout of acne.

Touching your forehead can also increase your likelihood of developing acne, so refrain from doing that and keep your hands clean where possible. Spots develop as a result of clogged or infected pores, so minimise the chances and stop touching your forehead, if you can!

How to prevent acne throughout your 'T' zone

1. Refrain from touching your face
2. Wash your hands regularly
3. Get enough rest
4. Practice yoga or meditation to stay relaxed
5. Exercise more as this can help to naturally relieve stress

The hairline

Acne across the hairline is an odd one as no one really knows what causes it, aside from certain hair or face products you're using. If you're using thick, oil-based, mineral hair products, then the likelihood is that you're now suffering from hairline acne. The thick nature of the added product ingredient will actually block the pores, allowing for a spot to develop. Often, this can be a common occurrence throughout the hairline and will likely remain localised.

How to prevent acne from developing across your hairline

1. Switch out your old products for non-comedogenic ones
2. Ensure your new products don't contain cocoa butter, colouring agents or tar, for example
3. Clear out your pores by using a clarifying shampoo
4. When using hairspray or dry shampoo, shield your skin using a face cloth

The cheeks

Your mobile phone is probably the biggest culprit when it comes to cheek acne. Not only could it be covered in various amounts and varieties of bacteria, but it could also be covered in E. coli, making for a very poorly tummy. When your phone is lifted to the side of your face, you're enabling that bacteria to come into direct contact with your skin, thus causing your pores to becomes infected. As a result, spots will form leaving you with cheek acne. This is particularly the cause if one side of your face is more affected than the other.

Your phone might not be the only suspect when it comes to inflicting you with cheek acne. Pillowcases are also dirtier than you think, with many people choosing not to change them out for weeks. The trick here is to wash and change them around once a week if you can, if not, an old, clean T-Shirt will work just the same if you stuff the pillow itself inside it. You should also refrain from touching your face!

How to prevent acne from developing on your cheeks

1. Regularly clean your mobile phone
2. Wash your hands
3. Don't touch your face
4. Have less screen time, if possible
5. Change your pillowcases once a week

The chin & jawline

Often, the acne which develops along the chin and jawline are caused by hormonal changes. Whether you're starting a new form of birth control, coming off a certain form of birth control, coming up to your menstrual cycle or are at the end of it, it's likely that spots will begin to appear across your chin and jawline.

Hormonal fluctuations could also be part of your diet, believe it or not. Although it has been found that your diet doesn't directly correlate to acne, your diet does link heavily to the state of your guts. Your gut health has been found to cause acne, so this is where the food you eat on a daily basis comes into play. Foods that are high in carbohydrates and even certain dairy products can cause one to break out in spots. It might be worth keeping a food diary to see what causes your outbreaks, and then either refrain from eating that particular food or eat it in moderation instead.

How to prevent acne from breaking out across your chin and jawline

1. Speak to a doctor or a nurse if your birth control is causing you to break out, there may be another alternative or a medical solution to your problem
2. Visit a dermatologist if your acne is persistent - they'll be able to offer professional guidance when it comes to hormonal changes and ways to control it when it comes to your skin
3. Research the foods you eat regularly to see whether they could be causing your acne - see if certain brands add hormones to their food, for example
4. Cut back on high-carb, unhealthy or processed foods, such as white bread, white pasta, ham, processed cheese or full fat milk
5. Keep a food diary to see if you can identify the culprit, once this is done, cut that food out of your diet or eat in moderation - this would also be good information to provide your doctor with, should your acne get any worse

***

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. I will see you again really soon with a brand new one :)

***

WHERE TO FIND ME




PREVIOUS BLOG POST



COPYRIGHT INFORMATION


***

Websites Used to Carry Out my Research

Comments