Oily skin on the face | Oily skin

Oily skin on the face

On the face, oily skin is particularly annoying, as it is often associated with poor hygiene or generally poor skin. However, this does not necessarily have to be the case: Hormonal fluctuations are usually the triggering factor – which is why women are unfortunately also more frequently affected by oily skin on the face than men. Moreover, the face is the part of the body through which a large part of the communication takes place – our business card, so to speak.It is therefore not surprising that people do not want to have oily facial skin if possible.

The face is also touched with our hands extraordinarily often (whether while eating, gesturing, or simply unconsciously). As a result, a lot of germs get from our hands into the field of vision and lead to a colonization with blackheads. The care of the face is therefore especially important.

There are many care products available for treating oily skin on the face, but care should be taken to ensure that the care product does not dry out the skin – i.e. it has a slightly oily component. Even if this sounds contradictory, non-oily substances such as water additionally dry out the skin and stimulate sebum production. As a result, the skin becomes even more oily.

Hydrogels are recommended, and creams containing moisture in general. Like many processes in the body, the skin’s appearance is also regulated by hormones and these have a considerable influence on growth processes and regeneration. The male (androgens) and female sex hormones (estrogens) have an effect on the skin.

It is therefore not surprising that there are differences in the skin appearance of men and women. This is particularly pronounced in puberty (12th -18th years of age), when there is a sharp increase in hormone production in the body. Although men and women produce both types of hormones, men produce significantly more androgens and less estrogens than women.

Androgens is an umbrella term for the male sex hormones, of which there are many different subtypes. The most effective form is called dihydrotestosterone. Dihydrotestosterone has an activating effect on the sebaceous gland of the skin and thus promotes the development of oily, impure skin.

In addition, they reduce the flow of sebum by forming a kind of hornification. As a result, a clogged pore is formed more quickly, which forms an entry point for bacteria. Blackheads are more easily formed, the skin becomes inflamed and looks impure or shiny.

The female estrogens, on the other hand, act in the opposite way to the male sex hormones. They inhibit the sebaceous glands in the skin and thus promote free pores. They also prevent cornification, so that the naturally formed sebum can drain off easily.

This explains why male teenagers in particular are affected by the skin disease acne. Women who suffer from acne usually benefit from estrogen therapy to reduce oily skin. In the meantime, there are many birth control pills that are suitable for treating acne.

Due to their anti-androgenic formula, they promote the effect of estrogens on the skin. However, a gynecologist should be consulted in any case. However, this type of therapy is not possible for men, as the androgens play an important role in their development that cannot be dispensed with.

Not only a matter of vanity, but a serious problem can cause oily skin in men. When excessive activity of the sebaceous glands causes sebum production to run at full speed, the skin starts to shine, feels oily, and is treated by breathing. Especially in the hot summer months, when sebum production is accompanied by sweat and heat, oily skin is an ideal basis for blackheads in men as well.

If a man does not want to let it get that far, the instinctive reaction is to rinse his face with water. Although this removes the excess sebum, it also stimulates the sebaceous glands to produce even more sebum to replenish the lost sebum layer. Similarly, alcohol-based products dry out the skin and thus lead to a reflex increase in sebum production.

So what to do? Moisturizing lotions or hydrogels are also particularly suitable for men. The range of care products is now almost unmanageable, even in the men’s sector.

You can get professional advice from a pharmacy, or of course from a dermatologist. Since almost everyone is affected to a different degree by the problem of oily skin at some point in their lives, it is important to know how to deal with it. Of course, the therapy depends on the individual cause and severity of the problem.

In principle, oily ointments and cosmetics should be avoided and special attention should be paid to regular, intensive cleansing.Teenagers who have to deal with oily skin during puberty can be reassured by the fact that it usually improves significantly by the age of 25 at the latest, as the oily skin diminishes by itself due to the hormonal changes. If you have a tendency to oily skin, it is also helpful to avoid certain reinforcing factors such as alcohol consumption, poor diet or stress.