When to Watch for Skin Flare Ups

While skin flare ups often seem unpredictable, there are certain times when you are more likely to experience issues. Whether it’s acne, eczema, dryness, irritation, or redness, knowing what triggers your skin problems is an important step to getting them under control.

What Causes Skin Flare Ups: 14 Common Triggers 

1. Puberty:

   Teen years are often accompanied by the onset of acne. Hormonal shifts during puberty can stimulate sebaceous glands and cause an increase in sebum production, which clogs pores and leads to outbreaks.

2. After Age 25:

   Just when teenage acne has become a distant memory, you may become afflicted with new skin problems, like adult-onset acne. Sometimes, adult acne presents after the age of 25 in those who’ve never had acne before. This is often due to hormonal shifts, birth control, or other medications rather than an increase in oil production, like in teen years.

3. When Quitting Birth Control:

   The body undergoes hormonal shifts when going off birth control which can result in a recurrence of acne or new acne. This time can also be stressful, which can further exacerbate your skin condition.

4. During or After Pregnancy:

   Again, hormonal changes at work on your skin. This can show up as acne, but you may also experience skin discoloration, redness, dryness, and itching.

5. At Times of Stress:

   Yes, skin problems can cause stress. But stress is a leading culprit in skin flare ups too. Stress on skin usually presents as breakouts and inflammation.

6. Because of a Health Condition:

   Certain conditions, like arthritis or immune disorders, can trigger skin issues in some people. One study showed that eczema flare-ups may be more common in those who’ve experienced bone or joint injury. And psoriasis, an autoimmune disorder, is often experienced in those with arthritis.

7. Coming in Contact With a Chemical Irritant:

   When you come into contact with an allergen or chemical irritant, it can disagree with your skin. Signs of chemical irritation include redness, inflammation, and irritation.

8. After Inhaling Airborne Allergens:

   Much like chemical irritants, airborne allergens from dust, pollution, and plant material usually cause skin flare ups of redness, irritation, and itchiness. Reaction to airborne allergens most commonly show up on the face but can occur anywhere on the body. 

9. When Stopping or Starting a New Medication or Supplement:

   If you experience breakouts, redness, itching, or irritation after starting a new medication or supplement, this could be the cause. Certain ingredients, dyes, colorants, and additives can trigger flare ups in some people.

10. Due To a Skin Injury:

    Some skin conditions, like eczema and psoriasis, are triggered with a skin injury. When the skin is injured, it damages the protective barrier and inflammation during the healing process often leads to skin flare ups.

11. After a Sunburn or Tanning:

    It’s no secret that overexposure to UV rays can cause sunburn. But some people are photosensitive, or extremely sensitive to UV rays, and experience an allergic type reaction of redness, inflammation, and itching.

12. Exposure To Extreme Weather Conditions:

    Extreme cold and heat, dry air, and high humidity all bring challenges to skin. Watch for skin issue flare ups during seasonal shifts or sudden changes in the weather.

13. After Eating or Drinking Certain Foods and Beverages:

    Food allergies most often show up on skin as hives, tingling, itching, redness, and rashes. 

14. During Menopause:

    Yet another occurrence of hormones at work on the skin. Menopausal skin issues often include dryness, thinning, wrinkles, and sometimes acne.

Life happens, but when you know your triggers you can more easily plan to keep your skin as calm as possible.  There are many people dealing with disrupted skin all the time.  You are not alone, and you can manage how you are exposed to many of these triggers.

We've simplified the many triggers for skin problems into 3 major Trigger Areas.  Our Trigger Area self-assessment can help you discover which one is the major influence on your skin health. 

The Trigger Area assessment is part of our 5 day course, The Skin Problem-Solver, which is available now.  We'll also teach you 5 holistic habits to help you manage your Trigger Area and get started on the path to clear, calm skin.

Sign up today for The Skin Problem-Solver and have a whole new outlook on your skin by next week.