Cystic Acne and Athletes – Is There a Connection?

For the athlete, sports are enjoyable, and to a certain extent, they’re a necessity. They help offer balance to life, school or work while presenting excitement and camaraderie during competition. Unfortunately, there are a few things that come with sports that are even worse than losses, and that’s the potential of sports related acne.

Sports and Cystic Acne

Nobody enjoys dealing with acne, regardless of their age, and for athletes, acne can show up in several places regardless of it being teen-aged or adult skin. For the athlete who has to deal with various types of outbreaks due to equipment, acne can even become more severe. One problem that can affect the aesthetic appearance of the skin, as well physical performance, is cystic acne. Cystic acne is quite common in athletes, especially those who wear heavy equipment such as helmets, padding or uniformed clothing that doesn’t allow the skin to breathe well. However, if attacked at the source, cystic acne can easily be managed and treated.

The Cause of Cystic Acne

In terms of cystic acne, many people are under the assumption that this acne is different from whiteheads and blackheads. While it is true that the infection occurs in a deeper layer of the skin, cystic acne is actually caused by the same contributing factors as other forms of acne.

For many athletes, cystic acne develops when equipment or uniforms cause chaffing, rubbing off extreme amounts of dead skin cells from the surface of the skin. These skin cells, which possess the P-acne bacteria, can find their way into pores, and eventually deep into the hair follicle, where they will combine with sebum (skin oil) from the sebaceous gland. When this happens close to the surface of the skin, a whitehead or blackhead will develop, yet when the process takes place deep, near to the root of the hair follicle, cystic acne will develop.

There is no skin opening, for cystic acne, therefore the infections last longer deep within the skin. Due to the nature of cystic acne, it cannot be effectively treated by external methods once it has developed. If such acne has developed or begins to develop in a chronic nature, it is recommended to seek the help of a dermatologist.

Treating Cystic Acne in Athletes

Like so many things, the best treatment for cystic acne is through a great preventative measure. This means a total body skin care regimen should be instituted to prevent cystic acne in all acne prone areas. For many athletes this may mean caring for the face, neck, shoulders, back, chest, buttocks and even legs to prevent the onset of cystic acne.

A quality skin care regimen should consist of a cleanser and a mild exfoliant to help rid the body of dead skin cells, followed by a toner or astringent in acne prone areas. This will help to constrict the pores from allow easy access to dead skin cells and bacteria. Finally, following with an acne treatment product such as benzoyl peroxide will aid in the overall protection against acne development. Benzoyl peroxide will help to treat acne on the surface of the skin, but its oxidizing nature will also help to kill acne-causing bacteria on the skin’s surface when used liberally.

It is recommended that athletes shower after practices and competitions to add an extra step in the process of preventing all acne, including the cystic variety. Along those lines, routine cleaning of equipment will also help to prevent additional bacteria from coming into prolonged contact with the skin.