Whiteheads – How Can Athletes Prevent Them

If you participate in sports and you have occasional problems with acne, you may be wondering about the relationship between the two. Playing sports definitely does not cause acne, but there are a few things about acne that you should be aware of if you are an athlete. One type of acne that men may suffer from, whether or not they participate in sports is whiteheads.

What Are Whiteheads?

Whitehead is one of the common names for certain types of comedones. Comedones, like pimples, come as a result of pores around the hair follicles becoming clogged with sebum, dead skin cells, and acne causing bacteria. Unlike pimples, however, comedones do not break through into inflamed, red bumps on the skin; in fact, they barely break the surface of the skin, if they do at all. A comedo that has slightly broken through to the surface will turn black at the top. This is the result of oxygen interacting with the oil. These comedones, naturally, are called blackheads. Comedones that still have a layer of skin over them with no exposure to oxygen are called whiteheads.

How Can You Get Rid of Whiteheads?

Blackheads, or open comedones, can be removed using heat and a blackhead extractor. Unfortunately, whiteheads are closed comedones, and attempting to extract them risks pushing infected material deeper into the skin and risks scarring. Therefore, you should treat whiteheads as you would pimples, with regular washing with soap and water (but not over washing) and acne cleansers and solutions based on benzoyl peroxide, one of the strongest acne fighters you can get.

How Are Sports and Whiteheads Related?

In general, whiteheads and other forms of acne are not caused by sweat or exertion, so you don’t have to worry about these things when you are playing sports. There is a type of acne, called acne mechanica, that can occur as a result of repetitive friction against the surface of the skin, as may happen when restrictive pads or sports clothing rubs against sweaty skin. In this case, wearing a breathable, cotton shirt under your uniform or pads can help. When treating whiteheads, however, you can follow the conventional methods of treating acne.

Treating Whiteheads for Athletes

As an athlete treating your whiteheads, the one thing you will have to be cognizant of is the timing of your acne treatment. You don’t want to apply your acne medication right before going out to work out or participate in a sporting activity. Either the sweat or the subsequent shower may wash off the medication before it gets a chance to work. If you work out in the morning, do that first, and then apply your acne medication after your shower. If you plan to play sports later in the day, make sure you do your treatment in the morning a few hours before. Like succeeding in sports, getting rid of acne requires persistence and commitment so get a schedule down and stick to it. With the right acne medication, you should see a reduction in your acne over time.