If acne is not bad enough, having it spread across your forehead can be one of the most irritating of them all. Forehead acne is usually very obvious as it is can be quite difficult to hide. If you have hair styled in bangs, then the contact of the hair with acne on your forehead can be especially bothersome. If the problem isn’t taken care of quickly then forehead acne scars can occur.

Acne is caused when sebum, an oily substance produced by the sebaceous glands in the skin, mixes with dead skin cells and form a plug in the follicles of the skin. When this comes into contact with acne causing bacteria, an infection ensues creating a wound and causing inflammation. Thus there are three elements to acne: sebum, bacteria and dead skin. Acne can spread when follicle walls erupt affecting neighboring follicles and spreading the infection. This can lead to very bad acne.

The human face is especially susceptible to acne breakouts. In fact, forehead acne and chin acne are two of the most common types of breakouts. One of the reasons for this is because of the close proximity of hair follicles in the forehead, chin and neck. There are other reasons why acne tends to accumulate in these areas that are outside of the scope of this article. However for the sake of discussing forehead acne in this article, suffice to say, the concentration of hair follicles increases the risk of acne breakout in the forehead area. Skin pores that are close to one another tend to have sebum collect in them thus increasing incidence of acne.

Hair from the scalp can likewise be a source of risk as far as the spread of acne is concerned. Oil not only from the sebum in the forehead follicles but from the scalp as well can be passed onto the forehead providing bacteria with the medium from which to work. The swaying of hair from the scalp can also cause dirt and oils to spread across the forehead further exacerbating forehead acne. Also, the forehead is constantly exposed to the elements thus the presence of dirt accumulates in this area.

Understanding the root cause of the spread of forehead acne, there are a few easy and logical steps that one can take to minimize and hopefully prevent the occurrence and spread of acne on the forehead. Listed below are some quick and easy guidelines.

  1. Wash your face with water or mild cleansers as twice daily. Avoid over washing or using abrasive cleansers or washcloths as this may cause dryness of the skin and irritation;
  2. Avoid using oil based cosmetics;
  3. If at all possible, avoid hair from the scalp from keeping in contact with the forehead. If you constantly brush your hair, avoid contact with the forehead.
  4. Avoid hair from getting oily

The steps above are easy to do and they will keep the risk of getting forehead acne at a low if practiced on a regular basis. By following the forehead acne treatment steps above, you are minimizing the occurrence of over oily skin and the collection of dead skin and bacteria.

Click here to read part 2 – Forehead Acne Prevention