While your typical breakout is pretty annoying, for some reason the acne that pops up around your chin always seems to be ten times worse than normal acne breakouts.
For one, they are almost unavoidable when touching your face. Think about how many times throughout the day you rub your chin in thought or just lean your chin in your hands. All that added bacteria from your hands then gets transferred to your face (and usually on the chin).
And, with the t-zone being amongst the oiliest parts of the face, you’re more likely to breakout on the chin. If you tend to lean on the oilier side, then you may have excess oil just sitting on the skin waiting to clog up your pores, contributing to pesky breakouts.
All these factors contribute to painful chin acne. They can pop up as tender, red bumps deep in the skin.
But, what causes chin acne and what makes it particularly annoying and worse than your typical surface pimple?
What causes chin acne?
Acne on the chin is usually associated with hormonal changes. For example, hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle can result in sometimes painful hormonal acne. This type of acne also frequently appears on the chin and jawline.
So, why do you breakout more during periods of hormonal changes? To make a long story short, some hormonal changes trigger sebum production to go into overdrive. So, with all the excess oil being produced, there’s more of a chance that the extra oil can clog up pores and mix with other things like dead skin cells and bacteria that lead to pimples.
Similar to hormone-induced chin acne, stress and just having oily skin can also trigger painful chin pimples for similar reasons (excess oil + dead skin + bacteria = chin acne).
Plus, as mentioned above, since the chin/jaw area is a part of the face we frequently touch, this can lead to the transfer of bacteria to the skin that can trigger chin acne.
Tips to treat chin acne:
When dealing with chin acne, you may be faced with pimples that look like a red bump that may be painful to the touch. Chin acne occurs deep in the skin, meaning there is likely no visible whitehead (aka pus) that’s visible on the surface.
First and foremost, it’s important to remember to avoid trying to pop this kind of pimple. With no visible pus on the surface, you’ll probably find yourself applying way too much pressure to try to get the gunk out. But, that will just push the gunk further making the spot worse.
Instead try:
🫧 Regular cleansing
Since we've established that excess oil contributes to painful chin acne, you’ll want to make sure that you’re regularly cleansing the skin to keep it clear of excess sebum. And, if you have oily skin it may also help to cleanse the skin in the am and pm.
🧽 Exfoliating
Another useful skincare habit to pick up is exfoliating. Exfoliating with ingredients like Salicylic Acid can be helpful in keeping the skin and pores clear of dead skin and sebum. But, it’s also important to not overdo the exfoliation. Two to three times a week should do the trick.
🧪Add retinol to your routine
While retinol is more associated with anti-aging, it can also help with chin acne (and acne in general). Retinol helps increase cell turnover and since dead skin cells can clog up pores it's helpful to add a retinol to your routine to help slough off all that dead skin.
📱 Keeping your phone, hands, etc. clean
To avoid transferring bacteria from your hands, phone, or anything else that comes in contact with your face (that includes pillow cases) keep all these things clean! It’s easy to forget that these things we use on the daily might not be clean, but just be sure to regularly clean your phone and hands.
🩹Patch up chin acne
While you can still have a great skincare routine, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will stop any acne from popping up. Some acne is completely out of our control especially if it's affected by genetics or hormones.
So, if you find yourself faced with a painful chin pimple (or a handful of them), you can patch them up with our Custom Blemish Patch. The large rectangular sheets can be cut up to any shape to best fit over a pimple or pimple clusters.
You can leave the patch on overnight or keep it on during the day, which is especially helpful if you find it hard to keep your fingers off your chin acne.
Lastly, while the tips above can help, if you are dealing with particularly painful chin acne that doesn’t seem to be getting better, it’s best to visit the dermatologist for next steps.
