The Struggle With ‘Maskne’ Is Real

With acne, none of us are truly in the clear.

It can pop up during infancy. And if it didn’t make an appearance during puberty, it can catch up with us later on in life. It’s annoying at any stage but thankfully, there are ways to deal with acne when it starts to take over our face or body.

The new normal requires us to wear masks regularly and for longer periods of time in some cases. While we’re covering up our mouths and noses to stop the spread of COVID-19, some of us are uncovering a new problem — maskne, or mask-related acne.

While maskne might be new to many of us, it didn’t originate out of anywhere.

It has always been an issue in professions where you have to wear a mask regularly but now that the general public has to wear masks, the incidence of it has certainly increased.

Stress from the pandemic, as well as the local irritation from your mask, can make maskne more likely. When you breathe or talk, your mask tends to trap a lot of hot air. Besides being annoying, this air creates a warm, humid environment — and an ideal setting for yeast, bacteria, and other flora, such as Demodex (types of skin mites that naturally live on our skin), to grow.

These bacterial imbalances and friction from your mask can promote acne and rosacea flare-ups as well as something called perioral dermatitis. This is when fine pimples and pustules appear around the nose and mouth.

Let’s take care of your maskne and eliminate it bit by bit.

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