Coconut oil and acne are two words that do not seem to go together. Could it be possible for an oil-based substance like coconut oil to provide acne relief for an individual? Is coconut oil good for acne skin care?
Let’s do some research. First, let us explore how acne is created. The skin has numerous sebaceous (oil producing) glands underneath the skin. These glands give off oil to keep the skin smooth and moist, but sometimes things get out of hand and the glands produce too much oil causing a blockage to the cell. The cell then becomes a breeding environment for bacteria, namely the Propionibacterium acnes bacteria. This causes a waxy plug to be created which over time becomes inflamed and creates pus.
The cause of this mass production of oil can be directly connected to hormonal imbalances in the body. These hormonal imbalances can directly correlate to stages in life such as puberty, pregnancy, and menopause, but sometimes imbalances have no rhyme or reason at all.
The sebaceous glands are controlled by androgens, which are male sex hormones, and are usually in high gear during the years of puberty, hence, the figure that 90% of males will develop acne in their lifetime. There is also a figure that states that nearly 85% of people develop acne at some time between the ages of 12-25 years. This well covers the zany teen years and well into all that college fraternity wildness; all hormonally driven.
Other life milestones such as pregnancy and menopause also can create an environment for hormonal shifts and cyclic breakouts, and women can expect changes in their skin texture and are prone to more breakouts at these times as well.
Coconut oil is a natural substance derived from the coconut kernel by a hard press process. The oil of the coconut contains capric acid and lauric acid. These acids just happen to have antimicrobial properties. Topical oils are known as great transporters of nutrients into the cell wall, which take these antimicrobial acne killers where they need to go.
By using coconut oil, in essence, it cleans out the cell wall and allows the skin to rid itself of all dead cells and renew its life cycle and produce clear smooth skin; therefore; coconut oil and acne do go together. So if you are ever asked the question, “Is coconut oil good for acne skin care?”, then you can answer, yes, in fact it is.
