Don't Let Sports Damage Your Skin: Tips For High School Athletes

Health & Medical Articles

Dealing with acne in high school can be hard enough, but it can be downright torturous when your extracurricular activities directly affect your skin.  Sweat, oil production, and cosmetics alter the quality of your skin.  If you're already prone to acne, those three things can make blemishes far more likely.  If you're involved in football, swimming, or gymnastics, consider the following tips for keeping your skin clear despite your activities. 

Football Players

Even when you're working out, your skin needs a chance to dry off from sweat before the bacteria starts blocking the pores.  Wearing a helmet throughout practice or games prevents your sweat from drying around your face.  This is especially true at the forehead and chin, which are already prone to oiliness.  

You'll need to take a few steps to help prevent your helmet from causing more blemishes: 

• Take off your helmet.  Remove it at often as possible during practice or games to give your skin a chance to dry off. 
• Clean your helmet.  Use antibacterial cleanser on the straps and inside of your helmet after each practice or game. 
• Use an antibacterial face wash.  Find a gentle cleansing antibacterial face wash, which will keep skin safe from damage while also preventing blemishes. 

Swimmers

You'd think that being in chlorine for hours every day in the winter would just cause dry skin.  Unfortunately for many teen swimmers, the skin can overproduce oil in order to combat the dryness from the chlorine. 

If you've found yourself with dry, itchy skin over almost your entire body except for your face, you'll need to work on keeping your face moisturized: 

• Don't let chlorine sit on your face.  This can be difficult since you don't leave the pool for at least an hour during practice, and you're constantly getting in and out at meets.  Still, you need to find a gentle moisturizing facial wipe that will remove the chemicals from your skin while replacing moisture.  Take a shower directly after practice to remove the chlorine from the rest of your body. 
• Use Cleansers for Combination Skin. Odds are, your cheeks are flaky while your forehead, nose, and chin are very oily and irritated.  A combination cleanser will help soothe the skin on your cheeks while balancing the amount of oil on your T-zone.  
• Avoid other oil zappers.  Don't use astringent, harsh soaps, or extremely hot water on your face.  If you're going out in the winter, use moisturizer before you leave the house. 

Gymnasts

You know how hard you work and sweat to make your body move the way it does during gymnastics practices and meets.  What's worse than sweat on the skin?  Sweat trapped by the thick layer of makeup you're required to wear during competitions. It's a recipe for blackheads and whiteheads all over your face. 

Gymnasts need to prevent blemishes from forming by using the right products:

• Mineral Makeup: You'll have to spend a little more money, but mineral foundations and powders are far more breathable than oil-based liquid versions. 
• Gentle Makeup Remover: A large percentage of makeup removers are oil based, which is fine if you're not already sweating up a storm.  You'll likely have better luck with makeup-removing wipes that contain a small amount of cleanser on a soft wipe.  
• Primers: You'll need to give your skin plenty of time to breathe without makeup between meets.  Avoid wearing foundation or a lot of powder between meets.  Instead, focus on eye, cheek, and lip primers that will even out your complexion without blocking your pores. 

Your extracurricular activities can make your high school experience far more enjoyable.  Unfortunately, they can also do damage to your skin.  If you're prone to acne and your extracurricular activities are making it worse, pay special attention to the products you use and how you keep your skin clean.  Avoid blemishes by taking care of your skin before, during, and after your activities. If you find that you're still breaking out, even after following these tips, then make an appointment with a dermatologist to remedy the problem.

8 January 2015