Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

AVR_Pearn t1_iyk9tpn wrote

It's probably been around since prehistoric times, although the main cause of outbreaks has probably changed.

In the book The remarkable life of the skin, the author mentions about how the majority of acne is caused by microbes outbreaks in the side the pores of the skin. And we probably had bacteria and other stuff in our skin back then. While we do have better hygiene standards these days, we probably also have more pollutants etc that balance it out.

24

its-octopeople t1_iykkm1d wrote

According to this article modern hunter-gatherers have much lower incidence of acne than industrial peoples, although the causes are not known. I can't vouch for the article, but it's thoroughly referenced

Edit to actually address the question: it's a reasonable inference from this that prehistoric people would also have less acne than modern industrialised people

353

Lamacorn t1_iykzjai wrote

Replying to AVR_Pearn (#842,847)

Also, other contributors to acne:

  • high stress
  • poor diet
  • oil substances on skin
  • hormone changes
  • medications

Exercise can help as part of a healthy lifestyle, but if you don’t wash your face after working out, you can make it worse.

31

No1005 t1_iym5r17 wrote

It is not known if acne was present in prehistoric times, as there is no direct evidence of this. Acne is a common skin condition that is caused by a variety of factors, including hormonal changes, bacteria on the skin, and the production of excess oil. These factors may have been present in prehistoric times, but it is impossible to say for sure whether or not they would have resulted in acne. In modern times, factors such as diet, exercise, and pollution can also contribute to the development of acne, but it is not known if these factors were present in prehistoric times.

54

FoosFights t1_iyml3dp wrote

Based on responses here it made me wonder, are there cultures in the world that have more or less acne than others?? Like if you compared the average teen in USA vs the average teen in India, would one have more or less than the other??

373

jarockinights t1_iymo4pz wrote

Replying to No1005 (#845,413)

I'll add anecdotally as someone with oily skin and still deals with acne in his late 30s:

Ironically the more dust I'm exposed to, like if I spend a week on a big yard project and am constantly kicking up dusty dirt and end up golden brown at the end of each day, the more under control my skin gets. It's possible that oily skin is a trait that was meant to deal with a lot more dirt and dust in the immediate environment.

61

chino17 t1_iymyg5i wrote

Replying to FoosFights (#846,113)

There's have been studies showing certain ethnicities/races seem to be more acne prone due to their physiology causing some to produce more sebum than others. Of course environmental factors also play a role so it's not all down to genetics but there seems to be something to race and acne

269

wawawakes t1_iyn6x8g wrote

Replying to jarockinights (#846,250)

Anecdotally, my over-2 decade long acne problem vanished when I was travelling through places that were sparsely populated / had little pollution. These were modern western societies and I didn’t exactly eat healthy… but the environment was clean. I didn’t wash my face with face wash then as I ran out along the way and didn’t get more. When I travelled through cities a few zits would pop up, but then go away again when I was back in less populated areas.

24

MaliTheMinecraftCat t1_iyncneo wrote

It is not known if acne, a common skin condition characterized by the appearance of pimples, was present in prehistoric times. There is no direct evidence one way or the other, and it is difficult to say for certain what the prevalence of acne might have been among ancient peoples.
Acne is thought to be caused by a variety of factors, including hormones, genetics, and certain aspects of lifestyle and environment. It is possible that some of these factors, such as hormones and genetics, have been present in human populations for a long time. However, it is also likely that other factors, such as diet, pollution, and stress, are more closely related to modern lifestyles and environments. It is difficult to say for certain how these factors may have affected the prevalence of acne in ancient times.

3

AVR_Pearn t1_iyndeyn wrote

Replying to gdfishquen (#847,270)

Possibly.

The book I mentioned discusses biomes. A other good book on microviolws is I Contain Multitudes

I also suspect that over time, what microbes cause microbial caused acne has changed or drifted.

Edit; sensitivities to chemicals and such in soaps can also cause acne, as per the other posters' inflammation cause.

6

rhapsodyknit t1_iyndj4c wrote

Replying to jarockinights (#846,250)

Anecdotally, I have the opposite experience to you. The more dust I'm exposed to (lawn mowing dust, soybean dust/dirt, wheat chaff, etc) the more likely I am to get blackheads and zits.

17

greenwavelengths t1_iyne9be wrote

Replying to AVR_Pearn (#842,847)

It’s sort of a myth that we automatically just have better hygiene standards today than at any given time in the past. Times like the last few centuries in Europe, sure— bad hygeine, there’s evidence of that. But if we have a desire to be clean now, then chances are we’ve had a desire to be clean for hundreds of thousands of years and figured out how to do it with the tools and resources available to us.

12

Buford12 t1_iynf45c wrote

As far as preindustrial complexions are concerned it was not acme that teens had to worry about it was smallpox. If you read 17th 18th century literature and they refer to a person having a swarthy complexion that was code to referring to smallpox scaring. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox

3

linuxgeekmama t1_iynfl27 wrote

What evidence would there be that people had (or didn’t have) acne in prehistoric times? They wouldn’t have left any written evidence or popping videos, or anything like that. Not every culture has a tradition of realistic portraits (and some of those that do would deliberately leave out something like acne). I suppose there could be tools for popping pimples, but could we be sure that was how it was used? People can pop pimples without specialized tools, so a lack of those tools wouldn’t necessarily mean that there was no acne.

5

AVR_Pearn t1_iynfmhq wrote

Replying to greenwavelengths (#847,364)

One's definition of hygiene standards though can depend. I mean yeah we didn't always have soap and yes I know it's thousands of years old, but we probably didn't you know do more than splash water on our faces when we were cavemen

2

MarklarE t1_iyntliq wrote

Can we ever know for sure? My guess would be yes, since it’s partly caused by testosterone, which they had, even more than modern humans, since testosterone levels have been dropping since (which is also why Africans on average still possess higher levels in their blood).

−1

Miss-Figgy t1_iynw7x2 wrote

Replying to chino17 (#846,659)

>There's have been studies showing certain ethnicities/races seem to be more acne prone due to their physiology causing some to produce more sebum than others.

I tried to look up what you're referring to, and this study says:

>Acne is the most common dermatological diagnosis in non-Caucasian patients. In a community-based photographic study, clinical acne was found to be highly revalent in Black/African American (37%), Hispanic/Latina (32%), and Asian (30%) women, more so than in Continental Indian (23%) and White/Caucasian (24%) women.

"Continental Indian" refers to the Indian subcontinent, and Arab/Middle Eastern was included as part of the White/Caucasian category.

25

karmakazi_ t1_iynzngy wrote

I have a feeling that the hygiene hypothesis may have something to do with this. I read a recent abstract that said eczema had been increasing over the decades and they attribute it to small families and less cross contamination leading to more exposure to pathogens. Wonder if the same is for acne.

1

Miss-Figgy t1_iyo0xou wrote

Replying to FoosFights (#846,113)

>Like if you compared the average teen in USA vs the average teen in India, would one have more or less than the other??

It depends on the ethnic group. According to this study, acne is the least common amongst those from the Indian subcontinent and most common amongst those of Black ancestry. So in India, it would not be as prevalent as amongst certain ethnic groups in the US.

16

mosquito_christ t1_iyojm3c wrote

Replying to 7sevenheaven (#848,354)

Acne is associated with high amounts of sex hormone. This is why acne comes in puberty, goes away in adulthood, but comes back if you take hormones on a steroid cycle.

Being obese reduces sex hormones, so probably not. I reckon there is some correlation between obesity and bad hygiene though.

3

xtaberry t1_iyolt91 wrote

Replying to jarockinights (#846,250)

There may be a different cause to this. UV exposure definitely reduces the quantity and frequency of acne, so if you're spending the whole week on a big yard project, it might be the sun rather than the dust.

1

MoiJaimeLesCrepes t1_iyon4mt wrote

Replying to 7sevenheaven (#848,354)

Acne, high BMI and insulin resistance are correlated by way of hyperandrogenism (a form of excess of sexual hormones). If you go on google scholar and type "acne bmi correlation" you will see the sources for this.

​

do note that lean hyperandrogenism is also possible. I am an unlucky sufferer. Always underweight yet bad acne.

11

jarockinights t1_iyont9p wrote

Replying to xtaberry (#849,050)

No doubt it helps, but last time I spent a week rafting in very clear sunny weather and I was still having issues. It's probably a combination because being outdoors by itself was never enough to reel it in. Same thing happened in my teens when I worked construction for a summer, would come home dusty as hell and my skin was the clearest it had ever been all summer long, but all the time I spent hours outside playing various sports had little effect on my skin.

I think I just have really oily skin.

1

daywalkker t1_iyt1xpj wrote

Replying to mosquito_christ (#848,938)

Yup, it is an immune reaction to the sex hormones that causes dermal inflammation. Inflammation makes capillaries "leaky" and causes serum to ooze out of them. That serum is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria resulting in infection secondary to the immune response.

3

tobi437u t1_iyt8ou2 wrote

No, teen acne has not been around since prehistoric times. While some forms of skin inflammation have been documented in prehistoric times, this was likely due to environmental factors such as the sun, dust, and dirt, or fungal and bacterial infections. Acne, however, is seen as a modern affliction and is thought to be linked to factors such as diet, stress, and hormones.

2