hey there Dr mamina here have you ever started using a new skincare product only to find your skin breaking out even more it can be so frustrating and confusing and annoying right well today we're going to get into skin purging versus real breakouts to help you understand what's really going on so what is skin purging skin purging is a process where the skin experiences an increase in breakouts after being introduced to a new active ingredient this can be an ingredient that usually speeds up skin cell turnover the process of skin purging typically lasts about 2 to 6 weeks but it can be longer in some cases sometimes 8 weeks sometimes longer I like to compare purging to cleaning out the clogged pipes in your skin so if you have a lot of contents that are clogging your pores they have to come out in order for you to clear them so think if your pores like a bunch of clogged pipes in your skin and for your skin to be healthy and clear you have to clean out all the pipes I actually learned about this analogy from Dr Josh zeer when I heard him talk about it I was like wow that is a great way to explain it so credit to him for that analogy so products like retinoids and even things like exfoliants like Alpha hydroxy acids these can potentially lead to skin purging these products are involved with increasing skin cell turnover so they can potentially help kind of speed up the breakout process and honestly purging can look like any form of acne but I tend to see them more often appear as like smaller bumps so what could be causing your purging so we talked about products that can increase your skin cell turnover things like a retinoid things like exfoliating getting rid of those dead skin cells even benel peroxide can also increase the risk of purging I would say retinoids so like over-the count of retinols or prescription retinoids like tro these are by far the most common cause of purging so when you're using these products now it's bringing out all the oil the debris the Keratin that have been collecting in your pores to come to the surface manifesting as acne breakouts if you see sudden breakouts but you didn't start any new products take a look at what medicines you might be taking oral steroids can cause like a sudden appearance of acne breakouts as well as some other medicin and then there are also some products or ingredients that should not increase your risk of purging these include things like vitamin C peptides and growth factors if you're using a new moisturizer that has comedogenic properties pore clogging properties that can potentially cause a sudden increasing breakouts going back to vitamin C now if you do get a formula that has vitamin C with vitamin E that can potentially trigger some breakouts in people who are more susceptible to acne okay so now let's talk about purging versus regular breakouts and what differentiates those two there are two factors that I would say to look at one is how long the lesions hang around and two how those lesions manifest themselves on your skin when it comes to timeline breakouts from purging typically last about 2 to 6 weeks it may persist for longer like I said sometimes 8 weeks sometimes a few months but honestly they shouldn't really exceed more than two months if they do I would definitely see a dermatologist so now let's talk about the difference in appearance between purging and regular breakouts so purging I find tend to be smaller lesions or smaller bumps but like I said it can still look like any form of acne but typically I think smaller bumps and then also note that breakouts from purging primarily occur in areas where you apply the new product so if you're using a retinoid over your whole face and you're noticing full face breakouts when normally you just break out in your lower face that could be an indication that this is a purging breakout the other thing to keep in mind too is purging versus an allergic reaction or an irritating reaction to a product they can manifest very similarly sometimes an irritating reaction can just show up as small little bumps often times the bumps are itchy and you'll have more of them all over and they can have more of a rashy appearance to them so let's talk about ways to help your skin during the purging process with my patients I typically add in another acne fighting ingredient that doesn't have exfoliating Properties or doesn't increase skin cell turnover so I'll add things like aill acid or dapsone sulfur over the counter you can find aoic acid and sulfur another thing you can use is Pimple patches for like larger bumps and of course it's always important to maintain proper hydration you want to keep that Skin Barrier healthy and intact otherwise you'll get more breakouts you also of course want to keep your skin protected from the Sun wear sunscreen every day and of course don't hesitate to talk to your trusty dermatologist who can provide you guidance to minimize the effects of purging and retinization and who can help guide you throughout the process so whether you're exper experiencing purging or just regular breakouts it's really important to understand the difference between how the two manifest so that you can navigate your skincare Journey more effectively I hope you found this video on skin purging beneficial if you enjoyed this video and you want to learn more about skincare be sure to download my free gift which is my top five skincare favorites and remember to hit that like button share this video with your friends your family and subscribe to my channel to start your holistic Wellness Journey for your mind body and skin thanks for watching