Does Smoking Weed Cause Acne?

Understanding the Relationship Between Weed and Acne Breakouts

When you look in the mirror, the first thing you likely notice about yourself is the quality of your skin. Acne breakouts can impact your self-esteem dramatically, but pinpointing its cause can be a real challenge. Does smoking weed cause acne, and what can you do about it?

Smoking weed does lead to acne because of a lack of hygiene that removes dead skin cells. It also sparks hormonal changes and an increased appetite for junk food and sugary foods. Paradoxically, weed triggers breakouts due to a surge in stress hormone levels and poor sleep quality. Smoke and decreased collagen production also play a role.

Icarus Behavioral Health in Nevada can help you quit smoking weed and start you on the path to clearer skin today. With a comprehensive treatment plan and a full continuum of care, we walk with our clients on the journey to recovery. Keep reading to learn more about the relationship between weed and acne.

How Weed Impacts Skin Health and Leads to Acne Breakouts

While it would be nice to pinpoint exactly what causes acne in relation to weed usage, there isn’t one single answer. Instead, there are a multitude of reasons that link marijuana use with poor skin health. Whether your breakouts are new or weed makes your existing acne worse, here is what you should know.

Poor Hygiene and Skincare Routines to Remove Dead Skin Cells and Oil

A lack of hygiene is one of the top actions that can trigger acne breakouts. Think about how smoking weed makes you feel at the end of a long day. Odds are that you feel exhausted. Weed contributes to this feeling of overwhelming sleepiness, making it more challenging to want to care for your skin.

Washing your face a couple of times daily (usually morning and evening) is a great way to control facial oils and remove dead skin cells that can clog pores.

If you lack proper hygiene because of the relaxing properties of your marijuana use, your hair follicles and pores might be overrun by oil, clogging pores and triggering a breakout. Of course, this is easily reversed simply by taking proper care of skin inflammation.

It may take a few weeks to undo changes due to poor hygiene, but a little discipline pays off.

Hormonal Imbalances and Skin Oil Production

Smoking cannabis contributes to an increase in testosterone levels. On the surface, this might not seem like it’s linked to your skin health. However, it increases the activity of your sebaceous glands (which are responsible for oil production on the face). Combined with existing facial bacteria, oils can be linked to clogged pores and poor skin health.

This ties into your skincare routine as well. There would be less bacteria on the face to clog pores with oil if you were to wash your face twice daily.

Keep in mind that you can counteract your hormonal changes simply by stopping weed. In many cases, these are not long-lasting conditions and can be reversed. Icarus Behavioral Health’s team can help you take the first steps to quitting weed and getting the healthy skin that you want.

Increased Appetite for Junk Food

Did you know that your acne could be linked to what you’re eating on a daily basis? Unfortunately, the cannabis sativa plant can give you a phenomenon often called ‘the munchies.’ This triggers sharp increases in your appetite, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will reach for the carrot sticks and celery.

Instead, most people reach for whatever is easiest and closest. Junk food is a common denominator here because it’s quick, easy, and plentiful. The problem is that this junk food (most of it with a high sugar content) is linked to acne breakouts. Research shows that sugary and fatty foods lead to acne.

The good news is that you can roll back the clock on this one if you quit smoking weed. When you don’t have weed in your system, you can prioritize healthy eating and course-correct for your skin health. You may choose to eat foods that have anti-inflammatory properties to counteract long-term weed use.

Poor Sleep Habits from Smoking Cannabis

If you have been smoking weed for a while, you might come to rely on it to drift off to sleep each night. While you rest with your head on the pillow, the body is hard at work to correct hormonal imbalances and heal (including healing existing acne).

You might be surprised to learn that sleeping with weed in your system actually disrupts sleep.

Research shows that smoking weed and consuming edibles both lead to poor sleep quality, efficiency, and duration. Early studies show some connection between sleep quality and acne, though the exact mechanism remains unknown. It could be related to hormonal imbalances like cortisol flooding through your system or being too tired for proper skincare.

Increase in Stress Levels and Acne

It isn’t just acne-associated bacteria that leads to an uptick in acne breakouts. If you can improve your sleep habits, you might be able to minimize the inflammatory skin diseases that contribute to acne. At first glance, weed might help you relax enough to sleep peacefully. A surge of dopamine floods the brain and helps you feel relaxed.

But what happens when that dopamine hit wears off?

Oftentimes, you’re flooded with stress hormones, which can trigger anxiety in the body. One of the theories that ties stress to acne is that it increases a condition known as sebaceous hyperplasia. It releases more cortisol, which can be tied to making acne worse.

This creates a vicious cycle where you start smoking weed to get the stress relief you need, but it worsens your acne just as much as smoking does. Give your body a chance to balance itself without drug abuse.

Smoke and Free Radicals Create Thicker Sebum

Marijuana might cause you to eat unhealthy foods and raise blood sugar levels, but the act of smoking itself is also a leading cause of acne. When you light up a joint, the smoke that it triggers may produce more free radicals, which can have negative impacts on your health–particularly your skin health.

Free radicals will combine with the sebum or oil produced by your skin, making it thicker than it might otherwise be. These thick fatty acids will lead to skin problems quickly when your cannabis addiction doesn’t allow your body to attack the acids the same way it would if you weren’t smoking weed.

Decreased Collagen Production Lowers Skin Health

Another one of the adverse reactions you can get from smoking weed is decreased collagen production. This important component of our skin provides strength to the skin and contributes to its ability to heal itself from a variety of conditions, including acne.

As with many things, smoking marijuana decreases a more robust collagen production system.

This leads to weaker skin that isn’t supported by the rest of the body. You might find that your acne is slower to heal, especially if you tend to pick at it. It could also be slow to heal on your face and other common parts of the body, such as your shoulders, back, and chest.

Collagen impacts the whole body and may need to be supplemented if you have no intention of quitting weed. You can easily buy collagen powder at your local health foods store to add to smoothies and other recipes to supplement your body’s natural production while you focus on quitting weed.

Contact Icarus in Nevada to Help You Quit Weed Effectively

Are you ready to get rid of skin inflammation and stop doing the things that worsen acne? Whether your issue is that you eat unhealthy foods or have other inflammatory skin diseases, the first step to achieving clearer skin is simply to stop smoking weed. We know how challenging the transition can be and are set up to help.

Icarus Behavioral Health in Nevada offers addiction treatment starting with a medical detox and moving into inpatient and outpatient care. As you stop smoking marijuana, you may find that skin conditions will improve markedly. Let us help you on this path to combat the negative effects of weed.

Our enrollment team can easily answer your questions about treatment and verify insurance benefits to give you a realistic expectation for the cost of care. Contact us today to learn more about our program and how you can put marijuana use behind you for good!

References

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