Why Is My Skin Greasy?

Most of us who have gone through our teens, that awkward point in our life where our limbs appeared too long, we had to suffer wearing braces and get called iron grin and see signs of growing hair in unwanted places, have also had to go suffer through nightmares of zits. Oily skin is usually linked with teenagers. Puberty brings about a whole lot of changes to the body. The rush of hormones produced by the body, to meet the challenges of an adult life, give stimulus to the sebaceous glands which are responsible for producing oil. As a result more oil is produced which is shown on the face and leads to many sighs of exasperation from teens.

However, the problem of oily skin is not limited to this particular age group alone. Many adults suffer from it too. Hormonal changes that occur in the body during pregnancy can lead to sudden changes in a woman’s skin type, usually manifesting as oily skin. The use of birth control pills may also be a main cause for oily skin in some women. Conversely, some people just have it hereditary and are born with greasy skin types.

The sebaceous glands produce sebum, which is a natural waterproof barricade and it helps to keep the skin in good condition. Some of us can even take consolation from the fact that oily skin tends to age at a slower rate than skin that is dry or not so oily. But is this enough? Not for most of us who go to work with great looking skin but only after an hour or two are left with an oily sheen all down their T-zone. T-zone is the area around the main panel of the nose spreading to the forehead and chin in the shape of a T. Sebaceous glands are guilty for all of this as sometimes their protective barrier of sebum gets overactive and cause excessive oiliness.

The recognition of oily skin is very simple. It can be recognised easily by its shiny looks. In addition, the texture of the skin also appears thick, crude and dull colored. Oily skin tends to have large, visible openings or pores. These pores are prone to catching dust and dirt. These clog the pores and make the skin, especially the t-zone look untended and coarse. This is a result of blackheads and whiteheads. Many a times the dirt accumulated in these pores cause an infection and the skin breaks out into the all dreaded zits or pimples. When the problem becomes more severe it turns into acne which is a common outcome of oily skin. There is no cure for oily skin however you can keep it from breaking out through regular cleansing making sure that the pores remain unblocked and dirt does not build up on the skin.

Here is a quick checklist to show if your skin-type is oily or otherwise:

• Firstly, oily skin obviously feels greasy.
• Skin appears thick and dull colored.
• Pores are large and visible.
• Takes on an oily sheen by midday.
• Is prone to zits.

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