Dr Lalitha Badul
• Eating junk foods
• Too many chocolates, sweets, cakes or pastries
• Not eating enough fruit and vegetables
• Late nights studying or not getting enough sleep
• Spending long periods of time in front of a computer e.g. during gaming

Skin problems are aggravated by squeezing pimples, which is a common practice amongst many teenagers. The reason for this is that not all of the debris is released from the opening, which causes further infection.

Squeezing actually forces some dead matter more deeply into the skin, which causes bacteria to become trapped causing infection. The pressure of squeezing also causes a darkening or bruising of the skin due to being traumatised.

Using ordinary soap aggravates skin problems because it tends to clog the skin pores and destroy the skin’s natural protective barrier called the acid mantle.

Next week we look at how to prevent teenage skin problems.