Environmentally Caused Acne?

[WickedSunrise]

I'm having a very strange acne situation. I'm going to see a dermatologist on Tuesday, so I will be getting a professional opinion, but I'm curious to see if anyone else has experienced this.

 

I've never really had acne before. I started to get it really bad when I went back to school after winter break in Mid-January. Then in mid-February I went to visit my boyfriend for 5 days. Within a day of leaving college, my acne was gone (my face felt good, no new blemishes, and whatever was there was healing/disappearing). I got back to school from my vacation, and within a day or two it all came back in full force... Now I just went home for spring break. I've been home since yesterday, and already my acne is basically gone. I can't figure this out... it's now happened twice where I leave college and it goes away, so it couldn't be a coincidence anymore?? Something happening when I'm at college is causing me to break out.

 

There are NO changes in products used at all. Everything I use at college I have with me (and brought with me when I traveled to visit my boyfriend). No change in detergent either... Ever since my trip in mid-February I've been trying to think about what could be different and I'm clueless. My mom is worried that it's something in the water?? Since none of my products are different... but I've been living in the same building at school since September, and this only appeared after winter break in January. I hope the dermatologist has heard of something like this, but if it's nothing I'm doing I don't know what can be done about it.

[Cognitive_Canine]

It could be stress or the quality of water at your school.

 

If you go to school in a large city, then things like smog and pollution can hurt your skin too. Also, things like diet and sleep can affect it. If you're eating 3 square meals a day and getting plenty of sleep, then it'll look better than eating erratically and with fried foods and having a strange sleep cycle.

[annie24]

i agree that it could be something in the water and the environment. don't forget the stress though. many of us look better when on vacation visiting family/friends rather than at home stressed over exams.

[WickedSunrise]

It could be stress or the quality of water at your school.

 

If you go to school in a large city, then things like smog and pollution can hurt your skin too. Also, things like diet and sleep can affect it. If you're eating 3 square meals a day and getting plenty of sleep, then it'll look better than eating erratically and with fried foods and having a strange sleep cycle.

 

Quality of water is something I thought of, but I'm a junior so could something like that have changed so much while I was away on winter break? I didn't have this problem the first 2.5 years at school.

 

I don't think stress is a factor. I don't feel stress very easily at all. I'm a relatively calm person, even when I have a lot to get done. This has also been an easier semester than others; I've had semester with more work and less sleep before this one.

 

Both my trip in February and my home where I am now, are large cities. I go to school in a much smaller city. I think my food and sleep are about the same at both places (though I probably actually eat worse when traveling than when at school because I'm eating out more). I also feel like the change is too drastic to be food or sleep. Can three meals (not that different from one at school) and one night's sleep make me go from breaking out to totally clear in less than 24 hours?