Hard Water: Is It Causing Your Acne?
Your tap water could be behind breakouts, redness and even eczema. Read on for the latest research.
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But before you throw your hands up in hopelessness, we’re going to suggest something you might not have thought of before—something so banal and necessary to your everyday existence, you wouldn’t dare question its credibility.
Water.
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That’s right. With over 85 percent of all water in the U.S. being hard, most American homes have to face the cold, hard truth: We’re covered in soap scum. And that soap scum is clogging our pores and contributing to breakouts. The problem with hard water is that its high mineral content prevents it from properly reacting with soap and, instead of triggering a lather, it creates a soapy layer on the skin. This not only clogs pores, but also irritates the skin, making it itchy, flaky and dry.
“These impurities in water make it difficult for soap and shampoo to wash off, leading to dryness of the skin and scalp, which directly irritate skin and cause redness and rosacea,” says Dr. Dennis Gross, Manhattan dermatologist and founder of the Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare product line.
MORE: Your Guide to Rosacea
There’s also a correlation between hard water and skin disorders, like eczema. “The minerals, such as calcium, that are found in higher concentration may cause loss of moisture in the skin, which can lead to irritating conditions, such as eczema,” says New York dermatologist Dr. Eric Schweiger. Research at the University of Nottingham found that, out of over 7,500 school-age children, eczema was significantly more common for those living in hard water areas than those living in soft water areas.
It’s not just a matter of converting hard water to soft, which can be achieved with an at-home filtration system, because this does not take care of the heavy metals—like iron, zinc, magnesium, copper and lead—that cause skin issues. “An at-home filtration system is not an effective means of safeguarding the skin because the heavy metals are microscopic and present in the actual solution of the water,” says Dr. Gross.
According to Dr. Gross, the impurities cause a chemical reaction with the skin's natural oils, changing the consistency of the oil from a liquid to a wax, which in turn, clogs the pores and leads to acne. They have the same response to creams, even those that are non-comedogenic.
“After the face is washed and dried, the impurities from water still remain on the face and cling to the skin,” says Dr. Gross. “Even though these creams are formulated with oil-like substances specifically created to not block pores, when the creams come in contact with water impurities left on the face (after it has been washed and patted dry), the remaining impurities cause the oil-like substances to clog the pores.”
Also, the impurities found in tap water can act as free radicals, which bond with healthy skin cells and then destroy them. This in turn leads to the breakdown of collagen and leads to the formation of fine lines and wrinkles.
MORE: Your Guide to Acne
But for something touted as causing so many skin issues, it doesn’t seem to have caught on with a majority of well-known skin specialists. Many state that, at worst, hard water makes skin drier. “In most patients, it would be helpful to switch from hard to soft water, but not necessary,” says Dr. Schweiger. “If patients use gentle cleansers and wash carefully, applying a moisturizer after washing, most patients will be able to tolerate any type of water.”
But Dr. Gross thinks it’s just a matter of time until dermatologists start considering the havoc water is wreaking on our skin. He wasn’t concerned much with water, either, until the skin woes of patients at his Manhattan practice led him to investigate further. “They would return from trips in the U.S. or abroad with irritated skin—even though they were using the exact same skincare regimen,” he said. Concluding that their skin issues resulted from the variation of city water, Dr. Gross began running lab tests on tap water nationwide. “I was shocked by the variation of heavy metal content from city to city,” he says.
MORE: Sensitive vs. Sensitized Skin
In his research, Dr. Gross found that each metal pointed to a certain skin issue. He considers iron—with high amounts in Los Angeles, Park City, and New York—to be the most detrimental metal found in tap water because the accumulated deposits get energized by the sun, which has been linked to some cases of skin cancer. But for those individuals who are breakout prone, he says that calcium and magnesium are the two elements that will cause the most damage. “Both of these elements cause one’s own oils to become comedogenic and form waxy plugs that clog pores and lead to further breakouts, inflammation, flare-ups and irritation,” he said.
Some, after making this discovery, have quit tap water cold turkey—opting to cleanse with anhydrous (no water necessary) products or bottled water (so Paris Hilton). Washing with distilled water often leaves those unaccustomed with a “slippery” feeling, as the water instantly lathers and dismantles the soap scum later that lingers on skin.
MORE: How to Wash Your Face
But for those who can’t resist that refreshing rush of H20 pouring down on their faces in the shower each morning, they can opt for products that contain chelators, an organic complex that sequesters the heavy metals on the surface of the skin, preventing them from penetrating into the pores and causing damage. Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare’s Hydra-Pure™ Intense Moisture Cream is infused with Dr. Gross’s Chelating Complex, which he says “is likened to washing your face with pure H20.”
Because even though it seems you can buy a potion for every pore in the skincare market these days, nothing beats a cleansing with pure, ol’fashioned H20.
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