SCRANTON, Pa. — If you've been seeing more breakouts on your face since you started wearing a mask, you're not alone.
Dr. Mark Marsili from Lackawanna Valley Dermatology Associates in Scranton says he's seen an increase in patients who are dealing with "maskne," a breakout caused by wearing a face mask.
But this term isn't new to him.
"When you enclose your skin, the humidity goes up, and you block pores, so it's very common to induce an acne-like eruption or something like that," said Dr. Marsili.
For some people, wearing masks can form new acne, but for others, like, Peyton Cook, who's been dealing with acne for years, wearing the masks for her only makes her flare-up worse.
"When I had to start wearing the masks, I would get pimples all over, under my chin. I had one like the other day, and it was like the size of a dime," said Cook.
Dr. Marsili believes preventing and treating mask-induced acne comes down to two things: choosing the right mask for your skin type and washing your face with gentle skin products that contain benzoyl peroxide.
Although the mask could potentially give you acne, Dr. Marsili says it's important to wear one in the fight against contracting the coronavirus.
"You wear the mask, and your acne gets a little worse, we can fix that. You don't wear the mask you contract COVID diseases, you bring it to your family, somebody might die. I mean, I think the pros and cons are definitely in favor of continuing to wear the mask," said Dr. Marsili.
"With all these different types of acne, it's OK to go through that, and this is going to pass eventually. And we'll just have to go back to dealing with regular acne instead of 'maskne,'" Cook added.