Is your Phone Causing Your Pimples?

You've diligently cleansed your face, applied your topical acne products, and consciously kept your fingers off your skin, and yet, a break out on one side of your face still mysteriously emerges.

Could it be that your phone might be the culprit?

I've noticed recently that the right side of my face breaks out far more frequently than my left. Since I tend to hold my phone on the right side, I figured perhaps there is a correlation. My initial thought was that my phone must be filled with tons of bacteria which is what's to blame. But I've recently read some studies where dermatologists claim that it may not actually be the bacteria that is causing breakouts in this area. The reason might be more related to the act of pressing your phone to your cheek which then causes oil to be trapped in your pores, later forming acne bumps. So your jaw-line pimples that you only seem to get on one side of your face might be blamed on the phone physically being on your skin, not really the bacteria that's on it. Interesting... 

So I guess our incessant texting habits might actually be a plus! But we don't have to throw away our phones just yet. There are some things we can do to prevent nasty oil from building up on our phone and finding its way to our face.

1. Avoid pressing your phone to your face as much as possible. Use speakerphone when you can (refrain from being THAT person who does this in a public area though) or put on a headset. I try and hold up my phone far away from my ear so that it's not touching my skin.  
2. Clean your phone often. The phone screen can get pretty gross, especially if your make-up gets on it. Office phones can be the grimiest, particularly if you share a phone between several co-workers. Even if bacteria may not be the direct cause of your pimples, having a dirty phone won't help you either. Avoid using alcohol, bleach or other chemicals on your cell phone screen as they might cause damage. It's better to use a wipe or microfiber cloth. 
3. Keep your hair away from your phone, especially if you use a lot of hair products. This only contributes to the dirt and oil that is already accumulating on our phone.  
4. Stop touching your face! We all do it subconsciously (I'm very guilty myself) but when we touch our faces after being on our phones or texting, we quickly transfer the gunk from them onto our skin.