Why Your Skin Gets Worse Before It Gets Better: The Science of Acne Purging and Clearing
It can be incredibly frustrating to start a new acne routine and see your skin break out more. You are following your plan, using your products, and instead of the clear skin you expected, you are experiencing more spots than ever. This stage, often called “worse before better”, is usually a normal and necessary part of the clearing process.
Acne Begins Long Before You See It
Every breakout starts as a microcomedone. This is a microscopic plug made up of dead skin cells, oil, and sometimes acne bacteria that becomes trapped inside the pore. In its earliest stage it is invisible to the naked eye. Your skin can look clear while having hundreds of these blockages under the surface.
Over time, a microcomedone can develop into a whitehead, blackhead, or an inflamed pimple. This process takes between 90 and 180 days from start to finish. What you see on your skin today actually began forming three to six months ago.
Why the Purge Happens
When you start using effective acne treatments that increase cell turnover, dissolve blockages, or regulate oil flow, they accelerate your skin’s natural exfoliation cycle. This brings the pre-existing microcomedones to the surface more quickly. Often many come up at once, creating a surge of breakouts.
Purging is not new acne. It is your skin emptying the congestion that was already there. It is temporary and for most people happens within the first four to eight weeks of treatment.
Breakouts in New Areas May Still Be Purging
If you break out in an area you do not normally get acne, it does not always mean the products are wrong for you. Those areas may have had dormant microcomedones sitting under the skin for months. You have simply never seen them inflamed before. As the skin turnover increases, those blockages can finally come to the surface.
When Purging Lasts Too Long
Purging should not last forever. If you are still breaking out well past the 4-week mark, it usually means you are forming new microcomedones while the old ones are being cleared. This keeps you trapped in a constant cycle of flare-ups.
Common reasons for ongoing breakouts include:
- Using haircare, skincare, or makeup with pore-clogging ingredients
- Not removing sunscreen or makeup thoroughly
- Over-exfoliating or cleansing in a way that damages the skin barrier
- Picking or squeezing pimples
- Diet and lifestyle triggers that cause inflammation or excess oil production
Even with the best products, if these triggers are not addressed you can continue to break out indefinitely. The products are doing their job, but the formation of new blockages prevents you from ever seeing the results you want.
Why a Full Consultation Changes Everything
Acne is not just a surface problem. It is a combination of oil flow, skin cell turnover, inflammation, microbiome balance, barrier health, and in some cases hormones. Without identifying all the contributing factors, your results will always be slower.
This is why we recommend starting with a professional consultation. We audit every product you use on your skin, hair, and body to ensure it is truly acne-safe. We look at your diet, lifestyle, and skin history to identify hidden triggers. We create a personalised program that supports your barrier while clearing congestion so your skin can tolerate active treatments without excessive irritation.
The Path to Clear Skin
If it takes three to six months for acne to form, it can take just as long to fully clear it. Once the backlog of microcomedones is removed and new ones are no longer forming, you will see real and lasting improvement. The “worse before better” stage is not failure. It is a sign that your skin is finally clearing what has been hiding under the surface for months.
If you are tired of guessing and ready for a plan that works, book a consultation with us. We will help you identify every cause of your acne, remove hidden triggers, and create a treatment plan that finally gets you the results you deserve.
