What Are We Gonna Do About Acne?

What do humans and Mexican hairless dogs have in common, besides the fact that we both need to wear sweaters in the winter? We’re some of the only species on the planet that suffer from acne. What luck! Slate has an interesting account of how we ended up suffering this unique fate, and it seems our problems date back to the time when our ape-like ancestors began to have less fur.

“[T]he evolution of our sebaceous glands, which were accustomed to dealing with hair-covered flesh, lagged behind this change in our appearance. As a consequence, all that oily and waxy sebum, normally committed to lubricating fur, hadn’t much fur to lubricate. So the sebum started to build up and clog our pores instead.”

What’s more, unlike those Mexican hairless dogs, we humans suffer the additional curse of being aware of what other people think of our appearance. Thus having unsightly blemishes is doubly hard on us.

So is there anything to be done about this red, swollen facial nightmare? Well, we’ve obviously tried the sebum-reduction route with all of our magic potions and Justin Bieber-endorsed cleansing foams, but to no real avail. At the moment, the only other option is to wait it out, since acne tends to go away as you age (sometimes when you get into your 20s but sometimes not until you’re damn near elderly). So maybe it’s time to consider reversing evolution and becoming a more hairy species again? Think about it: No more exfoliating or tweezing or waxing, way more looking like an elegant Lady Teen Wolf or a hot female member of ZZ Top. Something to seriously consider, humans!

Picture via Flickr