Why Does Meth Cause Acne?

The Relationship Between Meth Addiction and Skin Problems

Why does meth cause acne? Meth use overstimulates the central nervous system, disrupting normal bodily functions. As a result, crystal meth effects lead to several physical signs, including skin sores, acne, and several other skin conditions. Along with visible meth mouth sores, skin irritation is one of the most visible signs of methamphetamine abuse.

Ingrained Recovery, a professional treatment center in Eastman, GA, believes in taking a holistic approach to helping clients overcome meth addiction. At our facility, meth addiction treatment means addressing the root cause of the substance abuse while stopping meth use and and integrating services for skin infections and dental issues as the client heals.

If you or a loved one has acne, face sores, or scars from meth abuse, we encourage you to read on to learn more. We’ll look at the specific causes of meth acne and why the drug causes significant changes to one’s physical appearance.

Meth Acne is One of the Common Effects of Meth Abuse

Meth acne is a little bit of a misnomer. The acne-like skin lesions on a person’s skin are not necessarily acne. They are usually pus-filled sores with much redness and irritation, or sometimes open sores, giving the appearance of a breakout.

Other lesions may be hot pipe burns that occur on the face, lips, or hands during accidental contact with a lit pipe. These burns appear as irregular, discolored circles or scars.

While some meth users may also have acne, the facial and body meth sores are usually infections due to skin picking or burns.

What Causes Face and Body Meth Sores?

“Meth skin” is a term used to describe the obvious skin damage caused by drug abuse. Here are a few of the specific factors that contribute to skin conditions caused by methamphetamine drug use:

Meth Psychosis Known as Meth Mites

“Meth mites” are a common cause of skin damage, especially for heavy meth users. Users may believe they have tiny meth bugs crawling under their skin. These meth hallucinations lead to compulsive scratching and digging to try to remove the imaginary bugs and results in open wounds resembling acne. Repeated skin picking can leave scars that appear similar to acne scarring.

Crystal Meth Can Lead to Dehydration

Meth causes excessive sweating while also suppressing thirst signals, leading to a rapid depletion of fluids. That causes the pores to shrink, making them more likely to become clogged with oil, sweat, or dirt and trigger an acne-like breakout.

Meth is also water-soluble. As it excretes through the sweat glands, it may further irritate open sores on the body or face.

Weakened Immune System

Meth weakens the immune system, making the body less effective in fighting of infections, including infected skin sores. That makes it harder for the skin to heal from any wounds, including any wound where one injects meth. In some cases, skin sores at injection sites can become absesses.

Poor Hygiene and Nutrition

The National Institute of Health (NIH) notes that the physical signs of meth use develop from the poor personal hygiene of chronic users. Neglecting hygiene and eating well can contribute to increasingly worse physical effects and infections from the skin-picking behaviors.

Meth Addiction Constricts Blood Vessels

Meth use causes restricted blood flow, reducing blood flow to the meth user’s skin. The constricted blood vessels mean the skin can’t heal and maintain its elasticity, which leads to scarring.

Other Health Reasons for Seeking Treatment

Beyond the visible damage to the skin and teeth, using meth regularly can lead to other life threatening conditions that impact the body’s major systems:

• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Psychosis
• Cognitive impairment, including memory loss and loss of concentration
• Psychosis
• Paranoia
• Liver damage
• Kidney damage
• Lung damage (for those who smoke meth)
• Overdosing

Left untreated, these conditions can become a permanently disabling condition or, in the worst outcome, it can lead to a premature death.

Methamphetamine use disorder is extremely challenging. Treating it requires professional care to address all the physical, emotional, and psychological needs, helping each person who makes the journey to a full recovery.

Meth Addiction Treatment Restores Healthy Skin and Mental Health

Ingrained Recovery knows that no two people recovering from a methamphetamine use disorder will have the exact same needs. We create personalized recovery plans to help clients meet their personal recovery goals.

Some of the things you can expect in recovery include the following:

Mental and Behavioral Health Counseling

You will work with a drug addiction specialist who can help you explore the root cause of your addiction to methamphetamine.

For some people, the underlying cause is a mental illness or a dual diagnosis. A typical example of this is meth use (or other stimulant drugs) as self-medication for depression. While the effects of meth can temporarily stop the depression, it leads to a non-stop cycle of using meth to get that same feeling until it becomes a full-blown drug addiction.

Other people find that trauma is the underlying cause of their drug abuse issues. When someone experiences a traumatic event, they may have difficulty coping with it. They turn to drug use to dull or numb the symptoms.

After we discover the root cause, we’ll help you develop a complete toolkit to manage your mental health and avoid future meth use.

Meth Sores Treatment

Our doctor is well-expereienced in meth sores and will provide prescription antibiotics or topical medications for open wounds and meth sores to help promote healing as your body recovers.

After completing your treatment program, you may be instructed to follow up with Vitamin E oil or other over-the-counter remedies to continue improving the appearance of meth sores. It may take some time for the visible signs to diminish. This can take patience – the meth sores took quite some time to develop. Likewise, they can take an investment in time to heal.

Start Your Meth Recovery Journey at Ingrained

Ingrained Recovery is a drug addiction recovery leader in central Georgia. We offer customized programs that go above and beyond the standard. We’re not your usual recovery center; we’re a spacious recovery ranch, complete with an option for equine therapy services. Our combined experience and range of therapeutic interventions deliver favorable results.

We work with the top group and private health insurance plans and accept self-pay clients. Our insurance coordinator will be glad to reach out to your insurance provider to obtain any necessary pre-authorizations.

If you are ready – not just to clear meth sores but to make permanent life changes – call Ingrained Recovery to speak with an admissions representative today.