Understanding The Cause Of Acne

A proactive acne treatment process starts with understanding acne. Acne, an inflammation of the skin’s sebaceous oil gland, is something that most of us have experience at one time or another. The pores in the skin connect to the oil glands just under the skin via a follicle. A thin hair also grows from the follicle out to the skin. Dead skin cells are carried to the surface via the follicle. Acne is commonly found on the face, upper back, shoulders, neck, and chest.

Acne occurs when the oil produced by the sebaceous gland does not reach the surface of the skin but is trapped in the hair follicle (usually cause by the hair, sebum, and skin cells clumping together to form a plug). This is followed by the growth of bacteria in the follicle with the ensuing inflammation. This forms plugs; plugs may close off the pores, causing the pores to bulge, which create a whitehead. If the pores stay open, the top surface of the plug may become darkened, causing a blackhead. When the bacteria and pus leak from the pore into the surrounding tissue, pimples are formed. Acne can be unsightly and disfiguring. It can also lead to serious and permanent scarring.

Proactive acne treatment starts with getting the right information about acne. These provides insight into the types and cause of acne and thus determine the type of acne treatment to use. Acne myths like “only teenagers have acne, it will just go away” have prevented many from seeking appropriate treatment for years.

Understanding The Types Of Acne

Acne is a common skin disorder that comes in various forms, each requiring different methods of treatment. For example, teenagers often get acne vulgaris or common acne.

Non-inflammatory acne.
These can occur as whitehead. A whitehead or closed comedo is a non-inflammatory type of acne that is created when the plugged hair follicle fails to erupt from below the skin. Instead this creates a small whitish bump on the skin surface. Topical cosmetics products can create a mild form of acne called acne cosmetica. As is obvious acne cosmetica is characterized by small pink bumps, and local inflammation on the cheek, chin, and forehead. Acne cosmetic usually develop over the course of a few weeks or months, but scarring is rare. Finding out which topical products are causing the problem and eliminating their use is essential for treating acne cosmetica and halting its progress.

Inflammatory acne
When the plugged hair follicle enlarges and erupts from the skin surface, an open comedo or blackhead is created. This is called a blackhead because of the dark skin pigment called melanin.
The dark pimple created often creates the impression that acne is cause by dirt, which although there may be some degree of truth in it, is not the actual cause of the acne. Blackhead can be inflammatory.
A papule is a very mild form of inflammatory acne, creating a small, firm bump on the surface of the skin. These bumps can sensitive to touch. Papules can became badly inflamed, created pustules or small round lesions with pus. A pustule is red at the base with a yellowish or whitish center. The pus is generally inflammation caused by a chemical irritation from sebaceous secretions.

Cystic Acne
A papule can develop into nodular acne or cystic acne when the P.ances bacteria proliferate creating more pus and pushing the lesion deeper into the skin. The pus results from the immune system reacting to the bacteria and will hardened to form a cyst. This is the most severe form of acne and may last for weeks or months, often leaving deep scars on the skin of the sufferer.

Acne  conglobata
Acne on the back, buttock or chest can on rare occasions be severely infected giving rise to pustules and nodules. The clinical term is acne conglobata.

In summary, proactive acne treatment involves both using medication where appropriate as well as a personal habit of good diet and hygiene.