What Causes Acne and How To Treat It
When I was fourteen, I had really nasty acne.
I swear, I looked like a cross between the moon, and a diseased tomato; my skin was pockmarked, oily, and red, and my cheeks and forehead were almost completely covered with pimples.
I sought out a lot of different acne treatments, but I didn't find anything that would make my acne go away.
It baffled and frustrated me, until I realized that what causes acne can usually be traced back to the hormonal imbalances of puberty, and the fortunate -or unfortunate- circumstances that surround a person's genetics.
Acne: Knowing My Enemy As a kid, I didn't really care very much for my skin problems; I wasn't that concerned about my looks, and since I was neither popular nor a social punching bag for the hormonal shark tank that is an all-girls Catholic school, my classmates didn't give me much grief over my acne.
It wasn't until my face actually began to hurt from all of the inflamed skin that I decided to try and do something about it.
The first thing I did of course; was to try and figure out what my skin condition was in the first place.
After a little research, I found out that what causes acne - which is actually called acne vulgaris - can usually be traced back to teenaged hormonal imbalance and overactive skin oil glands.
Acne vulgaris is a skin condition where a person's sebaceous glands (the oil-producing glands in the skin found around the hair follicle) get blocked.
When this happens, the sebum or skin oil which is usually supposed to drain to the skin's surface and nourish the skin cells there, become a breeding ground for bacteria.
There are two kinds of acne, and a person can have both types at the same time: non-inflammatory acne, and inflammatory acne.
Non-Inflammatory Acne In this particular kind of acne, the blocked gland can cause skin blemishes called comedones: what people usually refer to as whiteheads and blackheads.
Whiteheads Whiteheads are comedones which show up as small, white spots.
In a whitehead, the sebum and the bacteria around the sebum are trapped underneath the skin's surface.
The hair follicle's opening is slightly enlarged, and the skin's surface is sometimes raised just a tiny bit.
Luckily, whiteheads tend to be really small: almost invisible in fact, and if the follicle wall doesn't rupture, the sebum usually gets released to the surface and heals on its own.
Blackheads Blackheads, on the other hand, are when the pore of the hair follicle opens, and the sebum trapped there oxidizes and becomes brown or black.
Blackheads may look like dirt, but they can't be washed or scrubbed away.
On the bright side though, they often go away on their own, since the sebum in blackheads actually drains to the skin's surface; it just does so really slowly.
Inflammatory Acne Inflammatory acne happens when the follicular walls of one of the skin's pores breaks.
White blood cells rush in to try and heal the problem, but instead, the pus forms, and the pore swells up.
Usually, inflammatory acne starts out as a papule; or a small, red bump created by trapped sebum, bacteria, and pus.
If the papule doesn't heal, it can become a pustule, which forms a few days after.
White blood cells finally make their way to the skin's surface, and the papule finally becomes what people refer to as a pimple or a zit.
If the zit doesn't heal, it can go on to become a nodule, which is when the follicle breaks and collapses completely so that a sore and inflamed bump appears.
The worst kind of inflammatory reaction is called a cyst, where the inflamed area becomes quite big, and pus-filled lesions appear.
Aside from being pretty damn gross, cysts can hurt an awful lot, and a visit to the dermatologist is usually in order.
Treating Acne The first thing you have to remember about acne is that you aren't supposed to touch it! Usually, picking or touching the affected area can aggravate the problem, especially if the area you're touching has inflammatory acne.
Poked and prodded, a whitehead can become a papule, then a pustule, then a nodule, then a cyst, and if proper acne treatment isn't given, scarring can occur.
Acne treatments run the gamut; from simply practicing good hygiene, maintaining a balanced diet, and waiting out the hormonal mess that is puberty, to hormone treatments and laser surgery.
The most common acne treatments usually don't address what causes acne per se - the blocked pores - but the effects: increased bacteria.
Topical creams and ointments that kill bacteria are the most easily accessible, and are best for milder forms of acne.
Others, like hormone treatments, deal directly with what causes acne the most often: the hormonal imbalances that can result in the overproduction of sebum.
This kind of acne treatment is mostly effective only for women.
It and can often be as simple as taking oral contraceptives.
For a more unisex approach, having a dermatologist inject cortisone directly into an especially large or uncooperative pimple can have immediate positive effects.
Of course, if you plan on using these kinds of treatments, it's important to consult with a professional.
I swear, I looked like a cross between the moon, and a diseased tomato; my skin was pockmarked, oily, and red, and my cheeks and forehead were almost completely covered with pimples.
I sought out a lot of different acne treatments, but I didn't find anything that would make my acne go away.
It baffled and frustrated me, until I realized that what causes acne can usually be traced back to the hormonal imbalances of puberty, and the fortunate -or unfortunate- circumstances that surround a person's genetics.
Acne: Knowing My Enemy As a kid, I didn't really care very much for my skin problems; I wasn't that concerned about my looks, and since I was neither popular nor a social punching bag for the hormonal shark tank that is an all-girls Catholic school, my classmates didn't give me much grief over my acne.
It wasn't until my face actually began to hurt from all of the inflamed skin that I decided to try and do something about it.
The first thing I did of course; was to try and figure out what my skin condition was in the first place.
After a little research, I found out that what causes acne - which is actually called acne vulgaris - can usually be traced back to teenaged hormonal imbalance and overactive skin oil glands.
Acne vulgaris is a skin condition where a person's sebaceous glands (the oil-producing glands in the skin found around the hair follicle) get blocked.
When this happens, the sebum or skin oil which is usually supposed to drain to the skin's surface and nourish the skin cells there, become a breeding ground for bacteria.
There are two kinds of acne, and a person can have both types at the same time: non-inflammatory acne, and inflammatory acne.
Non-Inflammatory Acne In this particular kind of acne, the blocked gland can cause skin blemishes called comedones: what people usually refer to as whiteheads and blackheads.
Whiteheads Whiteheads are comedones which show up as small, white spots.
In a whitehead, the sebum and the bacteria around the sebum are trapped underneath the skin's surface.
The hair follicle's opening is slightly enlarged, and the skin's surface is sometimes raised just a tiny bit.
Luckily, whiteheads tend to be really small: almost invisible in fact, and if the follicle wall doesn't rupture, the sebum usually gets released to the surface and heals on its own.
Blackheads Blackheads, on the other hand, are when the pore of the hair follicle opens, and the sebum trapped there oxidizes and becomes brown or black.
Blackheads may look like dirt, but they can't be washed or scrubbed away.
On the bright side though, they often go away on their own, since the sebum in blackheads actually drains to the skin's surface; it just does so really slowly.
Inflammatory Acne Inflammatory acne happens when the follicular walls of one of the skin's pores breaks.
White blood cells rush in to try and heal the problem, but instead, the pus forms, and the pore swells up.
Usually, inflammatory acne starts out as a papule; or a small, red bump created by trapped sebum, bacteria, and pus.
If the papule doesn't heal, it can become a pustule, which forms a few days after.
White blood cells finally make their way to the skin's surface, and the papule finally becomes what people refer to as a pimple or a zit.
If the zit doesn't heal, it can go on to become a nodule, which is when the follicle breaks and collapses completely so that a sore and inflamed bump appears.
The worst kind of inflammatory reaction is called a cyst, where the inflamed area becomes quite big, and pus-filled lesions appear.
Aside from being pretty damn gross, cysts can hurt an awful lot, and a visit to the dermatologist is usually in order.
Treating Acne The first thing you have to remember about acne is that you aren't supposed to touch it! Usually, picking or touching the affected area can aggravate the problem, especially if the area you're touching has inflammatory acne.
Poked and prodded, a whitehead can become a papule, then a pustule, then a nodule, then a cyst, and if proper acne treatment isn't given, scarring can occur.
Acne treatments run the gamut; from simply practicing good hygiene, maintaining a balanced diet, and waiting out the hormonal mess that is puberty, to hormone treatments and laser surgery.
The most common acne treatments usually don't address what causes acne per se - the blocked pores - but the effects: increased bacteria.
Topical creams and ointments that kill bacteria are the most easily accessible, and are best for milder forms of acne.
Others, like hormone treatments, deal directly with what causes acne the most often: the hormonal imbalances that can result in the overproduction of sebum.
This kind of acne treatment is mostly effective only for women.
It and can often be as simple as taking oral contraceptives.
For a more unisex approach, having a dermatologist inject cortisone directly into an especially large or uncooperative pimple can have immediate positive effects.
Of course, if you plan on using these kinds of treatments, it's important to consult with a professional.