Causes of Acne
Acne is one the most common skin disease affecting millions of
Americans each year. If you are experiencing acne, it is important for
you to educate yourself on what is acne and what causes it.
Understanding acne will help you determine how to treat it effectively.
Here is some information on what causes acne.
Acne can be caused by a variety of factors; however by
understanding how pimples develop can make it easier to understand the
fundamental causes of this skin disease.
Generally speaking, most acne is caused from hormones.
Hormones are sometimes referred to as messengers that can start and
stop growth of specific chemicals, in this case sebum. Sebum is known
as oil. Sebum is produced by sebaceous glands within the skin. Each
pore in your skin has one sebaceous gland, some sebum being produced
and a hair follicle which is a tube like structure. Hormones in many
situations send a message to the sebaceous gland to over produce sebum.
Skin pores (hair follicles) can fill up very quickly with
sebum and other cellular material and easily clog. Not only can pores
get clogged from the inside, but sometimes, dirt such as cosmetics,
dust and dead skin on the surface of the skin can clog pores as well
trapping oil (sebum) in the pore. Sebum is an organic compound that
bacteria can feed off of. Bacteria called P. acne feed off sebum and
usually infect a clogged pore. When your skin is infected with P. acne
bacteria, you will notice inflammation, usually what we call a pimple.
Pimples include redness, swelling and sometimes pain. When your body
realizes that it is under attack by P. acne bacteria it sends in bodily
defenses in the form of white blood cells. White blood cells fight and
kill the P. acne bacteria and usually causing the pimple to explode
spreading oil, bacteria, white blood cells and cellular material all
around the pimple area.
To lessen the amount and severity of acne, there are a few
things that you can do. For instance, make sure that you do not clog
your pores with cosmetics or dirt. Make sure you clean your face twice
daily, once in the morning and once at nice. Use a gentle soap and
never scrub your face, you might damage the surface of the skin.
Another way to reduce acne is to not apply oily products on
your face. Because acne is caused by oil within the skin, you are doing
yourself a huge disservice by adding more oil to your skin.
If you are experiencing acne (pimples) and would like to pop
your pimples, make sure you pop or clean the infected area correctly.
Since pimples include P. acne bacteria and sebum, a popped pimple can
actually spread acne around your face if you are not careful. Popping
pimples incorrectly can spread around sebum and P. acne causing
additional acne break outs.
By following these simple tips, you can reduce the severity and outbreaks of acne that you might normally encounter.