Types of Acne
Acne is a skin disorder that affects millions of Americans each year.
It most occurs in both males and females during puberty and is usually
linked to hormones. While there is no cure currently for acne, there
are many ways to treat it. Acne can occur in mild, moderate or severe
forms and there are a several different types of acne. Following you
will find information on the different types of acne.
Before explaining the different types of lesions, it is
important to understand what acne is. Acne usually affects the pores of
the skin in the face, chest or back. A pore is made up of three
different parts, the sebaceous gland, the hair follicle which is a long
tube structure and sebum (oil). The sebaceous gland produces sebum
(oil). Hormones activate the sebaceous gland and sometimes hormones
tell the sebaceous gland to over produce sebum. Sebum can get clogged
in the pore, when the pore is clogged, bacteria can feed off it, in
this case P. acne bacteria feeds off of the sebum and causes an
infection.
An infection is a pimple, it is red, inflamed and sometimes painful,
your body s defenses fight back and send white blood cells to the
pimple and ultimately the pimple (infection) is destroyed causing the
pimple to explode or spew sebum, bacteria, white blood cells and
cellular material onto the skin s surface.
The most common type of acne is called Acne Vulgaris. Acne
Vulgaris affects many people and it usually is a mild to moderate form
of acne. Acne Vulgaris can produce many types of different lesions;
however the most common types are called whiteheads, blackheads, zits,
pustules and papules.
A whitehead is when sebum is trapped within a pore. When you
pop a whitehead pimple, sebum escapes. In an infected pimple, not only
will sebum escape, but so will white blood cells and P. acne bacteria.
Blackheads are semi clogged pores. They include substances
similar to whiteheads. It should be noted that the color of blackheads,
usually black or dark grey is not dirt, but melanin.
Pustules (zits) are very large pimples and can be extremely
uncomfortable. Most zits are red in color and have a whitehead in the
center. Usually zits should not be popped, because they can cause pain
and spread infection.
Papules are very small pimples and usually do not have a head.
Because they are so small, you should not attempt to pop them, doing
so, can cause scarring in some circumstances.
Other types of acne include Acne Rosacea. Acne Rosacea is very
similar to acne Vulgaris, except this type of acne usually takes the
form of a red rash. Usually acne Rosacea causes blemishes that are mild
to moderate on the face.
Nodules are also another type of acne. Nodules are usually
thick and tough lesions that grow beneath the surface of the skin. You
should never squeeze nodules due to the fact that they can easily scar.
Usually nodules are a severe form of acne and since they are beneath
the surface of the skin they can take longer to treat.
Cysts are also a severe form of acne. Cysts usually come in
the form of large pimples that contain sebum and other types of
materials inside, they grow underneath the skin and can should never be
popped or squeezed. Since they are underneath the skin, popping or
squeezing them can cause an internal infection.