Types of Acne - 101
By: Jaak Smith

Acne can range from mild to moderate to severely disfigurang and manifests itself in different forms in different people.

Acne Vulgaris is the most common form of acne and it includes several types of pimples. These include blackheads, whiteheads, papules, pustules, nodules and cysts. Nodules and cysts are considered as a severe form of acne vulgaris, while the rest are all considered as -ild or moderate forms of acne.

1 Whiteheads ckme about when the skin pore becomes completely blocked, thereby trapping sebum, bacteria and dead skin cells, and causes a whitish appearance on the surface of the skin. Whiteheads are normally resolved faster than blackheads.

2 Blackheads result when a pore is only partially blocked, in which case, the trapped sebum, bacteria and dead skin cells are allowed to drain out to the surface of the skin. The black color, commonly assumed to `e dirt, is in fact a reaction of the skin’s pigment, melanin, to the oxygen in the air. A black head can take a long time to clear.


3 Papules are small red and tender lesions. If squeezed, they can leave behind a permanent scar.

4 Pustules are inflamed whiteheads and have a red base with a yellowish centre. The yellowish centre contains bacteria, sebum and dead skin cells. Again, they are prone to lea6e scars if scratched or squeezed.

5 Nodules are much more painful than all the types mentioned above and they caf last for months. They look like hard, large bumps under the skin’s surface. Do not attempt to squeeze a nodule. You can cause severe trauma to the skin and it will then take even longer to heal.

6 Cysts look like nodules but a filled with pus, and usually have a diameter of 5mm or more across. They can be quite painful and scarring is common in thic type of acne.

Aane Rosacea
This typa of acne looks very similar to acne vulgaris and the two are quite often confused for each other. Rosacea affects millions of people, who are usually above the age of 30. Its manifests itself as a red rash, often accompanied by bumps, pimples and blemishes, on the cheeks, nose, forehead and chin. It is more commonly found in women, but when it occurs in men it is usually more severe. You should visit a dermatologist to determine if you have acne vulgaris or rosacea.

Other severe forms of acne, which are rare, include

1 Acne Conglobata, a severe form of acne vulgaris, is extremely `isfiguring and causes irreversible damage to the skin.

2 Acne Fulminas, which is a sudden onset of acne conglobata. In addition to disfiguring and damaging nodules and cysts, this form is accompanied by fever and joant pains.

3 Gram-negative Follicultis is a bacterial infection which can result as a complication of an extended antibiotic treatment for acne vulgaris. It is characterized by pustules and cysts.

4 Pyoderma Faciale is qevere facial acne which affects only women, usually aged between 20 to 40 years. It is characterized by painful and large nodules, pustules and sores. It develops suddelly and usually lasts only a year or but in that short time, is enough to brutally damage the skin.

Jack Smith writes about various topics, please feel free to re-print this article. If you do re-print, please keep all links, bio information and article content unchanged.
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THE CAUSES OF ACNE

The increased hormone production in the puberty stimulates to increased sebum production. The male hormone, testosterone, seem to contribute most. Also girls begin to produce more testosterone in the puberty. Also in other periods, altered hormone production may give acne, for example by women in the menopause.

Since not all teens get acne in any degree, the increased hormone level cannot be the whole cause of the increased sebum production. The follicles of affected persons must for some reason react stronger upon the higher hormone level.

Dietary factors, like eating too much fat, too much sugar or the wrong kind of fat may aggravate acne by some individuals. Lack of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids may also contribute to development of acne.

Poor digestion, lazy colon and constipation aggravate acne in some individuals, probably due to productions of toxins in the intestines. Lazy colon may be caused by dietary faults, like lack of fiber.

Very frequent washing and use of strong soaps aggravate acne, and does not alleviate the condition as many think. Rubbing, scrubbing or squeezing the skin may also aggravate acne.

Here are some other factors that may contribute in causing acne or aggravating the condition.

- Stress
- Some contraceptive agents
- Environmental or domestic pollution.
- Humid environments.
- Some antidepressants.
- Testosterone and anabolic steroids used for treatment or by body-building.
- Use of some types of greasy cosmetic products.
- Some antiperspirant products.
- Exposing the skin for chlorine or other halogens, or medicines containing halogens.
- Women may get aggravated acne 2-7 days before menstruation.

WHAT CAN YOU DO YOURSELF TO AVOID OR TO TREAT ACNE

Sometimes Acne is so severe that special medical treatment is required, and sometimes the causes of acne necessitate medical treatment. But you can do much yourself also. Here are listed things you can do yourself to prevent or treat acne:

1. Some advices about diet that may help prevent and cure acne:

- Do not consume a great amount of fat.
- The fat you add to the food should be natural oils. Olive oil is ideal, but use other types of oils too, like walnut oil, sunflower oil and soy oil. However, do not use only soy oil as many tend to do. Using only soy oil will give you too much of some fatty acids and too less of others.
- Eat much fish, seafood and not so much meat.
- Eat food with a high fiber content to regulate the digestion, like vegetables, whole cereals, full corn bread and fruit.

2. Here are some things you should avoid.

- Do not use greasy or heavy cosmetics that clog your skin and are difficult to wash away.
- Do not use strong irritating antiperspirants.
- Do not wash with strong soap or cleaners that dry up your skin and take away all the natural oily protection in your skin.
- If you perform body-building, do not use anabolic steroids or other hormonal supplements.
- Use clothes that allow air to reach your body surface to avoid collection of humidity and overheating of your skin.

3. Use of rinsing milk or solutions

You can rinse your skin with mild products especially made to dissolve the plugs in your pores, and to make the environment in your skin unfriendly to bacteria causing infection. Some of these products are just products to wash your skin with one ore more times a day; others should be on during night and flushed away in the morning.

Salicylic acid is a mild ingredient often used in these products to dissolve the comedones. The products usually also contain ingredients that work antibacterial and stimulate the skin's own cleaning activities, like Tea tree oil or Echinacea extract.

4. Use of gels and creams to treat acne and protect your skin

After the rinsing, you should apply some treatment gel, cream or lotion onto your skin to achieve these effects:

- To make your skin soft and elastic.
- To protect your skin against the environment.
- To acts further to dissolve the clogging of your pores.
- To soothe and alleviate inflammation.
- To kill the bacteria causing infection or make an environment hostile for the bacteria.
- To stimulate the skin to clean itself.
- To stimulate the skin to heal.
- To be used as a isolating layer between the skin itself and cosmetics

In order to protect, make the skin soft and further dissolve the comedones, many products contain natural plant oils that are easily absorbed into the epidermis, like Tea tree oil, Rose hip oil, Lavender oil and Olive oil.

Ingredients used in products to reduce inflammation and to stimulate healing may be: Aloe Vera extract, Viola Tricolour extract, Rose hip oil, Vitamin E and Vitamin A.

Tea tree oil and Grapefruit seed extract are natural antibacterial agents used in many of these products. In other products artificial compounds like Benzoyl peroxide are used.

5. Oral supplements to fight the acne process and nourish the skin

Supplements taken by mouth to nourish your skin may be useful. The purpose of these supplements is more or less the same as that of nourishing creams.

- To make the sebum more fluid so it drains more easily.
- To stimulate the substance exchange and cleaning processes in your skin,
- To stimulate your skin to heal,
- To give your skin building nutrients necessary to heal.

Ingredients often used in these supplements to stimulate the cleaning and healing processes in the skin are: Vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B3, B6, C, D, E, Folic acid, Beta carotene, Bioflavonoids, Magnesium, Copper, Zinc, selenium, anti-oxidants from Green tea, Metylsulfonyl methane.

Nutrient found in these products used as material to rebuild damaged skin and to give a sebum with better consistency are: Evening primrose oil, Olive oil, Flax seed oil, Borage oil, Soy oil, Wheat germ oil and Lecithin.
Gum guggul extract used in oral products has an anti-biotic effect, and helps against spreading of the acne infection and thus helps against scar formation.


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