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What Is Acne?
Acne is a disorder resulting from the action of hormones on the skin's oil glands (sebaceous glands), which leads to plugged pores and outbreaks of lesions commonly called pimples or zits. Acne lesions usually occur on the face, neck, back, chest, and shoulders. Nearly 17 million people in the United States have acne, making it the most common skin disease. Although acne is not a serious health threat, severe acne can lead to disfiguring, permanent scarring, which can be upsetting to people who are affected by the disorder.
Factors That Can Contribute to Acne or Make It Worse
Several factors can contribute to the cause of acne or make it worse. Changing hormone levels in girls and women may cause a flare in their acne 2 to 7 days before their menstrual period starts. Hormonal changes related to pregnancy or starting or stopping birth control pills can also cause acne. Stress, particularly severe or prolonged emotional tension, may aggravate the disorder.
Acne is the visible end result of hormonal, bacterial and inflammatory disturbances that take place at the level of the oil pore (pilosebaceous follicle):
As the process advances, greater amounts of oil may be produced within the sebaceous glands, though the change in composition and quality of the oil may be more important than the quantity. The scale produced on the inside walls of the hair follicle becomes stickier, and it builds up and blocks the pore. This shows up as whiteheads and blackheads (comedones).
What Causes Acne?
The exact cause of acne is unknown, but doctors believe it results from several related factors. One important factor is an increase in hormones called androgens (male sex hormones). These increase in both boys and girls during puberty and cause the sebaceous glands to enlarge and make more sebum. Hormonal changes related to pregnancy or starting or stopping birth control pills can also cause acne.
Another factor is heredity or genetics. Researchers believe that the tendency to develop acne can be inherited from parents. For example, studies have shown that many school-age boys with acne have a family history of the disorder. Certain drugs, including androgens and lithium, are known to cause acne. Greasy cosmetics may alter the cells of the follicles and make them stick together, producing a plug.
Causes of adult acne and teen acne may include hormones, diet, evolutionary biology, vitamin deficiency, stress, and more. The real explanation may be a complex mix of many of these factors.
Cheese and chocolate have nothing to do with your acne
Your skin, however, WILL benefit from a good facial. Why? Because acne is not a disease, rather it is a condition of the skin and a good facialist knows exactly what your skin needs: Sulfur, zinc and camphor masks, exfoliation, blackhead extractions and at-home follow-up.
Don't treat adult acne like the teen kind
The products you used as a teenager won't work on adult skin. Here's a 2-step program for cleansing and treating your blemished skin:
Blockage Of The Skin Pores
Oily skin occurs when an overactive oil gland enlarges and overproduces oil. Acne develops when some of the pores (through which oil normally flows from the oil gland to reach the skin surface) become blocked, resulting in trapping of oil within the skin pores.
The pores are blocked by skin cells that have been shed from the lining of the skin pore and have bunched together. The cause for this clogging is not known, but it is not due to poor hygiene. A blackhead or whitehead will develop from this skin pore blockage
Increased Skin Oils (sebum)
Healthy skin and hair is naturally softened and lubricated by sebum, an oily secretion of the sebaceous glands. At puberty, changing hormone levels prompt various physical changes including an increase in the production of sebum by the sebaceous glands.
Sebaceous glands reside along the hair shaft. The excreted sebum normally travels up along the hair shaft and out through the opening of the hair follicle (pore) onto the skin's surface.
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