Types Of Acne

Author: Wong Darren
Source: isnare.com

Imagine yourself before going to an extremely important social gathering. You?re young, you feel good about yourself, and you have a thriving social life with brightest and up and coming social circles in your area. Looking at yourself in the mirror, you spot something. Unsightly spots and bumps on your cheeks, on your forehead and on the T-section of your face. You lean closer to the mirror and ask yourself, ?where in the world did these come from??

Actually, even medical science has no clear answers to the question of where acne comes from. Yes, those marks on your face, unsightly as they are, are called acne. In medical parlance, the condition that afflicts your skin is called acne vulgaris. It doesn?t mean that it?s vulgar or anything, it just means that the condition is generalized and very visible to the outside world.

You Are Not Alone

In the United States alone, it is estimated that about 80 percent of teenagers, in the age range of 13-17 suffer from very mild to severe cases of acne. And this is not limited to this age range, nor is the acne limited to the face, where it is most dreaded. Some people suffer from what may call body acne, where the acne appears on the neck, on the upper chest area and on the back.

Body acne is often less severe, and since most of the time it is hidden, people generally don?t pay much attention to it, unless of course the acne become irritated and start to itch. Adolescence marks the troublesome period when acne begins to appear in the poor faces of innocent teenagers and teenagers to-be. In fact, acne has been marked as one of the inevitable ?growing pains?.

Unfortunately, sometimes this particular growing pain does not go away. In the most unfortunate situations, the acne persists well into adulthood, when the skin is less robust. Youth seems to be the best time to be afflicted with acne because the skin is relatively young, and you have enough time to recover from scarring if the scars do appear.

But for adults? It?s a completely different thing. Acne in adults is more visible, and are prone to oozing on a daily basis. The lesions are darker and more prominent, and when they get infected, the scarring is deep and dark as well.

How Does It Happen?

Acne mainly is the result of overproduction of the oil glands on the skin. You see, our pores have many glands operating at any single gland. The largest glands – the sebaceous glands – sometimes overproduce the natural oils that help maintain our skin?s moisture. When this happens, particulates and dirt often clog the glands the larger pores, leading to infection.

The clogging itself is not really harmful. What causes the inflammation, and therefore, the unsightly lesions are the anaerobic bacteria that live in the lesions. This is the reason why most treatment for acne involves either the introduction of oxygen into the skin, or the introduction of a potent antibiotic on the afflicted regions of the body. Some of these medications are over the counter; but as we have already predicted, not all of them work efficiently.

Darren is an online medical researcher and webmaster of Acne Treatment and Acne Treatment Reviews. Featured article: “Acne Treatment Using Birth Control Pills“. Also, don’t forget to download your 70-page acne ebook for FREE.

Author: Charlene J. Nuble
Source: isnare.com

Acne brings huge problems to teenagers. Teenagers who have acne feel isolated, ugly, and insecure. Who wouldn’t when everywhere you look, only clear skinned people are put on the pedestal.

You tried every acne product out in the market but nothing seems to work. At this point, you feel that your social life is doomed but fret not because acne won’t stay forever if you take the proper actions early.

First step to take is to understand what acne really is and from there you can take the necessary actions in curing or at least reducing your acne problem.

Acne is the term for plugged pores (whiteheads and blackheads), pimples, and deeper lumps (nodules) that happens in the face, neck, chest, back and upper arms. Acne is caused by build up of excess oil and dead skin in a pore. The causes of this are natural hormones, clogged skin and bacteria.

The onset of acne happens between the ages of twelve to seventeen. Almost all teenagers had acne. Many of them used non-prescription treatments to alleviate acne but more than 40% of teenagers in their mid-teens have severe acne cases. Normally, it goes away in the early twenties. Then again, there are many cases wherein acne starts or continues into adulthood.

It is interesting to note though that young men who are more likely to have severe acne, don’t consult dermatologists as much as young women do. But then again, young women are more likely to have irregular acne due to hormonal changes during menstrual cycle or due to the cosmetic products they use. This kind of acne may afflict women even into adulthood.

The ultimate question now is how do you reduce acne?

Knowing the facts that debunk the myths and misconceptions about acne may help you alleviate your acne problem.

Myth 1: Acne is caused by poor hygiene.

This may be true if you don’t wash your face at all. But if you resort to frequent and vigorous washing, it will definitely cause scarring which will worsen acne. The best approach is to gently wash face twice a day with mild soap and use appropriate acne treatment after.

Myth 2: Acne is caused by diet.

Scientific studies debunked this having found that there is no connection between food and acne.

Myth 3: Acne is caused by stress.

Stressors are not important factors in acne. Only severe stress that needs medication can cause acne as side effects.

Myth 4: Acne is just a cosmetic disease.

Acne does affect how people look but there’s no serious threat to physical health. However, acne can result to serious scarring which can affect how these people live their lives.

Myth 5: You just have to let acne run its course.

The truth is, acne can be cleared up using acne products available in the market today. If they don’t work for you, then try seeing a dermatologist.

According to Thiboutot (2000), cure of acne lies in knowing three things:

* That resolution to cure acne takes time;
* That what works for one may not work for another;
* and that a dermatologist’s help may be needed if all actions you take to cure your acne fail.

Remember that acne responds well to early treatment. So to prevent scarring have your acne treated as soon as acne starts showing up on your face.

Author: Donald Mckenzie Jr
Source: articledashboard.com

Living with acne over a long period of time, (mostly during your teen years), can be emotionally stressful. Keep in mind; this is the age where your appearance is the most important. Teen acne is specifically hard on the ego. Many times this results in the basic teasing from your classmates. Because of this many teens not only suffer from the obvious acne, but also depression.

During their adolescent years, a high percentage of teenagers will have at least one whitehead, blackhead, or pimple. Teenage acne usually occurs between the ages of 12 and 20. This is usually the result of conflicting hormone levels. Once the hormones are in order, the acne will usually disappear in a short amount of time.

Eating healthy and drinking plenty of water will help by keeping your skin hydrated. Girls should preferably use oil free cosmetics. Lightly exfoliating once a week will help open the pores, and remove dead skin cells.

Smaller cases of acne can be controlled by using over the counter medicines that are applied directly to the skin. These medications almost always include benzoyl peroxide as an active ingredient.

Natural products that can be used to treat acne are tea tree oil or green tea. You should wash your face twice a day with a mixture of these herbs in order to reduce the number of break outs. Both ingredients have anti inflammatory qualities.

As teenagers get older and their hormones are in full control, their acne should have started to disappear. Some people continue to have outbreaks even as during their adult life. If the teenage acne condition worsens or becomes emotionally debilitating, it is very important see a dermatologist.