What Is Acne and What Causes It?
If you’re a teen, chances are pretty good that you have some acne. Almost 8 in 10 teens have acne, along with many adults. Acne is so common that it’s considered a normal part of puberty. But knowing that doesn’t always make it easier when you’re looking at a big pimple on your face in the mirror. So what is acne, and what can you do about it?
Acne is a condition of the skin that shows up as different types of bumps. These bumps can be blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, or cysts. Teens get acne because of the hormonal changes that come with puberty. If your parents had acne as teens, it’s more likely that you will, too. The good news is that, for most people, acne goes away almost completely by the time they are out of their teens.
The type of acne that a lot of teens get is called acne vulgaris (the meaning of “vulgaris” isn’t as bad as it sounds — it means “of the common type”). It usually shows up on the face, neck, shoulders, upper back, and chest.
The hair follicles, or pores, in your skin contain sebaceous glands (also called oil glands). These glands make sebum, which is an oil that lubricates your hair and skin. Most of the time, the sebaceous glands make the right amount of sebum. As a teen’s body begins to mature and develop, though, hormones stimulate the sebaceous glands to make more sebum, and the glands may become overactive. Pores become clogged if there is too much sebum and too many dead skin cells. Bacteria (especially one called Propionibacterium acnes) can then get trapped inside the pores and multiply, causing swelling and redness — the start of acne.
If a pore gets clogged up and closes but bulges out from the skin, you’re left with a whitehead. If a pore gets clogged up but stays open, the top surface can darken and you’re left with a blackhead. Sometimes the wall of the pore opens, allowing sebum, bacteria, and dead skin cells to make their way under the skin — and you’re left with a small, red bump called a pimple (sometimes pimples have a pus-filled top from the body’s reaction to the bacterial infection).
Clogged pores that open up very deep in the skin can cause nodules, which are infected lumps or cysts that are bigger than pimples and can be painful. Occasionally, large cysts that seem like acne may be boils caused by a staph infection. Read on Proactiv Reviews for more information on its treatments.
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