Acne in plain English - What is Acne?

A step-by-step guide to acne, its causes and solutions

These Acne in Plain English pages will first show you how acne forms, and then dispel acne myths, and finally provide advice on how to get rid of any type or severity of acne you may be experiencing.

By the time you're done with this section you should have a good idea of the science behind acne and feel confident in how you would like to proceed.

Acne is an inflammatory skin condition characterized by superficial skin eruptions that are caused by sudden and strong outflow of sebum which injures the cells lining the sebum canals within the skin follicles, or by plugging of the skin pores.

A normal skin follicle looks like this

When the sebum glands are overactive or when they first become active during puberty and produce large quantities of oil (sebum) the sudden outflow of large quantities of such sebum either ends up injuring the cells that line the sebum canal or the sebum blocks the opening of the follicles (often called pores).

If the cells lining the sebum canals get injured the body triggers an inflammatory reaction to get rid of the problem and if the inflammatory reaction is immoderate as it usually is you get pus, redness , pain and destruction by your own system not only of the sebum but also some of the surrounding cells. If sebum (oil) which normally drains to the surface gets blocked it becomes a rich feeding environment for the growth of bacteria.

Both whiteheads and blackheads start out as a microcomedone. The picture below is a microcomedone:

There are two types of acne:

Non-inflammatory acne - blocked pores:

Microcomedones become non-inflamed skin blemishes called comedones - either a whitehead or a blackhead:

WhiteHead	BlackHead
When the trapped sebum and bacteria stay below the skin surface, a whitehead is formed. Whiteheads may show up as tiny white spots, or they may be so small that they are invisible to the naked eye.	A blackhead occurs when the trapped sebum and bacteria partially open to the surface and turn black due to melanin, the skin's pigment. It is not dirt and can not be washed away. Blackheads can last for a long time because the contents very slowly drain to the surface.

A blackhead or whitehead can release its contents to the surface and heal. Or, the cells lining the follicle wall can become damaged and inflammatory acne can ensue (see below). This lesions can be caused by random occurence or by picking or touching the skin. This is why it is important to leave acne prone skin relatively untouched.

Papules	Pustules
A papule occurs when there is a lesion in the follicular wall. White blood cells rush in and the pore becomes inflamed.	A pustule forms several days later when white blood cells make their way to the surface of the skin. This is what people usually refer to as a "zit" or a "pimple".

An inflamed lesion can sometimes completely collapse or explode, severely inflaming the surrounding skin, and sometimes destroying neighboring follicles. These lesions are called nodules or cysts:

Nodule	Cyst
When a follicle breaks along the bottom, total collapse can occur, causing a large, inflamed bump that can be sore to the touch.	Sometimes a severe inflammatory reaction can result in very large pus filled lesions or cyst. This type of acne should be treated by a dermatologyst.

Diagrams courtesy of: National Institute of Health

BIOSKINCARE is a biological skin care product for teenage acne that has no side effects. It works because it not only controls bacteria by boosting the production of the skin's own antimicrobials, it also unclogs pores through the action of enzymes that digest the keratin and sebum that plugs hair follicles. In fact it releases the amino-acid components of damaged skin proteins for their use in regenerating healthy cells which prevents and heals acne scarring.

It also moisturized the skin and eliminates redness quickly. It can be used in conjunction with medicines like isotretinoin (Accutanee & other brands prescribed for very severe acne) to avoid their dreaded side effects on the skin and to start healing scarring and stregthenning the skin while taking the medicines, for it does not interact with them.

Last modified: November 30, 2007

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Natural Acne Gel, Rosacea Remedy & Scar Healing

This gel is an oil free product and is a natural remedy for acne, rosacea, and scar healing with moisturizing seaweed extracts. Best for people with very oily skin conditions. All our products are safe for children, moms-to-be and breast fedding mothers.

 

Made in the USA. One Month's supply 50 grams = 1.76 oz
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Save at least 20% off price & save on domestic or world wide shipping costs
when you order more than one month's supply
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