Acne - Why Me?
How familiar does this story sound to you. You go to bed,
and before shutting off the bathroom light, you peer into
the mirror. Although your skin could be smoother, overall
tonight it looks better than it has the last 2-3 days. You
slide into bed, under your sheets, happy with thoughts of
smooth and soft, pain free skin.
Then the morning comes. You wake up, and your face is not at
all like it was when you went to bed. You have new blemishes
and breakouts, new acne spots, and your skin is red, inflamed
and feels warm or hot to the touch. You stare at the mirror,
wondering what could have changed overnight to cause the acne
breakouts. Perhaps you feel embarrassed, and feel like calling
in sick to work, school or avoiding people altogether. Sound
familiar? Don't sweat it - acne is very common, and learning
more about how acne is caused will help you find the perfect
acne treatment for your unique skin. There are literally thousands
of people daily who are learning about acne from us, and are
addressing their outbreaks with success. But in order to understand
how to alleviate acne for good, you need to know the basics
View
Top Rated Acne Products 2010
What is Acne?
Acne, commonly referred to as common acne or acne vulgaris,
is described as erupting blemishes that can occur on the face,
back, arms, neck and other areas of the body. The condition
is prevalent in teenagers, but is also very common in men and
women in their 20's and 30's, pregnant women, and even those
up to and including 40 years of age. Acne affect those who have
previously never experienced the condition. The condition is
also loosely referred to as 'zits', 'pimples', whiteheads, blackheads
and comedones, although those each have more specific meanings.
Types of Acne
Comedones are congested pores that are generrally clogged with
a combination of sebaceous oils, foreign debris, dead skin cells
and dirt. The oils which attract these materials is created
by the overproduction of oils by the sebaceous glands due to
changes in hormone levels.
Pimples refer to blemishes that are small inflammations, or
the starting point of acne and are not yet in the inflamed or
infected state.
Whiteheads refer to pores that have become inflamed and have
attracted bacteria. Helper T cells in the body visit the site
of the pore to work to attack the bacteria, and the result is
pus, which further clogs the pore and causes the moniker 'whitehead'.
At this stage, the unit is infected and will advance to the
blackhead stage until treated.
Blackheads are simply whiteheads that have developed a seal
or cover over the pore. Air oxydizes the surface debris, and
the whitehead closes over. Without oxygen reaching the closed
comedone or pore, the acne progresses very fast and the bacteria
breeds further bacteria. The blemish turns black because of
the oxydation of the surface of the skin over the pore. Advance
blackheads, untreated, can move into the next stage - known
as cystic acne.
Cystic acne is caused by the same factors as blackheads. The
only defining difference is that in this advanced stage, the
pore wall ruptures and then a membrane forms around the infection,
deep within the dermis (inner skin layer). There are a variety
of forms of cystic acne, but most are creaed in the same manner.
Because this type of acne affects healthy skin cells, the odds
of one having permanent acne scars increases once cystic acne
is present.
What Causes Acne?
Despite many myths and popular belief, there is no real one
cause of acne. The condition is created when an increase in
hormones - often around puberty - overstimulates sebaceous glands
in various areas of the body (face, neck, back). The increased
oil product fills the skin pores, and attracts dead skin, dirt
and bacteria. Left unchecked, the pore closes over and becomes
infected.
Acne is not caused by poor hygiene or specifically by diet,
stress, food, or heredity / genetics. Almost everyone has had
acne at some point in their lives. Cosmetics can play a role
in furthering the effects of acne, since many cosmetics can
help to block the pore and trap foreign debris in the skin pore.
Non-comedongenic cosmetics are 'non pore-blocking' cosmetics
that may assist you in helping to keep pores unblocked.
While some hormones created as byproducts (for example those
triggered by oral contraceptives) may help acne, overall the
best way to address acne is to treat the three stages of acne
responsible for the breakouts - toxins and hormones in the skin,
bacteria and buildup of oils, dead skin and dirt in the follicle,
and inflammation.
How to Treat Acne
There are a wide range of products on the marketplace designed
to treat acne. Many of the products work on the principle of
cleansing the pores. However, now that you have a deeper understanding
of how acne works, you can see that the process requires more
than simply cleaning the pores - although this step is one of
the threefold critical steps in our opinion to beating acne.
1. Cleanse the pores and remove all dirt, sebum, oils, dead
skin and foreign debris. Make sure that you address the level
of bacteria in the pores and surrounding skin at the surface.
2. Keep the pores open and unblocked, and treat the inflamed,
red skin with a mild, natural non-comedogenic product that cools
the skin, and reduces the inflammation.
3. Prevent further bacteria and oils / dead skin from forming
in the pores by regularily using the cleansing stage of the
acne treatment to remove the excess oils and debris.
Recommended Products
View
Top Rated Acne Products 2010
Based on our knowledge of acne, and our assessment of the current
products on he marketplace, we support the following three products
in correctly treating acne:
Exposed Acne - Read
our Review | Visit the product website - www.exposedacne.com
ZenMed Derma Cleanse - Read
our Review | Visit the product website - www.zenmed.com
AcneZine - Read
our Review | Visit the product website - www.acnezine.com
Know of an acne treatment that you feel works well and works
in three stages to address all stages of acne? Please contact
us and let us know, and we will will review it with our
editors and users.
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