ByOverview
Acne is mainly a skin condition that arises when your hair follicles start becoming clogged with oil as well as dead skin cells. You need to know that acne causes blackheads, whiteheads, or pimples. Acne is very common among teenagers, but it also affects people of all ages.
However, it is easy to deal with acne types on the face by using effective acne treatments. Depending on the severity of the acne, it can lead to emotional distress along with a scar on your skin. To lower your risk for such problems, make sure you start the treatment as early as possible.
Remember, acne is an inflammatory and chronic skin condition that causes spots and pimples. You can find pimples and spots usually on the face, back, shoulders, neck, chest, and upper arms.
Short Summary
This skin problem occurs during puberty, when your sebaceous glands activate. Although acne can occur at any age, you must know that it is not a dangerous problem, but it might leave scars on your skin.
Who does acne affect?
Acne primarily affects teenagers and young adults who are going through hormonal changes. But there are several people who continue to struggle with this skin problem in their 20s, 30s, and sometimes beyond as well. But some people even develop acne as adults for the first time.
Causes of acne
Depending on the severity of your condition, the signs of acne might vary.
- Whiteheads
- Blackheads
- Small, red, tender bumps
- Painful, pus-filled lumps under your skin
- Pimples are papules with pus at their tips
- Large, solid, and painful lumps under the skin
Acne Types
To get the right treatment, it is necessary to recognize which type of acne you are suffering from. Acne can be inflammatory or non-inflammatory. When it comes to acne, there are many types:
- Blackheads
- Whiteheads
- Papules
- Pustules
- Nodules
- Cysts
Noninflammatory acne
This type of acne includes whiteheads as well as blackheads. Non-inflammatory acne does not cause any type of swelling. They even respond well to over-the-counter (OTC) medications.
To treat non-inflammatory acne effectively, doctors usually recommend salicylic acid. It helps exfoliate your skin and eliminate dead skin cells that might cause blackheads and whiteheads. Your doctor might also recommend cleanser, toner, and moisturizer as per the severity of your acne.
1. Blackheads (open comedones)
It’s crucial for you to be aware that blackheads develop when sebum and dead skin cells block a pore. The top of the pore remains open even when the rest of it is blocked. This further leads to a black color on the surface.
However, blackheads can be easily treated with the help of over-the-counter medicines.
2. Whiteheads (closed comedones)
Whiteheads are usually a mild form of acne and are small, round, and white bumps present on the surface of your skin. This type of acne occurs only when a pore becomes blocked with sebum, debris, and dead skin cells.
When this blocked pore is masked with a thin layer of skin, it starts appearing white on its surface. You must know that whiteheads normally appear on your shoulders, chest, face, neck, and back. There are several factors that lead to whiteheads, like genetics, cleansing routines, and lifestyle habits. One of the major causes of whiteheads is hormonal changes and instabilities in hormone levels, which might lead to acne breakouts.
Keep one thing in mind: whiteheads are a sign that your body is struggling to push out an infection. The small bump of an infected pore shows that your body is trying hard to push out an infection.
You need to know that the small bump of an infected pore shows your skin is making efforts to push out bacteria.
Inflammatory acne
The problem of inflammatory acne arises when bacteria infect blocked or closed pores. This further causes your immune system to react to combat the bacteria. As a result, it also makes you suffer from inflammation and even serious types of blemishes, such as cysts.
It might be irritating to live with inflammatory acne. However, you can find several medications that help decrease the chance or severity of inflammatory acne.
1. Papules
