Learn Types Of Acne And How Pimples Form

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young woman with clearly visible pimples on her face
Pimples occur when dead skin cells and oil combine. This combination clogs the pore and causes swelling. Learn more below…

Ah, the pimple. It is the bane of many a school photo and wedding day. Pimples are a good thing for photo retouching. Pimples are not just a nuisance that appears at the wrong time for most. They are a reminder of the uncontrollable forces at work in our skin every day.

This article will explain what is required to cause acne lesions. A lesion is a dermatologist’s term for any skin abnormality or mark. A lesion is a pimple. A blackhead is a lesion. A lesson is not your nose if you don’t have two.

I will walk you through the various conditions that can cause a lesion to develop and grow, including blocked hair follicles, overworked oil glands, and bacteria. Next, I will help you to categorize your acne so that you can understand which over-the-counter acne treatment option is the best.

Oil At A High Price

The hair follicle is where acne lesions begin and mature. A blocked follicle is essential for acne development. Although a blocked follicle may not be the only thing that causes acne, it is a critical condition.

I will detail other conditions in the sections below. To get to the root of acne, we must first look at the hair follicle. Technically, the pilosebaceous (PSU) is the hair follicle. This article will be simple and refer to the entire thing as the “follicle” (or “hair follicle”) for simplicity.

Three components make up the hair follicle (actually, the PSU).

Sebaceous gland (pronounced “see-bum”): This gland looks like a cluster of grapes. It produces and pumps out an oily substance called sebum, which coats and conditions hair and skin. Sebum is a rich mixture of different lipids (fatty chemicals).

Sebum is a liquid that rises to the epidermis and protects your skin. Sebum also makes your skin waterproof. Sebum also helps to transport dead skin cells from the hair follicle to the outside skin so the body can eliminate them.

Sebum production is high in acne patients. Sebum is an important part of the acne story. It plays a significant role alongside its producer, the gland that produces it, as well as its co-star, the hair follicle, and its director, testosterone (an important hormone).

Sebaceous tube: This tiny tube guides the sebum and the dead skin cells from the gland to the hair canal. The hair canal is the area through which the sebum travels onto your hair before it is carried out to your skin’s exterior.

Hair: This is the hair that grows out of your pores. Sometimes, hair is called strands or hair shafts. Hairs can be found almost everywhere on our bodies. I hope there is no hair on your hands. The hairs carry the sebum to our skin.

What Is The Role Of Hormones?

The central role of hormones in the acne drama is their importance. Hormones act as the body’s chemical messengers. Hormones are the body’s chemical messengers. But, without hormones, you wouldn’t get acne.

Both males and females have acne-causing hormones called androgens. Androgens refer to hormones with more masculinizing characteristics. Androgens play a role in the development of secondary sexual characteristics in males, such as facial hair, muscle mass, reproduction, and so forth.

The main male hormone is androgen, or testosterone. If you are a female, however, androgens exist too. However, they are produced in much smaller amounts and are weaker than their male counterparts.

Progesterone and estrogen are the main female hormones. They regulate menstrual cycles and control pregnancy. These hormones, although less powerful than androgens, can also have an impact on acne.

The androgenic hormones regulate the amount of sebum (the healthy oil that I described in the previous section) that our glands produce. These androgens aren’t produced more in acne sufferers than in others. It’s simply that their glands are sensitive to the hormones’ message to increase production.

The glands react by producing excessive amounts of sebum. The highest concentrations of sebum glands are found on the back, chest, and face. This is why acne is more common in these areas. Adolescence is the most problematic time for acne.

This is because androgens increase steadily in adolescence and signal your glands to produce more sebum and grow larger. The amount of androgen secretion decreases as teens reach the age of 18 or 19. Some women, and less often men, retain a higher sensitivity to androgens and have continued acne after adolescence. Many women get acne as adults.

Congested Pores and Narrowed Hair Canal

Millions of skin cells are lost every day. Your body constantly creates new skin cells and gets rid of the old ones. These dead cells can be removed by your body in many different ways. Your skin is one example.

The dead skin cells are carried by sebum to the outside, where they fall off. Excess oil can block the exit route for dead hair cells. The obstruction causes your hair canal’s opening to narrow and the pores in your skin, which are the exits for your hair, to become clogged.

A process known as abnormal follicular Keratinization can also block oil’s exit. This is a fancy way of saying that the oil doesn’t evaporate as quickly from the skin as it normally does.

Instead of breaking down with the sebum at the skin’s surface, dead skin cells and keratin stick together with the oil to further block the hair canals and sebaceous glands.

It is possible to get acne by not washing the oil off or by neglecting to do so. Eating a lot of junk food and greasy French fries is a bad habit. It’s not about the oil. It’s either on your stomach or on your skin.

Blackheads or Whiteheads?

Sebum, cells, and keratin are trapped together, creating a sticky mixture that blocks exit routes. The plug works in the same way as a cork in the bottle. It locks in all the stuff inside and makes it impossible for it to escape onto the skin’s surface.

Microcomedo is the name of the plug (pronounced my-krohm-e-doe). A microcomedo is too small to be seen with the naked eye. The microcomedo becomes visible when the trapped sebum builds up over time. There are two types:

Blackheads: A blackhead is a comedone that appears darkened on the skin’s surface. It’s not dirt that causes the darkened color. Instead, melanin builds up in the skin and turns it black. Also known as open comedones, blackheads can also be called open comedones.

Whiteheads: A whitehead is a comedone that remains below the skin’s surface. It’s light-colored and appears like a small, whitish bump. Closed comedones also refer to whiteheads.

The medical term for the process of creating whiteheads or blackheads is comedogenesis.

Combating Bacteria

Microcomedos can develop into and stay comedos. Sometimes, it can become an inflammatory lesion. Inflammation can be caused by skin injury or disease. In the case of acne, inflammation is due to bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes.

An inflammatory lesion is characterized by redness, swelling, heat, and sometimes even pain. These bacteria do not necessarily indicate that your acne is caused by poor hygiene. Here are some common causes of acne inflammation:

  • Papule: a small red bump that is firm and red. A pimple, zit, or pimple is another name for a pimple.It is composed of inflammatory blood cells but doesn’t contain any pus.
  • A pustule is a papule containing pus. It’s a white, whitish, goopy substance that looks like a lot of white blood cells. Also known as “pus pimples”, pustules can also be called “pus pimples”.
  • Nodule: a pus-filled, tender, often lumpy, inflamed papule or pustule lodged deeper in the skin. A cyst is sometimes used interchangeably to refer to a “nodule” due to the similarity of a cyst to a nodular acne lession.

What Exactly Is P. Acnes?

To make comedones move up the inflammation chain to a full-blown lesion, they require the aid of certain bacteria. You may be wondering how yeast is added to cakes to make them rise. What you need is Propionibacterium acnes, a bacterium that helps to make zits grow.

He (or is it she?) will be my new nickname. P. acnes is short for P. acnes. P. acnes can be described as an anaerobe. It prefers to live where there is little oxygen, such as in a low-oxygen environment in a hair follicle. P. acnes tends to be independent.

Although they are generally harmless and friendly bacteria, they can cause problems if they are allowed to thrive in the right environment (such as a clean, oily hair follicle). They are never bored and never hungry because they eat the oily, fat sebum that serves as food.

This culinary feat is possible because they produce enzymes, chemicals that are responsible for a variety of chemical reactions. Enzymes are proteins that cause chemical changes in other substances, but they don’t have to be changed. P. acne enzymes work in the same way as knives and forks to help us chop our food into smaller pieces that are easier to digest.

P. acnes makes the enzyme lipase. This enzyme can break down certain fats (triglycerides) into smaller pieces (free fatty acids) that can be digested by the body. P. acnes can eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The force of the trapped oil can cause ruptures or leaks within the walls of their comedo. This allows the free fatty acids to enter the surrounding dermis.

What Is The Role Of White Blood Cells?

The bacteria will use their lipases in order to make free fatty acids. This causes chemical 911 signals to be sent out to your white blood cells. The skin is very sensitive to free fatty acids. The body reacts to irritation by creating an army of white and red blood cells.

This sounds like the Russian Revolution! Seal the area where bacteria and free fatty acids are found. Your body’s natural defense system, white blood cells, They are accompanied by red blood cells to help clean up the mess.

Sometimes, despite their best intentions, these little cells can overdo it and cause inflammatory acne lesions. Red, swollen pustules and pimples may result from the cleanup effort. This can lead to larger lumps, papules, and nodules.

Scarring

Fibroblasts, cells found in the dermis, are responsible for repairing any injury. These cells produce collagen. Your dermis is responsible for repairing any skin damage. The appearance of a firm scar is caused by the excess production of collagen.

Scarring can also be caused by the P. acnes bacteria, which releases tissue-destroying chemicals that can cause damage to normal collagen.

Acne scars can be seen as a visible reminder of the body’s inflammation against acne outbreaks. Scarring is more likely if an acne outbreak has become deeper than usual.

How to Classify Acne

Dermatologists need to be able to describe different types of acne. This helps us understand our patients better and allows us to communicate with each other. It allows us to track the progress of our treatments. These are the main categories of acne. You’ll likely come across them in your doctor’s office.

  • Non-inflammatory acne: A person’s acne lesions are predominantly whiteheads or blackheads. Because it is characterized by comedones, it is sometimes called comedonal.
  • Inflammatory acne is distinguished by the presence of red or purple papules and macules.

One patient may have both inflammatory and non-inflammatory acne. This combination is more common in teens than in adults. Inflammatory acne is more common in adults. Your type of acne will determine how you want to treat it.

  • We use retinoids to treat acne that is predominantly comedonal, with whiteheads and blackheads. These drugs are comedolytic, which means that they break down comedones.
  • For inflammatory acne, you may need to use benzoyl peroxide more often.
  • We use benzoylperoxide when you have both types of acne.
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