Though acne may not be a serious problem, it can sometimes lead to psychological and mental stress. Many people lose their self esteem because of this problem.
So what causes acne? Acne is caused by hormonal disorder. Excessive secretion of the skin oil glands combine with naturally occurring dead skin cells and block the hair follicles. This oil secretion beneath the blocked pore provides a perfect environment for the skin bacteria Propionibacterium acnes to multiply, and thus the skin inflames producing the visible lesion.
Acne commonly occurs in adolescents and young adults. Almost 85 percent of people between the ages of 11 and 30 have acne outbreaks at some point. Acne tends to go away by the time you reach your thirties, but for some people it may even go up to their forties and fifties.
Causes of Acne:
Several other factors that cause Acne are:
• Hormonal changes during menstrual cycles and puberty.
• Stress, as it causes an increase in output of hormones from the adrenal glands.
• Hyperactive sebaceous glands, secondary to the three hormone sources above.
• Build-up of dead skin cells.
• Bacteria in the pores.
• Skin irritation or scratching of any sort will activate inflammation.
• Use of anabolic steroids.
• Medicines that contain halogens (iodides, chlorides, bromides), lithium, barbiturates, or androgens.
• Sudden exposure to high levels of chlorine compounds, particularly chlorinated dioxins.
Adult acne:
25% of adult men and 50% of adult women get affected by adult acne at some time in their adult lives. It can cause depression and social anxiety the same way it can in a teenager. Adult acne is more common than people may think. The causes of adult acne are unknown; however it is believed to occur because of these reasons:
• Recurrence of acne that cleared up after adolescence
• Flare-up of acne after a period of relative quiet, especially during pregnancy
It is best to consult a dermatologist for the proper treatment. You would have to use Clear Skin Regimen using benzoyl peroxide. Treatment for adult acne is the same as treatment for teen acne.
Body acne:
Body acne is a common problem which occurs mostly on the chest, back and buttocks. Like facial acne, stress and hormones are the cause. Other factors like perspiration and wearing tight fitting clothing also causes body acne. Tight-fitting clothing traps perspiration against the skin and mixes with surface oils, thus clogging the pores and causing blemishes.
Treatments:
The treatment is aimed at healing the existing lesions, stopping new lesions from forming, and preventing scarring. The dermatologist would prescribe several over-the-counter (OTC) medicines depending on the extent of the problem. Some of the medicines would be topical to apply on the skin and others may be oral.
Some of the common OTC topical medicines are:
• Benzoyl peroxide – This helps to destroy acne and also reduces oil production.
• Resorcinol – This helps in breaking down blackheads and whiteheads.
• Salicylic acid – This helps in breaking down blackheads and whiteheads. It also cuts down the shedding of cells lining the hair follicles.
• Sulfur - This helps in breaking down blackheads and whiteheads.
The prescription topical medicines include:
• Antibiotics - They help slow or stop the growth of bacteria and reduce inflammation.
• Vitamin A derivatives – They help in unplugging the existing comedones, thus allowing other topical medicines to enter the follicles.
• Others - Benzoyl peroxide, sodium sulfacetamide/sulfur or Azelaic acid help to reduce oil production or help stop or slow the growth of bacteria and reduce inflammation.
Following these treatments would cure your acne, and the psychological stress and embarrassment caused by this disease will also go away.
Showing posts with label blackheads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blackheads. Show all posts
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
About Acne - What can you do to cure or alleviate acne?
Acne gives the combination of symptoms like greasy skin, white heads, black heads, pimples, inflammation and scar formation. Acne mostly affects young people in the age 14 - 25, but also sometimes older persons, like women in their menopause. Most teenagers experience outburst of acne, some only little, but for others acne may develop into a serious skin ailment with great cosmetic impact.
THE SKIN ANATOMY
To understand the acne process, some knowledge about skin anatomy and physiology is essential:
The skin has there layers: The outer layer called epidermis consists of epithelial cells. Under this lies the dermis consisting of connective tissue. At the bottom there is a layer called the hypodermis consisting mostly of fat cells.
The skin has narrow pores extending from the surface down to the top of the sub-dermis, called hair follicles. A hair extend from a growth zone in the bottom of each hair follicle and out at the skin surface. Around the hair in the dermis, there are small glands called sebaceous glands. These glands produce a fatty substance, sebum, which empty through the follicle opening and lubricates the hair and the skin.
THE ACNE PROCESS
Acne starts by the glands in the hair follicles increasing their sebum production. This will in the beginning only cause greasy skin. Eventually the sebum in the entrance of the follicles mixes with dead epithelial cells. This mix reacts chemically to forms hard props, comedones that close the pore entrances. According to the color of the comedones, they are called black heads or white heads.
Then the closed hair follicle gets filled with sebum and swell. The swollen follicle then gets infected by bacteria. The bacteria and the accumulated sebum cause the follicle and the surrounding skin to get inflamed, forming a pimple. At last the inflamed follicle burst and empties its content. Eventually the affected area heals. Sometimes the inflammation reaches deep into the skin surrounding the follicle and destroys skin tissue. This will cause more or less distinct scars that may reside permanently. Typically an affected person will have follicles in all these stages of the process at any given time.
THE CAUSES OF ACNE
The increased hormone production in the puberty stimulates to increased sebum production. The male hormone, testosterone, seem to contribute most. Also girls begin to produce more testosterone in the puberty. Also in other periods, altered hormone production may give acne, for example by women in the menopause.
Since not all teens get acne in any degree, the increased hormone level cannot be the whole cause of the increased sebum production. The follicles of affected persons must for some reason react stronger upon the higher hormone level.
Dietary factors, like eating too much fat, too much sugar or the wrong kind of fat may aggravate acne by some individuals. Lack of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids may also contribute to development of acne.
Poor digestion, lazy colon and constipation aggravate acne in some individuals, probably due to productions of toxins in the intestines. Lazy colon may be caused by dietary faults, like lack of fiber.
Very frequent washing and use of strong soaps aggravate acne, and does not alleviate the condition as many think. Rubbing, scrubbing or squeezing the skin may also aggravate acne.
Here are some other factors that may contribute in causing acne or aggravating the condition.
- Stress
- Some contraceptive agents
- Environmental or domestic pollution.
- Humid environments.
- Some antidepressants.
- Testosterone and anabolic steroids used for treatment or by body-building.
- Use of some types of greasy cosmetic products.
- Some antiperspirant products.
- Exposing the skin for chlorine or other halogens, or medicines containing halogens.
- Women may get aggravated acne 2-7 days before menstruation.
WHAT CAN YOU DO YOURSELF TO AVOID OR TO TREAT ACNE
Sometimes Acne is so severe that special medical treatment is required, and sometimes the causes of acne necessitate medical treatment. But you can do much yourself also. Here are listed things you can do yourself to prevent or treat acne:
1. Some advices about diet that may help prevent and cure acne:
- Do not consume a great amount of fat.
- The fat you add to the food should be natural oils. Olive oil is ideal, but use other types of oils too, like walnut oil, sunflower oil and soy oil. However, do not use only soy oil as many tend to do. Using only soy oil will give you too much of some fatty acids and too less of others.
- Eat much fish, seafood and not so much meat.
- Eat food with a high fiber content to regulate the digestion, like vegetables, whole cereals, full corn bread and fruit.
2. Here are some things you should avoid.
- Do not use greasy or heavy cosmetics that clog your skin and are difficult to wash away.
- Do not use strong irritating antiperspirants.
- Do not wash with strong soap or cleaners that dry up your skin and take away all the natural oily protection in your skin.
- If you perform body-building, do not use anabolic steroids or other hormonal supplements.
- Use clothes that allow air to reach your body surface to avoid collection of humidity and overheating of your skin.
3. Use of rinsing milk or solutions
You can rinse your skin with mild products especially made to dissolve the plugs in your pores, and to make the environment in your skin unfriendly to bacteria causing infection. Some of these products are just products to wash your skin with one ore more times a day; others should be on during night and flushed away in the morning.
Salicylic acid is a mild ingredient often used in these products to dissolve the comedones. The products usually also contain ingredients that work antibacterial and stimulate the skin's own cleaning activities, like Tea tree oil or Echinacea extract.
4. Use of gels and creams to treat acne and protect your skin
After the rinsing, you should apply some treatment gel, cream or lotion onto your skin to achieve these effects:
- To make your skin soft and elastic.
- To protect your skin against the environment.
- To acts further to dissolve the clogging of your pores.
- To soothe and alleviate inflammation.
- To kill the bacteria causing infection or make an environment hostile for the bacteria.
- To stimulate the skin to clean itself.
- To stimulate the skin to heal.
- To be used as a isolating layer between the skin itself and cosmetics
In order to protect, make the skin soft and further dissolve the comedones, many products contain natural plant oils that are easily absorbed into the epidermis, like Tea tree oil, Rose hip oil, Lavender oil and Olive oil.
Ingredients used in products to reduce inflammation and to stimulate healing may be: Aloe Vera extract, Viola Tricolour extract, Rose hip oil, Vitamin E and Vitamin A.
Tea tree oil and Grapefruit seed extract are natural antibacterial agents used in many of these products. In other products artificial compounds like Benzoyl peroxide are used.
5. Oral supplements to fight the acne process and nourish the skin
Supplements taken by mouth to nourish your skin may be useful. The purpose of these supplements is more or less the same as that of nourishing creams.
- To make the sebum more fluid so it drains more easily.
- To stimulate the substance exchange and cleaning processes in your skin,
- To stimulate your skin to heal,
- To give your skin building nutrients necessary to heal.
Ingredients often used in these supplements to stimulate the cleaning and healing processes in the skin are: Vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B3, B6, C, D, E, Folic acid, Beta carotene, Bioflavonoids, Magnesium, Copper, Zinc, selenium, anti-oxidants from Green tea, Metylsulfonyl methane.
Nutrient found in these products used as material to rebuild damaged skin and to give a sebum with better consistency are: Evening primrose oil, Olive oil, Flax seed oil, Borage oil, Soy oil, Wheat germ oil and Lecithin.
Gum guggul extract used in oral products has an anti-biotic effect, and helps against spreading of the acne infection and thus helps against scar formation.
THE SKIN ANATOMY
To understand the acne process, some knowledge about skin anatomy and physiology is essential:
The skin has there layers: The outer layer called epidermis consists of epithelial cells. Under this lies the dermis consisting of connective tissue. At the bottom there is a layer called the hypodermis consisting mostly of fat cells.
The skin has narrow pores extending from the surface down to the top of the sub-dermis, called hair follicles. A hair extend from a growth zone in the bottom of each hair follicle and out at the skin surface. Around the hair in the dermis, there are small glands called sebaceous glands. These glands produce a fatty substance, sebum, which empty through the follicle opening and lubricates the hair and the skin.
THE ACNE PROCESS
Acne starts by the glands in the hair follicles increasing their sebum production. This will in the beginning only cause greasy skin. Eventually the sebum in the entrance of the follicles mixes with dead epithelial cells. This mix reacts chemically to forms hard props, comedones that close the pore entrances. According to the color of the comedones, they are called black heads or white heads.
Then the closed hair follicle gets filled with sebum and swell. The swollen follicle then gets infected by bacteria. The bacteria and the accumulated sebum cause the follicle and the surrounding skin to get inflamed, forming a pimple. At last the inflamed follicle burst and empties its content. Eventually the affected area heals. Sometimes the inflammation reaches deep into the skin surrounding the follicle and destroys skin tissue. This will cause more or less distinct scars that may reside permanently. Typically an affected person will have follicles in all these stages of the process at any given time.
THE CAUSES OF ACNE
The increased hormone production in the puberty stimulates to increased sebum production. The male hormone, testosterone, seem to contribute most. Also girls begin to produce more testosterone in the puberty. Also in other periods, altered hormone production may give acne, for example by women in the menopause.
Since not all teens get acne in any degree, the increased hormone level cannot be the whole cause of the increased sebum production. The follicles of affected persons must for some reason react stronger upon the higher hormone level.
Dietary factors, like eating too much fat, too much sugar or the wrong kind of fat may aggravate acne by some individuals. Lack of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids may also contribute to development of acne.
Poor digestion, lazy colon and constipation aggravate acne in some individuals, probably due to productions of toxins in the intestines. Lazy colon may be caused by dietary faults, like lack of fiber.
Very frequent washing and use of strong soaps aggravate acne, and does not alleviate the condition as many think. Rubbing, scrubbing or squeezing the skin may also aggravate acne.
Here are some other factors that may contribute in causing acne or aggravating the condition.
- Stress
- Some contraceptive agents
- Environmental or domestic pollution.
- Humid environments.
- Some antidepressants.
- Testosterone and anabolic steroids used for treatment or by body-building.
- Use of some types of greasy cosmetic products.
- Some antiperspirant products.
- Exposing the skin for chlorine or other halogens, or medicines containing halogens.
- Women may get aggravated acne 2-7 days before menstruation.
WHAT CAN YOU DO YOURSELF TO AVOID OR TO TREAT ACNE
Sometimes Acne is so severe that special medical treatment is required, and sometimes the causes of acne necessitate medical treatment. But you can do much yourself also. Here are listed things you can do yourself to prevent or treat acne:
1. Some advices about diet that may help prevent and cure acne:
- Do not consume a great amount of fat.
- The fat you add to the food should be natural oils. Olive oil is ideal, but use other types of oils too, like walnut oil, sunflower oil and soy oil. However, do not use only soy oil as many tend to do. Using only soy oil will give you too much of some fatty acids and too less of others.
- Eat much fish, seafood and not so much meat.
- Eat food with a high fiber content to regulate the digestion, like vegetables, whole cereals, full corn bread and fruit.
2. Here are some things you should avoid.
- Do not use greasy or heavy cosmetics that clog your skin and are difficult to wash away.
- Do not use strong irritating antiperspirants.
- Do not wash with strong soap or cleaners that dry up your skin and take away all the natural oily protection in your skin.
- If you perform body-building, do not use anabolic steroids or other hormonal supplements.
- Use clothes that allow air to reach your body surface to avoid collection of humidity and overheating of your skin.
3. Use of rinsing milk or solutions
You can rinse your skin with mild products especially made to dissolve the plugs in your pores, and to make the environment in your skin unfriendly to bacteria causing infection. Some of these products are just products to wash your skin with one ore more times a day; others should be on during night and flushed away in the morning.
Salicylic acid is a mild ingredient often used in these products to dissolve the comedones. The products usually also contain ingredients that work antibacterial and stimulate the skin's own cleaning activities, like Tea tree oil or Echinacea extract.
4. Use of gels and creams to treat acne and protect your skin
After the rinsing, you should apply some treatment gel, cream or lotion onto your skin to achieve these effects:
- To make your skin soft and elastic.
- To protect your skin against the environment.
- To acts further to dissolve the clogging of your pores.
- To soothe and alleviate inflammation.
- To kill the bacteria causing infection or make an environment hostile for the bacteria.
- To stimulate the skin to clean itself.
- To stimulate the skin to heal.
- To be used as a isolating layer between the skin itself and cosmetics
In order to protect, make the skin soft and further dissolve the comedones, many products contain natural plant oils that are easily absorbed into the epidermis, like Tea tree oil, Rose hip oil, Lavender oil and Olive oil.
Ingredients used in products to reduce inflammation and to stimulate healing may be: Aloe Vera extract, Viola Tricolour extract, Rose hip oil, Vitamin E and Vitamin A.
Tea tree oil and Grapefruit seed extract are natural antibacterial agents used in many of these products. In other products artificial compounds like Benzoyl peroxide are used.
5. Oral supplements to fight the acne process and nourish the skin
Supplements taken by mouth to nourish your skin may be useful. The purpose of these supplements is more or less the same as that of nourishing creams.
- To make the sebum more fluid so it drains more easily.
- To stimulate the substance exchange and cleaning processes in your skin,
- To stimulate your skin to heal,
- To give your skin building nutrients necessary to heal.
Ingredients often used in these supplements to stimulate the cleaning and healing processes in the skin are: Vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B3, B6, C, D, E, Folic acid, Beta carotene, Bioflavonoids, Magnesium, Copper, Zinc, selenium, anti-oxidants from Green tea, Metylsulfonyl methane.
Nutrient found in these products used as material to rebuild damaged skin and to give a sebum with better consistency are: Evening primrose oil, Olive oil, Flax seed oil, Borage oil, Soy oil, Wheat germ oil and Lecithin.
Gum guggul extract used in oral products has an anti-biotic effect, and helps against spreading of the acne infection and thus helps against scar formation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)