What Is Acne Vulgaris? Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
J.R. has studied dietetics and nutrition. He lives in West Virginia, and he enjoys cooking, movies, tech, and learning new hobbies.
Pimple Facts
There is a lot of old wive’s tales about acne and its causes. The truth is that most of these things are simply not true. Here is a list of misconceptions about acne and people suffering from pimples:
- You’re face is dirty; you do not wash it enough.
- You eat too much chocolate.
- You eat too many greasy foods.
- Acne is exclusively a teen disease.
- Constantly washing your face will cure acne.
- Sunlight will get rid of acne.
- Popping pimples makes them go away faster.
- Alcohol will dry the oil and make acne go away.
What causes acne?
Do Clogged Pores Cause Acne?
Acne Vulgaris is a skin condition that commonly occurs during puberty in a high percentage of the population. Many people who suffer from acne refer to its different visual factors such as blackheads or whiteheads. It is also known popularly as zits or pimples and it comes in different severities for each individual.
Acne occurs when the skin’s pores become clogged with dead skin cells or oil. Bacteria begins residing inside the pores and causes clogging to become infected. The infection mounts and the skin surrounding the pore becomes red and swollen as a result.
A few spots or blemishes here and there is the lesser form of the skin disease, but acne vulgaris can become very serious and turn cyst-like and not leave much acreage on the face, arms and back untouched. The more serious variety of acne vulgaris can leave severe scars that never heal and require a dermatologist’s attention in order to treat them. Acne scars are very expensive to make disappear and so prevention of them is the wisest approach.
Acne Prevention—Stop the Huge Zit
Let’s take a look at a proper face regimen that can help reduce the risk of acne scars. Using these techniques on blackheads will reduce the amount of serious acne bumps.
Blackhead care is the best way to stop acne in its tracks and anyone wishing to give their face the best chance possible should try to learn how to rid the face of blackheads and narrow the chance for them to become infected and grow into huge pimples that hurt and cause scars.
Acne Treatments That Work
The Causes of Acne Vulgaris
All Clogged Up and No Place to Go
The cause of acne vulgaris is clogged pores. The more severe the condition the more likely scarring will occur. Acne itself does not cause huge pimples or redness, but these things are a symptom of an infection inside the clogged pore.
The clogging of pores should be treated regularly in order to allow for sebum (skin oil) to flow and the face to be properly disinfected in order to prevent the swelling and redness that accompanies a bacterial infection of the afflicted pores.
Acne Vulgaris usually begins at puberty as a result of the hormonal changes that occur in the body that is readying for adulthood and its sexual prime. The body becomes overworked in its attempt to prepare the skin for the quickly changing body beneath the skin. Bones are growing and muscles are getting thicker. The result is an increase in sebum production in order that the skin not become marred with stretch marks. Even then, it is known that stretch marks do appear even though sebum production increases. This is just a sign that the body is changing very rapidly.
Diet
Although it is commonly believed that acne is brought on by eating chocolate and greasy foods, there is no scientific evidence to support this belief. Acne is hormonal in nature and that is all that can be said about it with any amount of credibility.
Though diet may or may not play a role in acne, it is known that oil based makeups and lotions may lend to the severity of acne blemishes. It is wise to search for products that do not affect your acne. Spending a little more on makeup and lotions can help reduce the affect those products have on your acne.
Heredity
Acne can also run in families. It is very possible that you received acne through your genetics. Even though there is no way to know if acne's severity is passed to children from their parents, it is usually the case that one of the parents had particularly severe acne if one of the children suffers from it.
What Are the Symptoms of Acne?
Acne Vulgaris comes with a wide range of symptoms and looks. Most often, acne emerges as facial blemishes that referred to as blackheads or whiteheads and these may have a range as far as the entire face, back of the neck, back, chest, buttocks and upper arms.
Read More From Bellatory
There is another type of acne that can cause very severe scarring in all of the locations mentioned above. Cystic lesions are very deep and are better treated by a dermatologist. These lesions can be very painful and will result in such massive scarring that the patient suffering from them really has no recourse except a doctor or dermatologist.
When suffering from cystic lesions, medications can be prescribed to help resolve them and provide the person with some relief. Seek a doctor or dermatologist when your acne is deep and feels like a lump under the skin. No amount of squeezing can help these lesions and there isn’t anything you can do at home to stop them or even treat them.
Most Effective Acne Products
| Brand | Product | Price |
|---|---|---|
Neutrogena | Complete Acne Therapy System | $22.62 |
Acnefree | 24 Hour Acne Clearing System Kit | $17.97 |
Exposed | Acne Treatment - Basic Kit | $59.95 |
Noncomedogenic Products Do Not Clog Pores
When buying facial products such as soap and acne wash, make sure the package says that the product is noncomedogenic. This term is very important for a product when you are intending to use it on your face and body when you have acne.
Noncomedogenic simply means that the product does not clog pores or lend to acne in any way. Products can actually lead toward more severe acne unless they are noncomedogenic. Quit using regular soaps and body washes during the periods in life that acne begins to creep up on you.
Of course noncomedogenic products are more expensive than other products but there is good reason. They cost more to make and take thorough investigation by scientists in order to be noncomedogenic.
The lesson here is, spend more on your products and get more out of them. You need your pores cleaned out and you do not want to add more obstruction to already clogged pores. If you have had bad luck with acne products in the past, this is probably because they were not noncomedogenic.
You can get rid of acne.
More Skin Acne Advice
When you first start dealing with acne, your first instincts will be to get the core out by squeezing the pimples. Picking, scratching or squeezing pimples is one of the worst ways of dealing with an outbreak. I really suggest you read the link to the right to find out why you should not deal with pimples in this unhealthy way.
If you are one of the lucky ones who have only a few zits here and there, you do not have serious acne. You can deal with these types of outbreaks without a doctor and can treat them effectively with products that contain benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid. If you follow the instructions on the product’s label you will get the best results out of the product.
If OTC products are not effective in treating your acne outbreaks, you might need to see a doctor and get a prescription that is a bit stronger than anything you can get over the counter. If you are a female, you can even get certain types of birth control that will help lessen the severity of acne. Consult your doctor for more information on prescription acne products.
Acne Vulagaris Summary
Some people are born more cool than others, so, acne does not affect everyone the same. For those that deal with horrible acne and it does not bother them, I hand you kudos. Some of us feel terribly afflicted and unattractive during our worst acne days. Do not lose hope. There are ways to deal with pimples that will help reduce them.
It is important to remember that acne is usually a temporary condition, and so, the future is bright. If you have particularly bad acne, you can always seek a dermatologist for advice on lessening the severity rapidly. There are many medications that will help ease your situation. Acne has no cure but you can encourage better days and not so bad bad days.
The first step to treating acne is to try some over-the-counter products. The ones listed herein will help solve the conditions that prepare the way for acne breakouts. It isn’t cheap to treat acne, but your face is worth every dime.
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© 2014 JRs
Comments
Devika Primić from Dubrovnik, Croatia on January 15, 2014:
Acne Vulgaris - What Is It? is another one of your informative and helpful hubs you have chosen useful titles and I am glad to have stopped by here the problem of acne allows me to know more.
