Get acquainted with types of acne and its causes to treat it efficiently!
Among universal problems affecting teenagers, acne vulgaris is the most commonly encountered problems. Almost 90% of people suffer from acne at some time or the other during their life. Thus, it is one of the most scared diseases in the world. No wonder teens flock the skin specialists’ clinics to get the envious skin they dream everyday. The skin specialists if asked say that daily they encounter many acne patients with wide variations. There are different types of acne found in different people. Let’s see what they are-
Types of acne -
Depending upon the pimples and type of skin damage they cause, different types of acne have been defined. They are as follows-
- Pustules: these are nothing but pimples that are pus-filled and inflamed comedones with reddish edges.
- Papules: The pinkish bumps seen on different parts of skin are called papules.
- Nodular acne: Solid and painful skin lesions that are deep within the dermis are called nodular acne.
- Cystic acne: this is severe form of acne in which the infected content of a pustule erupt below the skin. This makes body defend this infection, thus leading to inflammation with redness and swelling. This many times leaves an unsightly scar.
- Comedones: the subnormal eruption of acne is comedone with the enlarged puffy hair follicle. If it is under the skin, it is whitehead and when it erupts to surface, it becomes blackhead.
- Acne rosacea: these are usually adult acne occurring between ages 30-60. It usually accompanies acne vulgaris and presents itself with patchy red bumpy skin of face, neck and/or chest. Red oily skin with scars is usually present.
- Acne cosmetica: due to use of excess or wrong cosmetics, sometimes skin gives rise to allergic acne, which are called acne cosmetica. Usually this is short term outbreak and not very severe.
- Acne conglobata: numerous pustules and nodules covering back, chest, buttocks etc especially in males are called acne conglobata. Because they are connected beneath to the lower skin layers, they leave excessive scarring. If this becomes very severe with infected nodules, fever, joint pains, and weight loss, it is termed as acne fulminans that is a medical emergency. Though very rare to happen.
Now when we know the types of acne, let’s see what the basic causes for this disfiguring acne lesions are -
- While listing the causes, mainly our skin itself should be blamed for causing acne. Yes, because of the sebaceous glands in the skin, the oil or sebum is produced. This sebum is the major cause for acne. When the sebum clogs the skin pore, a bacterial infection may occur that leads to acne.
- However, this excess sebum production is the result of hormonal influences. So, now hormones get the blame. The hormones, especially the androgenic hormones that work aggressively during puberty lead to enlargement of sebaceous glands leading to more sebum secretion and more acne lesions.
- Heredity: If father or mother has suffered severe acne in their teens, there is more likelihood of their offspring suffering from it during teenage.
- Progesterone: many adolescent girls’ acne flair up before menstrual cycle. This is the result of hormone progesterone playing mischief. Also for the same reason, some pregnant women keep developing acne throughout the pregnancy. Also start or stop of birth control pills result in acne at times.
- Drug acne: certain drugs like barbiturates, testosterone, lithium, anabolic steroids etc can lead to severe acne at times.
- Stress: modern day stress and strain is said to be the exciting cause for acne. Though definitive evidence lacks, it is seen especially in acne rosacea that emotional and psychological disturbances aggravate the condition.
- Some people correlate the acne flair up with faulty irregular diet, drinking less water, irregular sleep habits leading to stress, and even vitamin deficiency.
Understanding the types and causes of acne is very important from treatment point of view. Eradicating the cause definitely increases the chances of acquiring flawless skin at the earliest!