Acne is a common skin issue that we can see in our day-to-day life.
The difference between acne and pimples is that acne is a disease and pimples are its symptoms.
There are many types of acne. In this article, we will discuss what those are and how to treat them.
How Acne Occurs?
There are many hair follicles in your skin. These hair follicles can be clogged with sebum oil, bacteria, and dead skin cells. Then you can see a pimple occur.
If you have many pimples on your face, then you have acne. Acne is a condition and pimples are the symptoms that show you.
Acne can be treatable and you need not stress about having acne.
What Are The Causes Of Acne?
Apart from having oily skin, the following situations can also cause acne on your face.
- Hormonal changes. (Puberty, pregnancy)
- Certain medications
- Cosmetics
- Stress
- Periods
- PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome)
Types Of Acne
There are 6 types of common acne that we can see.
Blackheads
There are many pores in our skin that we cannot see. These pores can be clogged by sebum oil which is produced from our sebaceous gland and from dead skin cells.
The top of the pore is open and you can see it as a small black dot and the rest of the pore is clogged.
In this situation, we called a blackhead.
Blackheads can develop on your nose chin and sometimes on your cheeks. Also, blackheads are not painful as pimples.
Whiteheads
Whiteheads are also like blackheads which occur due to the clogging of pores by sebum oil and dead skin cells. You can see it as a small white bump.
But unlike blackheads, the top of the pores are closed in whiteheads.
Basically, whiteheads appear in your Tzone area on the face.
Papules
A papule is a small red bump that appears on your skin. It is usually less than 1 centimeter around.
Usually, papules do not contain white or yellow-colored pus.
A papule can develop into pustules by filling it with pus. This process gets a few days.
Again, the reason for forming a papule is clogging pores from bacteria, excess oil, and dead skin cells.
Pustules
Pustules are also small bumps on the skin that contain pus. You can see pustules as a white bump surrounded by red skin.
Pustules are like pimples but larger than it.
The reason for pustules is clogging pores due to the oil and dead skin cells. Then the clogged pores are infected with bacteria and it creates pus inside it.
Pustules are painful and the area around it may be red.
Nodules
Nodules are deeper underneath the skin. Also, nodules can help hard lumps to develop deep in your skin.
When your pores are clogged by sebum oil and dead skin cells, the Cutibacterium acnes make infections in the clogged pores and it can go deeper into your skin. This will create a nodule. These nodules are very painful.
If you see a red bump on your skin that does not have a head like other pimples, then that is a nodule.
Cysts
Cystic acne is the most severe acne. It is large, red, painful, soft, and filled with pus.
Unlike nodules, cysts are infected deeper than nodules in the skin.
Keep In Mind
Unlike other types of acne, nodules and cysts can not treat at home. You need to get medical advice from a dermatologist.
As you saw, the main reason for any type of acne is clogging pores with sebum oil and dead skin cells apart from genetic reasons, hormones, certain medications, and other reasons.
What you need to do is always try to clean your skin, by removing dead skin cells and excess oil. Also, identifying your skin type when you use a chemical product is very important.
Whiteheads and blackheads are non-inflammatory acne that you can control using many DIY remedies.
You should keep in mind not to touch or pop the other types of acne such as papules, pustules, nodules, and cysts. If you pop it, it may worsen the condition and infect other areas also.
Acne can affect your physical health as well as your mental health. There are many people who are suffering mentally due to their acne. You need to remember that having acne is totally OK! Having acne is not a reason to abandon people or lose their self-confidence.
What you need to do is to be patient and have your treatments. In a summary, the following steps will show you what you should do if you have any type of acne.
- Having a skincare routine
- Maintain a healthy skin
- Take medications if you have severe acne-like nodules and cysts.
