Your skin, especially your facial areas, determines how you look and feel about yourself. This is mainly because your face is one of the first parts of your body another person notices when they meet you. Common skin conditions like acne Manteca are likely to happen to you at one point in your life or another. More about acne and its effects are discussed below.
What is Acne?
This is a skin infection caused by your hair follicles plugged with dead skin cells and oil, resulting in blackheads, whiteheads, or pimples. Acne affects most people of all ages but is predominant in teenagers.
Acne can be persistent despite effective treatments being available. As one pimple heals slowly and starts to go away, others begin to grow.
Acne scars your skin while causing emotional distress. Typical with many conditions, early treatments provide the best results.
Signs and Symptoms of Acne
The severity and site of your acne determine its symptoms, including:
· Blackheads which are open plugged pores
· Whiteheads that are closed, clogged pores
· Pimples papules containing pus at their tips
· Red, small, tender bumps
· Painful lumps filled with pus beneath the skin called cystic lesions
· Solid, large, painful bumps called nodules under your skin
Causes of Acne
The major factors include:
· Hair follicles blocked with dead skin cells or oil
· Excess sebum oil productions
· Inflammation
· Bacteria
Acne is commonly found on your forehead, face, upper back, chest, and shoulders, as these parts of your skin have the most sebaceous oil glands. Since the hair follicle is connected to the oil gland, it may bulge to produce a whitehead. The sore may open and darken, forming a blackhead. This looks like dirt caught in between pores but is oil and bacteria congesting the pore, which may turn brown on exposure to air.
Pimples develop when blocked hair follicles get infected with inflamed bacteria, raised, red spots with a white center.
Several things may increase your chances of acne infection, including:
· Certain medications like drugs with testosterone, corticosteroids, or lithium
· Hormonal changes such as androgen increase during puberty, causing sebaceous glands to swell, forming more sebum. Midlife hormonal changes in women may also cause breakouts.
· If you have it, stress may worsen acne but may not necessarily cause it.
· Certain foods like bread and chips may worsen acne
Treatment
If after using some ointments to no avail, your dermatologist may help you:
· Avoid scarring or some other damage to your skin
· Control your acne
· Make scars less visible
Acne medications reduce swelling and oil production by treating bacterial infections. The results are not visible for at least four to eight weeks.
Typical topical medications include:
· Antibiotics
· Retinoids
· Salicylic acid and azelaic acid
· Dapsone
Oral medications include:
· Anti-androgen agents
· Antibiotics
· Isotretinoin
· Combined oral contraceptives
Several therapies may be done, including:
· Chemical peel
· Light therapy
· Steroid injection
· Drainage and extraction
Acne is a condition that many of us have experienced in our lives. The resulting pimples are bothersome and addictive to pop. This may result in scarring that destroys our facial appearance. Visit us online or check our offices out in Manteca, CA, for any acne treatments.