What Are The Causes Of Acne?
Most people will experience the reality of acne at some time in their life.It seems to be an inevitable part of adolescence, almost a rite of passage.Lots of people find it difficult enough coping with what growing up throws at them and then along comes acne.If you understand what causes acne, you have taken the first, vital step to learning how to minimize it’s effect.
What causes acne?
The first step to understanding the root cause of acne is to understand how the skin on your face is structured.The surface of your skin has millions of tiny openings called pores, a great many of which also have tiny hairs growing up through them.The pores lead down to small oil producing glands called sebaceous glands. It is these that produce the oil known as sebum.
In normal, acne free skin, only enough sebum to help keep your skin healthy, by keeping it moisturized, is produced. It is produced by the glands and works its way up through the pore onto the surface of the skin.Keeping your skin moist is not the only function of sebum, helping to carry away dead skin cells is another important function.You can’t stop your skin getting dirty, but it is comforting to know that nature has provided a ready made solution.
Acne develops when this natural process is interrupted or thrown out of balance.This happens when the body has to learn to deal with an increase in hormone production, adolescence for example.Developing acne during this learning process is very common, hormone imbalances are rarely good news for your skin.
How acne actually forms
When your body produces extra hormones, it causes the sebaceous glands under the skin to produce much more sebum than before.Also, these hormones can make it so much more difficult for the pores of your skin to adequately remove the naturally occurring dead skin cells.The visible end result will be swelling, inflammation, infection, and skin tenderness all due to the bacterial activity inside the clogged pore.
What happens next is you begin to form various types of acne lesions on your skin; these can include whiteheads, blackheads, and pimples.Better know as acne, it is this combination of lesions that can cause so much difficulty for so many people.
Living and dealing with acne
While there is no way to 100% get rid of acne problems, there are a number of things you can do to make living with it and dealing with it easier. These include:
• Cleanse your skin – Use a gentle facial cleanser twice per day to help get rid of excess oils, dead skin cells, and bacteria.Scrubbing your skin can lead to more acne because of the irritation. Gentle cleansing is always best.
• Apply anti-acne medication – A number of excellent medications are available both over the counter and by prescription.These medications offer substantial benefits to the user. Controlling the sebum production, helping to limit the amount of bacteria on the skin and thereby encouraging the removal of dead skin cells, being the main three.
• Moisturize your skin – Avoid letting your skin get too dry and you will find your acne problems diminishing.A moisturizer that is both oil-free and light in texture is a sound choice.
Now that you know the causes of acne you are in a position to make informed choices. When you have the right information at your fingertips you are well on your way to minimizing your acne problems!
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