Thursday 29 December 2011

Define Acne - What In The World Is Acne?






Define Acne - What In The World Is Acne?

In order to define acne, we must first understand how acne comes into existence. Acne vulgaris (acne) is a common skin disease. It presents itself in the form of blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, pinheads, and nodules. It can also present with scaly red skin, which is known as seborrhea. Acne can be both inflammatory and noninflammatory.
Many people do not realize that the skin is an organ. In fact, it is the largest organ. The skin has both sebaceous and sweat glands. The sebaceous glands are the oil-producing glands, which are in charge of the production of sebum. When too much sebum (oil) is produced, the skin will become oily. When the pores become blocked due to the excess oil, acne will start to form. Acne begins to develop when bacteria reproduces inside blocked hair follicles, which in turn causes inflammation. In other words, define acne as inflammation of the skin due to excessive activity of the oil glands located at the bottom of the hair follicles.
Oil glands that are situated directly underneath the skin continue to produce and allow oil to exit the body through the skin openings. Sometimes the openings are blocked by the oil and dead skin cells, which build up underneath the skin's surface. Bacteria becomes a big problem as they feed on the oil and in so doing begin to multiply. When this happens, the tissues surrounding the area becomes inflamed. Inflammation that is located near the surface of the skin becomes papules (pinheads). Slightly deeper inflammation will create pustules (pimples), and the deepest kind evolves into cysts. Oil that breaks through the surface of the skin results in a whitehead. Blackheads occur when the oil mixes with oxygen and changes the top of the pimple from white to black.

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