Hey guys, this is going to be a two parter, because it simply cannot fit all in one without boring the reader (or maybe it’s just me that has the attention span of a gnat). At any rate, I wanted to share with your this educational piece about the various types of acne cysts and generally, the types of acne that can occur on the skin.
It is likely that you may have experienced one or all of them if you are reading this blog, so it should be good reading material if not to reinforce what you already know, then to educate you a little more on WHY these types of acne typically occur in so many people today.
Let’s start with the foundation of what all acne is for a general overview of what acne stems from in general.
Acne – A General Overview
Acne is a disease of the hair follicles, usually located on the face, chest and back. Congested pores also known as a whitehead or a blackhead, tender red bumps known as pimples or zits, pustules and occasionally cysts or boils appear. Whitehead and blackhead are also known as comedos. A whitehead is an open comedo.
The hair follicle dilates with skin debris, oil and bacteria and has an obstructed opening to the skin. A whitehead may rupture and cause a low-grade skin inflammatory reaction. A blackhead, like a whitehead is a dilated hair follicle full of skin debris, oil and bacteria. A blackhead has a wider opening to the skin and has been capped with a blackened mass of skin debris.
After an inflammation forms the body sends white blood cells to fight the infection. The liquid combination of oil, skin debris, bacteria and infection fighting white blood cells become pus. A papule is a small, solid round bump rising from the skin and is basically a pimple or zit before the pus forms.
A pustule is a papule that has a collection of pus in the center of infected area and is on the top layer or two of the skin. A pimple is an infected papule that is deeper than two dermal layers. Several types of inflammation can occur and are the result of different types of conditions.
Mild Acne
The most common form of these types of breakouts is mild and appears in most males and females. Mild breakouts are usually in the form of pustules, papules and comedos and can be hormonal. Treatment includes using an over the counter topical cream. It is not usually necessary to seek medical treatment. Further breakouts can be prevented by practicing good personal hygiene, cleaning the face and hands often with antibacterial soap and avoiding pore clogging skin irritants like cosmetics.
