What is Acne?

Since this blog will be about my experience with acne, it only makes sense for me to begin with the basics, don’t you think? So in this first blog post, let’s learn more about what exactly acne is.

Hereeee we go …!

(Maybe if I sound more cheerful, it would help to compensate for the horrible topic??)

Our skin is made up of many pores (or hair follicles), and situated at the base of these are oil glands. For someone with normal skin, the oil produced by the gland is excreted to the surface of the skin and eventually washed off, bringing with it dead skin cells. In acne skin however, the oil and dead skin cells do not shed properly but instead harden to clog the pore. These plugs can appear as:

▪ Whiteheads – the clog lies under the skin surface or under a layer of skin with a very

tiny opening. Since it is not exposed to air, the plug is not oxidised  

and appears white in colour.

▪ Blackheads – the clog is under a skin layer with a larger opening, hence it is exposed

 to air and the resulting oxidation turns the plug black in colour.

Whiteheads and blackheads are classified as non-inflammatory acne. When these clogged pores combine with bacteria, the pore becomes infected and inflamed which leads to… Ta da! A Pimple!

These pimples are classified as such:

▪ Papules – these are visible on the surface of the skin as small, pink bumps

▪ Pustules – they are bumps that are red at the base with pus at the top

        (These are the most annoying in my opinion! No amount of concealer can 

        cover up the spot of pus, in fact makeup makes it stand out more! Also from 

        the side view you can see an obvious protrusion of pus, which is SO

        GROSS.)

▪ Nodules – these guys are large painful bumps that are solid to the touch and lie deep

        under the skin

▪ Cysts – similar to nodules but these are filled with pus

   (Okay, these are probably worse than pustules because the area 

   of pus is larger and will also probably look awful under concealer)

Please do not squeeze or aggravate your pimples, ESPECIALLY if they are nodules or cysts as they scar very easily! The best thing to do is to leave them alone till they go away on their own. I know this is probably not what you want to hear, as the last 2 types of pimples can take months to heal.

The severity of acne have been categorised into 4 main grades by dermatologists:

▪ Grade I – this is the mildest type of acne where mostly blackheads are present with

      generally no inflammations. There may be small pimples but they occur

      only occasionally.

▪ Grade II – moderate acne where some inflammation is present. Blackheads are more

        widespread with more frequent papules and pustules.

▪ Grade III – this is considered to be severe acne with more papules and pustules. At

         this stage, there will also be nodules on the skin. Inflammation and

         redness are obvious. People in this category also often have breakouts on

         other areas of the body like the neck, back, chest, etc.

▪ Grade IV – the most severe form of acne where the skin has papules, pustules,

         nodules and also cysts. There is a lot of inflammation and pimples are

         usually painful to the touch

Grades I and II can still be managed by over-the-counter (OTC) topical treatments but if you have grade III or IV type of acne, a visit to the dermatologist is recommended as OTC topicals alone are often not sufficient. Of course, if you continue to read my blog you will see that I believe in other more natural methods of healing acne, such as changes in lifestyle and diet. However, natural methods often take more time to work and I think the stress and depression (not to mention the scars!) for those suffering from severe acne may warrant the quickest solution, even if we know medicinal drugs are ultimately bad for our bodies.

Hope the above has been educational!

xoxo,

Nicole