Top Two Causes of Acne – and What You Can Do About Them By Jacob K Smith At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Acne is a skin condition that is characterized by pimples and blemishes on the skin. It tends to afflict the upper body, and especially the face, making it a rather distressing condition in a very image-conscious world. Certain groups of people seem to be more prone to acne than others. Teenagers and expectant women seem to be particularly prone to acne. This is attributed to hormonal changes that take place both during teenage (particularly puberty), as well as during pregnancy. Acne, especially the severer cases of it can be extremely distressing. People who find themselves suffering from it, especially the teenagers, are often ready to give just about anything, if they can be assured of a cure to it.

Now it is often said that the best way to beat an enemy is by first understanding him. Similarly, it may be said that the best way to beat acne is by first understanding what it is that causes it – and trying to see what you can do about it.

1) The first major cause of acne, as alluded to earlier, is hormonal change- especially the type that takes place during teenage and pregnancy. What exactly happens here is that under the influence of certain hormones, oil (sebum) producing glands under the skin produce excessive amounts of it. The excessive amounts of sebum produced, in turn, attract the growth of the acne producing bacteria- which happens to be a bacteria species that actually feeds on the sebum. Ironically, though, it is not the bacteria that causes acne per se. What tends to happen is that the presence of the acne bacteria on the skin (as a result of the excessive sebum, which is in turn a result of the hormonal changes), causes the body to produce white blood cells to combat the bacteria. In combating the acne bacteria, the white blood cells produce a certain enzyme - and it this enzyme that is seen to have the inflammatory effect that manifests as acne.

There doesn’t seem to be a lot you can do about the hormonal changes that cause excessive production of sebum, which invites the acne bacteria, ultimately leading to an acne case. But there is something you can do to short-circuit the process, between hormonal change and actual incidence of acne. This is by, not trying to interfere with the sebum production (which is under the influence of hormones), but by way of reducing the sebum on which acne bacteria feeds – hence making the skin inhospitable to the bacteria. By the way, sebum is skin oil. It is having plenty of sebum that qualifies you to be termed as having ‘oily skin.’ So the thing to do to short circuit acne here would be to keep your skin dry. You may consider enlisting the help of one of the skin drying aids.

2) The second major cause of acne is the blockage of the pores on the skin. This leads to the sebum produced by hair follicles on the skin being trapped underneath. The trapping of sebum underneath the skin in turn leads to the formation of the type of acne characterized by the blemishes: whiteheads and blackheads.

The main thing you can do about the second type of acne – which tends to be the most distressing is to avoid anything that can block your skin pores. There are skin care products that are known to block skin pores, and these are what tend to cause this type of acne. Skin cleansing (in addition to regular cleaning of course) may also help, in unclogging pores that may have gotten clogged in spite of your best efforts.

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