Acne Symptoms
Hormones play a vital role in our body, especially to the formation of the dreaded acne symptoms experienced mostly by teens. Although it may come at various stages in a person’s life, it is no doubt a problem that causes not only physical discomforts but emotional as well, most commonly low self-esteem. So what is acne, what causes it, and what are the symptoms associated with this problem? Clinically speaking, acne is defined as a skin condition that causes to form blackheads, white heads, and inflamed lesions such as pustules, papules, and cysts. For teens, these are generally called pimples or zits.
The cause of acne varies widely and depends on many factors such as environment, hygiene, and body hormones among others. This little problem starts to occur when a pore in our skin is clogged. These tiny holes or pores contain a hair and an oil gland that help lubricate the skin and remove dead skin cells. There would be times that these glands will produce too much oil that causes the clogging of the pore. Due to the clogging, which is called comedone or plug, the pore will accumulate debris, bacteria, and dirt over time. The top of this comedone may either be black or white in colour which are called blackheads and whiteheads respectively. An inflammatory reaction will appear when the plug ruptures and the materials that include bacteria and oil spreads into the surrounding areas. Painful cysts happen when the inflammation is deep in the skin.
Acne Symptoms
Common Acne Symptoms
Depending on how your body reacts in certain conditions, acne although starts generally similar for all can have different forms or types. The two main types of acne symptoms are non-inflammatory acne and inflammatory acne wherein the non-inflammatory type of acne can be open or closed comedo. An open comedo happens when the plug, due to its enlargement, pushes through the skin surface and has a dark appearance, not due to dirt, but because of melanin. A closed comedo on the other hand happens when the plugged follicle stays below the skin surface and is otherwise known as whitehead.
Inflammatory type of acne produces papule, pustule, and cyst. A papule appears on the skin as a firm, small reddish bump and is often tender. Pustule is small lesions that contain visible pus and is inflamed. It appears as red in colour with whitish center and yellowish base. Pustules do not contain large amounts of bacteria and is usually due to chemical irritation. Cysts are large pus-filled lesions that are present deep within the skin and very painful as they are inflamed. The formation of cyst is due to the spilling of the contents of a comedo over the surrounding areas and the normal body response of our immune system in pus production. These cysts often leave deep scars.
Acne is most common among teenagers but will happen to anyone even on infants. Hormonal problems are the common culprit of pimples due to stimulation of oil production. Acne symptoms appears most commonly on the shoulders, face, neck, and back, but will also appear in trunks, buttocks, legs, and arms. Acne or pimple is triggered by hair products; greasy cosmetics; high levels of sweating due to humidity; hormonal changes that happen during pregnancy, menstrual periods, and stress; and also as reaction to certain drugs like estrogen, testosterone, and steroids.
Many Different Acne Symptoms
So what are the symptoms associated with acne? There could be a lot but the most common symptoms include crusting and redness around the skin eruptions, blackheads, whiteheads, scarring of the skin, cysts, pustules, and papules. Blackheads and whiteheads appears when the openings become clogged with oil secretions. Papules are small bumps that are the first signal of inflammation or infection and may be tender and red. Cysts on the other hand are pus-filled lumps that are painful beneath the skin and will cause scars. Pustules are tender, red bumps that have white pus at the tips.
The physical symptoms may not be bad but the accompanying emotional effects could be just as painful. This may even cause some of the low self-esteemed people to stay away and hide themselves from the crowd, trying to cover up their blemishes. Acne is not a serious medical condition but you may still want to seek medical treatment or consultation from an expert if the skin problems are persistent to avoid more damage to your skin. You may also want to consult your dermatologist to see if the acne symptoms you have can be controlled or prevented and diminish the formation of scars.
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