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What is Acne?
Learn How Acne Vulgaris is Formed
When I really got serious about clearing my skin, I asked myself "What is Acne?". I had been suffering with painful papules, pustules, and cysts on my face, neck, chest, and back for over 10 years - and I didn't really know what it was, other than "acne".
As you can imagine, there's quite a bit more information on it than the typical teenager cares to know about. But as Sun Tzu said, "Know your enemy".
The most popular (not in a fun way) kind of acne is called acne vulgaris. It is a skin condition that affects most people at some point in their lives, albeit usually as a teenager.
Acne vulgaris is what I am referring to whenever I use the word "acne". It should be noted that there are other kinds of acne which are not as common, such as:
- Chloracne - A rash caused by toxic chemicals
- Acne rosacea - A more common form of redness on the face, but it shouldn't really be called Acne anymore
- Acne cosmetica - This type of acne is caused by or worsened by makeup clogging pores
- Acne conglobata - Also called Hidradenitis suppurativa, a severe form of acne vulgaris
- Acne fulminans - A more severe form of Acne conglobata
- Acne keloidalis nuchae - Also called Pseudofolliculitis barbae, an irritation rash caused by shaving
So what is acne? Acne is said to be an inflammatory disease, which affects the pores on your skin and the glands attached to them. All acne treatments are based around this fact. (Source: Clinical Dermatology, September-October 2004, pages 360-366)Acne develops from the blockage of hair follicles. The sebaceous glands (shown in the picture above) excrete sebum, which is an oil that is used as lubrication for your skin and hair. This excretion is controlled by androgens, which are a type of hormone. The most popular and well known androgen is testosterone.
Sebum, along with dead skin cells, sometimes gets clogged near the pore. Depending on how this clog develops, it can either turn out to be inflammatory or not. Noninflammatory clogs develop into either whiteheads or blackheads, while the inflammatory clogs develop into papules, pustules, or nodules. All of these clogs are considered acne.
The inflammation is caused by a form of bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes, or P. acnes for short. This type of bacteria is mostly commensal, meaning that the bacteria benefits from us, but we are not affected by them (except for the acne inflammation).Phew. Don't worry if you didn't get all that. All of the pieces will start to make more sense as you read other pages on this site, like what causes acne.
At the very least I hope to have started to answer your "What is acne?" question.
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