What is "Acne" and how Acne Treatments can help?

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What is Acne ?

The skin condition known as acne, or acne vulgaris, is actually the most common skin disease treated by dermatologists (doctors who focus on the skin). Unfortunately it is a chronic issue, and one that strikes different people at different ages. There are several varieties of acne, and many different theories as to why it appears, but it has been definitively identified as beginning in the "pilosebaceous unit" which is contained in the skin and made up of the hair follicle, sebaceous gland and a single hair.

These units are everywhere on the body but particularly dense on the face, neck and chest area. The sebaceous glands create a substance called sebum which works to keep hair and skin moisturized. Unfortunately at the same time that adolescence begins the glands may enlarge and produce more sebum. This substance is a primary food source for a common bacterium called "propionibacterium acnes" and when someone has more of this bacterium than normal it creates the perfect conditions for acne.

The bacteria overproduce causing an immune system reaction that floods the pilosebaceous unit with white blood cells, which in turn spill over into the surrounding skin causing irritation and ultimately the common identifiers of acne, "pimples" or pustules.

How Acne Treatments can help ?

So, why doesn't this sebum exit through the follicle before becoming a problem? Well, that is still unknown and many acne skin care treatments directly address clogged follicles. Of course most acne treatments tend to work on various levels all at the same time. They want to improve skin cell shedding to prevent blocked follicles, reduce the amount of propionibacterium acnes bacteria, reduce inflammation and irritation and balance hormones that may be causing part of the problem.

This usually means that someone seeking treatment for acne vulgaris will employ acne crèmes and oral antibiotics in a daily regimen that lasts until the condition is eliminated. Though acne can be a chronic condition, it is quite often seen to disappear once the hormonal imbalances that occur during puberty and adolescence are at an end.

Acne Treatments, Skin Care & Acne Crèmes to combat Pimples & Pustules

Some acne treatments are still experimental programs using everything from oral hormones and acne crèmes heavily laced with vitamins and minerals to special lights and corrective laser treatments. Some of the experimental approaches are therapeutic and some seek to directly eliminate the glands or tissues that cause the eruption of acne vulgaris.

It is a good idea to seek medical consultation through a specially trained dermatologist in order to find the best treatments possible. Not all patients have acne vulgaris for the same reason and so acne skin care is not a universally applied system. It may take a little experimentation and patience to discover the best way to address acne vulgaris. For example, some doctors may use a single cortisone injection to reduce overall inflammation and while this presents immediate improvement it does not address the underlying cause for the condition.

Currently the best acne skin care comes from a combination approach to the many factors that cause the patient to have the condition, and this usually means acne creams in addition to some oral acne treatments.