Acne is a common skin problem that most teenagers encounter. If you never had acne on your skin, you probably are rare, because roughly three out of every four adolescents reported acne in a study (1).
Because acne is common, there is a lot of clouded information and myths surrounding the problem. To understand the basics and know what is needed, let us dig in.
What is acne?
Acne is a raised lesion of the skin, ranging from a small skin pore-sized bump to a very large discharging swelling.
Depending on the skin area involved and the degree, to which we are going to discuss below, few may have acne as a simple blackhead, whereas few may even be on a medical prescription for a very long time.
What causes acne?
Acne is a result of over-reactive sebaceous glands.
Sebaceous glands are tiny oil-producing glands surrounding a hair follicle, embedded inside the skin. They produce the oil required to keep the skin protected and healthy.
Then?
Skin cells normally age shed off and new cells come up. But now, these dead cells mixed with the excessive oil sometimes leads to, clogging of the path from which the oil gets onto the skin from the gland. This leads to the collection of oil within this path.
That’s it?
This collection may bring in and involve the bacteria and cause inflammation, or sometimes may also be inflamed without any bacteria.
But why adolescence?
During adolescence, due to a sudden spike in various hormone levels in the body, these glands tend to overreact. This causes more oil production and more chances to develop acne.
How can acne present?
Simply said, way many types.
Coming to a single lesion, Acne can present as
Blackhead, where the oil path is clogged, but not completely.
Whitehead, where the path is clogged and plugged, basically with dead skin debris.
Papules, the inflammation has just started, causing a red and raised swelling.
Pustules, when the bacteria grabbed a chance and filled the swelling with pus.
Nodules, large solid swellings over the face causing a lot of pain, even leading to difficulty in facial expression.
Cystic lesions, which are as big as nodules, but instead of being solid, are filled with pus.
All these forms are not ‘literally’ different types of acne, but essentially, different stages of acne based on the inflammation, bacteria, and other factors involved.
These types may be seen on the face, neck, chest, back, or shoulders, as these areas have relatively more sebaceous glands.
Home remedies for acne
Steps you take at home to handle pimples should target three goals.
Decreasing dead skin debris
Reducing oil on the skin
Limiting chances of infection.
1. Wash face regularly
Apply some water, preferably lukewarm, and gently scrub your face. Scrubbing in inside-out circles can help better to clean the face.
Washing the face regularly can help in removing excessive oil and dead skin debris from the face.
Preferably do not wash more than 3 times a day, which may cause dryness and more dead skin.
2. Do not experiment with products
A lot of marketing has surrounded the acne problem these days. Trying different face washes and soaps to cure pimples may cause more harm than benefit. Instead, stick to the soap you have always used and cleanse your face properly for better results
3. Drink plenty of water
Staying hydrated can help you in two ways in dealing with pimples.
One by having healthy skin, dryness and associated dead skin can be limited,
Other, by maintaining good hydration, oil production from the sebaceous glands decreases.
So, drinking plenty of water is a simple yet effective way that helps cure pimples.
4. Stay cautious with cosmetics.
Use only water-based moisturizers to maintain skin health. You may tend to cover up a pimple with some beauty product, but it may clog the oil pathway, and increase chances of infection.
5. Limit touching the pimple
Touching the pimple, again and again, can bring in new debris and increases the chance of an infection. So, even it is tempting, try to limit touching a pimple as much as possible.
Do not pop your pimples
Pimple popping can be tempting but popping a single pimple does not cure the problem. It may even increase your chances of getting a serious infection.
Get your pimples treated by a trained beautician or dermatologist and make sure that they do follow proper sterile conditions while dealing with your acne.
When to visit a doctor?
You may consider visiting a doctor if you experience any of the following because of acne
Acne causing severe pain or continuous pain throughout the day
Acne increasing rapidly in size, number or both
Acne causing severe cosmetic problems
Bleeding acne
Pus discharging acne
If you feel acne is in the nodule or pustule stage
Skin rashes or other allergic reactions because of acne skincare products
What doctor may suggest?
In the case of small papules or pustules, skin ointments based on salicylates or benzoyl peroxide are usually prescribed. In the case of nodules and cystic swellings, stronger medications including a retinoid class of drugs are generally considered as the treatment of choice.
While trying any medication, give at least a three-month time due for the treatment to effectively come up with expected results. Impatient switching of over-the-counter drugs and doctor-shopping may worsen the acne problem.
Unless it is in a nodule stage, proper skincare and skin hygiene helps in curing pimples effectively rather than prescription drugs.
Take away
Acne is a common skin problem in teenagers, during menses and pregnancy. Unless they cause some serious problems in your day-to-day living, it is better to leave them off your thought, by maintaining proper skin hygiene.
Stay hydrated, clean your face properly and regularly.
What do you have in your mind about this topic? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
Frequently asked questions
1. Are pimples contagious?
Pimples are not contagious. Most pimples may have bacteria, but it is not contagious because, it requires an underlying clogging of the sebaceous gland pathway to get a pimple, rather than mere bacteria.
2. Do bacteria cause pimples?
No. Bacteria is involved in aggravating and complicating the acne problem, but it is not the root cause of acne.
3. Can pimples cause permanent scars?
Yes. Very large and infected acne usually heal by leaving some permanent scars. It is wise to identify pimples of the nodular stage as early as possible and seek medical attention.
4. What is inside a pimple?
Pimple is filled with a mixture of oily secretions of sebaceous glands and flakes of dead skin cells. If infected, bacteria can also be present, the usual species being Cutibacterium acnes (Propionibacterium acnes).
5. When does my pimple go away?
Usually, a pimple may disappear within 3-4 weeks in its natural course but may take even months sometimes, when it develops into a nodule. A single pimple may come and go in few weeks, but acne as a problem persists usually throughout adolescence.
DISCLAIMER: All the articles on this website are intended for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for a doctor's medical advice.
REFERENCES -
1) Sharma RK, Dogra S, Singh A, Kanwar AJ. Epidemiological patterns of acne vulgaris among adolescents in North India: A cross-sectional study and brief review of literature. Indian J Paediatr Dermatol [serial online] 2017 [cited 2021 Apr 16];18:196-201. Available from: https://www.ijpd.in/text.asp?2017/18/3/196/206086
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