Why do we have acne?

Acne is a technically a type of human skin disease. This includes whiteheads, blackheads and inflamed area of skin.

Why do we have acne?

The formation of acne is mainly because the pore of the skin is clogged. Each pore contains a sebaceous gland and this gland makes sebum which is oil that lubricates our hair and skin. A sebaceous gland usually functions normally and produces right amount of sebum in the pore. However, since teenager’s body starts to develop, hormones stimulate the sebaceous gland to make more sebum. When there is too much oil inside the pore, it will be clogged. Bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes can be easily trapped inside the pore. Swelling and redness symbolizes the start of acne.

 I am no longer a teen.

We are not teens but why do we still have acne? Acne is also triggered by hormonal changes due to stress, menstrual periods and pregnancy (Palmer 2010). Acne certainly affects people of all ages.

What should we do if we have acne?

There are three things that we should do. We should clean our skin gently, try not to touch our skin, and see a dermatologist if acne becomes worse. Dermatologists suggest that we should not pop or squeeze acne, although it is very tempting to do (Palmer 2010). Popping acne increases a chance of making it worse (MedlinePlus 2011). This irritation of the skin may cause permanent acne scars which are harder to get rid of (AcneNet 2010).

This video tells us why it is bad to pop acne in detail.

Popping-Pimples.htm

Palmer,A. 2010. Diagosing Acne. http://acne.about.com/od/diagnosisofacne/a/diagnosis.htm (accessed 3/21/2012)

MedlinePlus. 2011. Acne. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/acne.html (accessed 3/21/2012)

AcneNet. 2010. What causes Acne? http://www.skincarephysicians.com/acnenet/acne.html (accessed 3/21/2012)

Wikipedia. 2012. Propionibacterium acnes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propionibacterium_acnes (accessed 3/21/2012)

Wikipedia. 2012. Sebaceous gland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebacious_gland (accessed 3/21/2012)

Video:

http://video.about.com/acne/Popping-Pimples.htm

Picture:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/images/acne.jpg

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/images/ency/fullsize/19666.jpg