Orcee

On the skin of human body there are very small holes or pores called hair follicles. Hair follicles contain sebaceous glands or oil glands.

Acne is a chronic skin disorder caused by changes in skin structures its hair follicles and sebaceous gland mainly due to action of hormones on sebaceous glands during adolescence.

Mostly face and neck are affected by acne. But sometimes chest, back and shoulder are also affected.

Forms, stages and severity of acne

Acne lesions can be severe. Acne lesions may be papule, pustule, nodules comedones etc.

Papule: – It is an inflammatory elevation of the skin without pus.

Pustule: – It is a small inflamed elevation of the skin but it is different from papule as it is filled with pus (a pimple).

Comedones: – When skin pores or hair follicles are plugged with tiny hair, sebum, dead skin cells, dirt etc. then comedones develop. There are two types of comedo (Plural comedones) Black head or open comedo and white head or closed comedo.

1. Black Head: – An open comedo is commonly known as black head because of blackish appearance of the plug in the follicle.
2. White Head: – When the skin pore gets clogged up with sebum, dead skin cells, tiny hair, dirt etc. and bulges out from the skin is called white head (closed comedo) as its color appear to be that of the skin.

Acne is most common in teenagers and occurs during adolescence but in many cases continues into adulthood. No body can predict how long it will take to vanish completely. But in most people acne diminishes overtime and after early twenties it decreases considerably. In some people it may continue till late thirties also.

If not treated properly acne can be severe. Permanent scaring due to severe acne can upset people.

Author: Surya Narayan Bhattacharya

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