What Is Acne?

What is acne? Most people that are suffering from acne have actually no clue what it is, or how they got it. They think that it is just a phenomenon of nature. This is far from the truth! But if you do not even know what acne is, how can you ever expect to get rid of it? Understand where acne comes from, as well as an exact definition as to what it is. Believe it or not, there is more to acne than unsightly blemishes accompanied by redness. The first step of preventing acne is to know what it is.

Acne is a dermatological term that includes clogged pores, pimples and lumps or cysts that occur on the face, neck, chest, back, shoulders, and upper arms. Acne occurs most commonly in teenagers, but is not limited to any age group, afflicting even adults in their forties. This disease has actually lots of varieties, and even though none are life threatening, the more severe cases of acne can be disfiguring, leaving permanent scars on effected areas.
The physical changes in body tissue – or lesions – which acne causes are described in five ways: comedos, papule, pustule, nodule and cyst. Further, these terms denote range or severity along with comedo (additionally known as blackheads and whiteheads) at one end and nodules or cysts at the other.

As stated above, acne is most common among teenagers, affecting teens between the ages 12 and 17. Usually, these mild cases are cleared up along with over-the-counter treatments and the acne goes away by the early twenties. It additionally should be noted that even though acne affects both girls and boys equally, there are some distinctions. Young men are more likely to have actually severe, long-term acne while women can have actually reoccurring or intermittent acne well into adulthood due to hormonal changes and cosmetics.

Now that we have actually summarized just what acne is, we can move on to the subject: what types are there, how to treat it, and current myths circulating about it. The chance is that the reader will come away having gained a clearer understanding of acne in its various forms, and how it can be combated and to reduce its impact upon the lives of those suffering from it. This is by no means an exhaustive guide on the subject nor is it a clinical journal, but is at least, an introduction and a source upon which to do further study into the causes and cures of acne in all its forms.