The Stress of Acne

More than eighty percent of individuals develop some form of acne between the ages of twelve and twenty four. Acne is a skin disorder that results from clogged hair follicles, resulting in pimples, whiteheads, blackheads, and sometimes cysts. Acne is not a life threatening condition, but try telling that to the millions of teenage boys and girls it affects. The emotional stress and trauma that acne can bring is a serious issue among today's image conscious youth.

Contrary to the popular belief, acne has nothing to do with the consumption of such foods as chocolate, peanut butter, or nuts. Acne is caused when a hair follicle, a small canal that contains a hair and an oil gland, becomes gummed up with too much oil and debris, such as dead skin cells. There are three things that play a role in the formation of acne. Producing too much oil, known as sebum, from the sebaceous glands is one. Shedding of dead skin cells and a buildup of bacteria are the others. Each follicle is associated with one of these tiny oil glands, which create the oil that is used to lubricate your skin and hair. The sebum usually finds it way up the hair shafts and out through the opening of the follicle tube onto the skin, but when too much oil is manufactured, it can solidify and the follicle can be plugged, creating acne. Dust particles and dead skin cells collect on the sebum, and a plugged pore can be the result.

Whiteheads are white bumps caused by the collection of oil and skin cells in a follicle. Whiteheads contain pus, and can turn into a more serious matter if the inflammation that is caused by the buildup goes into the sebaceous gland itself, forming a cystic mass that can be quite painful and leave a scar. Blackheads are caused by the blockage of pores, but the skin debris in them has pigment that gives then their darkened color. Pimples arise from blocked and plugged hair follicles that have become infected with bacteria or inflamed; they are raised red spots with a white center. Acne can occur on your face, head, shoulders, back, neck, and chest; wherever you have the highest concentration of the oil producing glands is a potential site for acne.