What Are The Causes Of Acne?

Most people will experience the reality of acne at some time in their life.  For most people, it is an unpleasant but inevitable part of their transition through adolescence and into adulthood.Lots of people find it difficult enough coping with what growing up throws at them and then along comes acne.  Understanding what causes acne, though, is the first important step you can take toward learning how to minimize it as much as possible.

What causes acne?

The physical structure of your facial skin offers an insight into the causes of acne.The surface of your skin can have millions of tiny hairs growing up through millions of tiny openings called pores.The pores lead down to small oil producing glands called sebaceous glands. It is these that produce the oil known as sebum.

In order to keep your skin smooth and healthy, sebum is produced, in controlled quantities to adequately moisturize.The pores allow it to reach the surface of the skin after the glands have produced it.By helping to remove dead skin cells and bacteria, sebum helps keep the skin clean and moist at the same time.  It is sort of like nature’s way of getting rid of the “garbage” that inevitably gathers on your skin.

The result of any interruption to this natural process is acne.  This happens most often during adolescence when the body begins producing large quantities of hormones and other substances that the body must learn to process and deal with appropriately.Developing acne during this learning process is very common, hormone imbalances are rarely good news for your skin.

How acne actually forms

When your body produces extra hormones, it causes the sebaceous glands under the skin to produce much more sebum than before.Also, these hormones can make it so much more difficult for the pores of your skin to adequately remove the naturally occurring dead skin cells.  The result is a clogged pore in which bacteria, dead skin cells, and sebum combine into a mixture that leads to swelling, inflammation, infection, and skin tenderness.

Next thing to happen to your skin is the formation of whiteheads, blackheads, pimples and other acne lesions.  It is these common lesions that make up what we know as acne, that troublesome rite of passage that causes so much pain and difficulty for some people.

Living and dealing with acne

While there is no way to 100% get rid of acne problems, there are a number of things you can do to make living with it and dealing with it easier.  These include:

• Cleanse your skin – Use a gentle facial cleanser twice per day to help get rid of excess oils, dead skin cells, and bacteria.  Never rub or scrub your skin because this can cause more irritation and more acne.
• Apply anti-acne medication – Many excellent medications exist, some of which do not require a doctor’s prescription.These medications offer substantial benefits to the user. Controlling the sebum production, helping to limit the amount of bacteria on the skin and thereby encouraging the removal of dead skin cells, being the main three.
• Moisturize your skin – Avoid letting your skin get too dry and you will find your acne problems diminishing.The last thing you want to do is to add more oil to your skin, so a light in texture, oil-free moisturizer is ideal.

Understanding what causes acne makes it much easier to live with and deal with acne each day.You now have the correct information to deal with your acne problems, make sure you apply it!

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