Tuesday, April 2, 2013

The Cause of Acne: Discover how to be Acne Free!

By Allan Johns


Acne is an unpleasant skin condition and for most sufferers. The main cause of acne is a change of hormones within the body when a person reaches puberty.

About 80% of all adolescents are affected at some point, with spots and pimples occurring on the face, back, chest and neck of the individual. Androgens, a type of hormone, can trigger the sebaceous glands into the over-production of sebum (oil), which is usually the main cause of acne.

Intended to keep the skin supple and smooth, the sebaceous glands produce extra oil, which can unfortunately be the underlying cause of acne.

When our skins natural oil gathers in and around surface pores, it provides the perfect breeding ground for harmful bacteria. This then becomes the cause of acne and spots and pimples develop inside the now blocked pore.

Unfortunately, many products intended to help keep skin healthy can actually become a cause of acne. This is because certain ingredients are too harsh for our skin and result in the sebaceous glands producing even more oil.

Androgens are not the only hormones that have been found to be a cause of acne. When we are exposed to stress, our bodies produce higher levels of Cortisol which has been proven to aggravate acne.

Specialists studying acne have discovered that there is a genetic link. If acne affects members of your gene sharing family, then you are unfortunately more likely to become a sufferer yourself.

Sometimes, certain drugs we are prescribed to treat other ailments can be a possible cause of acne. These include steroids and oral contraceptives. Despite this, there are certain hormone regulating oral contraceptives, which are actually prescribed to treat acne and certain other skin problems.

There are, in women, certain medical conditions that can be the reason for acne. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) also causes excessive amounts of androgens to be produced, with lots of other unpleasant side effects.

Acne can often cause extensive scarring, leaving unpleasant marks on the skin, sometimes for life. To minimise the chances of this happening, it is important for the acne sufferer to try and resist picking and squeezing at spots as this causes the infection to travel deeper into the skin, hence initiating further damage.

Acute inflammatory acne resulting in the development of large cysts under the surface of the skin can occur in some people. Sadly, even if the sufferer resists the urge to pick at these cysts, they usually result in scars due to their tendency to spread and rupture spontaneously.

Poor diet and poor hygiene though often cited are not the root cause of acne, although it is obvious that if a person fails to regularly wash their skin and remove all traces of make-up, problems with their skin will occur.




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