Fight Dependency

To effectively deal with an outbreak of acne you should understand what causes acne. Outbreaks of acne affect nearly everyone. So, this information is essential. But once your discover the reason for an acne outbreak you can take steps to prevent acne and deal effectively with further outbreaks.

Your skin has a lot of pores, some of which have hairs. Connecting to those pores are sebaceous glands that produce skin oil, or sebum. This oil helps keep your skin flexible. The sebum needs to find a way to migrate though the pore to the surface of the skin and lubricate the skin.

What Does This Have to Do With Acne?

Your pores can become plugged up causing sebum to accumulate and enlarge the pore. And bacteria can start to multiple causing an infection. The gorged and infected pore becomes noticeable. You label these areas pimples or zits. They are also called blackheads or whiteheads. From time to time, the infection affects the surrounding skin causing it to become irritated and turn red.

The infection really begins a number of days before it becomes visible. By the time you see a pimple or zit, the bacteria has multiplied and prompted the skin irritation and inflammation to grow large enough to become visible.

What Causes Acne?

What has changed to all of a sudden produce these pimples?

There is a reason that acne begins at some stage in puberty as your body exhibits signs of maturity. Part of the maturing process involves the production of hormones like testosterone. Both young women and men begin releasing testosterone during adolescence. These hormones represent a fresh stimulus that numerous organs in the body must adjust to. The sebaceous glands just below your skin are one kind of organ that needs time to accommodate these hormones.

These sebaceous glands manufacture a compound called sebum, or skin oil. It enters skin pores and travels towards the surface where it helps lubricate your skin, keeping it soft. But, for a while these sebaceous glands don’t cope well with the testosterone and become enlarged and start overproducing sebum.

Additional hormones are released whenever you are under stress. Maturing and testing your limits throughout the teenage years can often be a major cause of stress. Stress hormones can also affect the sebaceous glands to promote increased sebum production.

But, there is finally some good news. Generally during your early twenties you stop going through these outbreaks. Your body, including the sebaceous glands, has adjusted to the new hormones. The production of sebum goes back to normal and the outbreaks abruptly stop.

However, before this occurs these glands continue to create excess sebum. The sebum flows to the surface of the skin. Dead skin cells from your skin become engulfed in this surplus sebum. Your skin is always renewing itself. Old, dead skin cells rub off your skin and fall away. Anyway, the surplus sebum mixes with the dead skin cells to produce globs which can block the pores.

Now we’re in a mess. This combination of dead skin cells, skin bacteria and sebum form a mass that blocks a pore. The sebaceous glands still produce sebum and sebum begins to accumulate and enlarge the pore. The bacteria love this warm, oily environment and start multiplying. Pretty soon they influence the surrounding skin and result in irritation.

If the obstruction is near the opening of the pore, air can reach the plug and darken it. This is now a blackhead. If the pore’s exit is entirely blocked off, no air can get to the glob and it continues to be light in color resulting in a whitehead, or a pimple or zit.

Now that you understand what brings about acne, you’re able to do something about it.

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Tags: acne, acne causes, skin, what causes acne