How and Why Do I Get Acne?
As with anything there are many myths some true and some false. Here are some acne myths that are definitely NOT true.
1. Eating chocolate or fatty food will not mean you getting acne.
2. A blackhead is not dirt. Its' dark colour is excess skin pigment. Washing yourself more often will not help prevent acne. Do not stop washing though as this will allow bacteria to multiply.
3. If someone close to you has acne, you have no need to worry you will not catch it. Acne is not contagious.
What Is Acne?
Quite simply acne is a skin condition. When you have acne then you will probably get one or more of the following Blackheads, Scars, Greasy Skin, Red Spots, Yellow Spots and Whiteheads.
You are most likely to see acne on your face, back, neck, chest and arms. Each person is an individual so the severity of your acne will and does vary.Unfortunately for the human race, acne is very common. In fact it can affect 80% of people mostly between the ages of 11-30. Although you can also get acne into your thirties and forties. You are able to treat acne, and there are many treatments and products available.
What Are The Causes Of Acne?
Over active sebaceous glands that secrete oily substances onto your skin cause acne. People who suffer from acne will find that their sebaceous glands are sensitive to normal blood levels of a hormone called testosterone, which are found naturally in women and men. The two factors that contribute to acne are the dead skin cells lining the openings of the hair follicles and people who are prone to acne, their testosterone triggering their sebaceous glands to produce excess sebum and this will cause blackheads and whiteheads to form. For a lot of us the acne will not get any worse than this.
For some people though the build up of the oil in their hair follicles mean that bacterium is in its ideal heaven and grows feeding off the sebum to cause inflammation of the skin. Which in turn will result in the all to familiar redness of the skin which we associate with spots.
Scarring from spots is caused in the more severe cases of spots. When cysts develop beneath the skins surface they can sometimes rupture and spread the infection into neighbouring skin tissue resulting sometimes in scarring