Author: Mary Gillespie
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It’s not your fault…it’s your gene pool!
Surprisingly, having one blackhead is diagnosed as mild acne. Most of us have mixed nationalities, our bodies inherited different skin types in a jumbled array confusing our skin, and giving acne what it needs...
- Abnormal oil production in your pores called a follicle. For example, large Spanish oil glands may be trying to pump all their oil through small delicate Irish pores, this is abnormal oil production for the skin …it’s not working well with the other parts.
- Pore walls are weaker, and easily rupture a pimple infection into surrounding tissue…your pimple just got bigger...possibly infecting the surrounding pores with more pimples.
- Hyper cell turn-over and their glue-like substance holding them together is stickier...think gum...causing clogged pores, now the oil really can't get out.
The set up and invader...
- Clogged pores oxygen-free environment is perfect for the invading anaerobic acne P. bacteria to start living off the oil in your pores, excreting an inflammatory by-product irritating the walls causing redness and infection. Anaerobic defines a bacterium that can not survive in the presence of oxygen.
What should I do? Two things, doctors say…
- Dead cells can form a plug in three days, unplug pores and keep them clean, they’re sneaky…it can take up to three months for you to see a blackhead! Our Glycolic acid AHA products scrub your pores clean, banishing the bacteria’s house and keeps them from moving back in! Which glycolic salicylic strength is right for me?
- Kill and inhibit bacteria growth, benzoyl peroxide (BPO)… "benzoyl" propels "peroxide" into your pore releasing oxygen killing the anaerobic acne P. bacteria.
Sanitation is key, each time use
- 2 clean white washcloths, 1 to wash and 1 to dry face to prevent infecting your skin with the acne bacteria from a dirty washcloth. Time crunch, use rough disposable medical gauze squares.
- White because tint, like red-yellow-blue, exacerbate acne.
- Dirty pillow cases…put seven or less inexpensive clean white pillow cases on your sleeping pillow, each night pull off the old one.
- Wash on the hottest cycle with your regular detergent and disinfect with bleach in your washing machine.
- Don’t use fabric softener in the washer or fabric softener sheets in the dryer, they exacerbate acne.
- Hate laundry? Purchase large supply in a warehouse (Costco, Sam’s Club) or discount store - baby washcloths are a good idea for your face.
13 Reasons for Pimples
Benzoyl Peroxide BPO | Acne Info
Make-Up Acne Free Suggestions
Long Version
Acne is a chronic genetic disease of the sebaceous follicle.
- chronic because it occurs over and over,
- genetic because you inherited it from your parents’ gene pool.
There are three types of follicles on the body. Acne lives in one most prominent on the face, neck, chest and back. Each blackhead is diagnosed as acne. It is hard to find anyone in the United States that has never had one blackhead, making this a very common disorder. There is no known cure for this disease, you come into this world with acne and you go out of this world with acne. The goal is to "control-control-control" during your lifetime. Sometimes we hear someone say they have outgrown acne. Unfortunately, this does not happen; what is occurring is the body is maturing and handling the invasion of the acne P. bacteria. Research still does not have all the information on the disorder, but they know that acne patients have three common denominators and acne has two parts.
Part one is your body provides the house where the acne P. bacterium lives. Part two is the bacteria itself.
Part one of the therapy is to use the patented products glycolic acid, Retin-A, Differin and Tazorac for acne. All have a basic function of cleaning the follicle so oil can reach the surface. Glycolic acid has the lowest side effects and is not a prescription medication. Teens and adults with many sun activities do better with glycolic acid as retinoic acids cause sun sensitivity and burning. This link answers the question Glycolic Skin911 Benefits.
Part two of the therapy is to use a bactericide or antibiotic that kills the acne P bacteria. Oral Tetracycline still tests at the top, along with topical benzoyl peroxide. Other oral medications are Minocin, favored for cystic acne, Erythromycin and Cleocin. Topical Cleocin T has not been the help it was hoped to be and in some cases did nothing. Sometimes combinations of different orals and topicals are the personalized solution. Oral antibiotics are experiencing a backlash because of the body's escalating tolerance, but initially are often necessary.
To summarize, you need to keep the follicle free of debris so the oil can reach the surface, and stop the acne P. bacteria.
- What are the three common denominators of acne skin?
- Abnormal Cell Turnover, excessive development and retention of cells in the follicle.
- Weaker Follicular Walls.
- Abnormal Oil Gland Production.
CELLS
- The scenario takes place in the epidermis, the top layer of the skin, which also lines the follicle walls these cells are replacing each other at a faster than normal rate. The glue-like substance or mucous that holds dead and living cells together is stickier in acne patients. Studies have shown that acne skin cells turn over every third day as opposed to every seventeen to twenty-eight days in normal skin (should you be able to find "normal"). This means that within three days the follicle fills with dead cells and a sticky gummy substance. This forms a plug, like a cork in a bottle, blocking the passage of air and body oil. An anaerobic environment forms, allowing the acne P. bacteria to burrow in for a feast on the oil you produce. The bacterium needs an anaerobic environment (no oxygen) and its life food (your oil) to survive and multiply. After digesting your oil the bacterium excretes a nasty inflammatory by-product that inflames the follicle walls. You know this as a red dot! Pus is dead white blood cells that have arrived hoping to kill the bacteria, only to die themselves. Often the sticky gummy cell wad in the follicle hardens, tricking the system into thinking there is a foreign body in the skin, like a piece of glass or a splinter. Now the fight really begins as the body attacks this misidentified mass, resulting in red, swollen skin with a secondary infection.
WEAKER FOLLICULAR WALLS
- mean that with the plug in the follicle and the oil glands dumping oil, the follicle acts like a water balloon on a faucet. The walls expand until they reach their genetic limit and break, spewing the debris, bacteria and blood platelets into the surrounding tissue. The walls do not have the necessary elasticity to contain this amount of mass. Sometimes picking and touching apply enough pressure to hurry this process. Bacteria and inflammation cause the surrounding follicles to become involved, causing one pimple to have the appearance of multiplying.
ABNORMAL OIL PRODUCTION
- describes how the oil glands located in the pore (follicle) do not match the skin tissue. The term pore and follicle have the same definition: a sac or pouch like depression or cavity (Dorland's Medical Dictionary; the term follicle will be used instead of pore in this article). During conception, the skin genetically takes different components from the parents’ backgrounds. Acne is most common when a person has parental lineage from two completely different skin types. Example: Spanish skin is thick, hardy, ages slowly and oily. Looking from two feet away, the follicles are visible because the escaping oil has permanently dilated the opening. Three to four large oil glands may be attached to each side of the follicle wall, but the follicle is built to properly handle this amount of oil. The skin functions correctly allowing the large amount of oil to fill the follicle and flow to the top onto the surface of the skin. If not, the oil would back up in the follicle and probably cause severe cystic acne. An example of an opposite skin type is Irish skin. This type is thin, ages quickly, is usually dry, and has fewer follicle openings per square inch of skin. The follicle is small-sized, with a tight orifice or opening on the skin's surface. Looking from two feet away, the pores are invisible, appearing pore-less. The follicle may have one small oil gland attached that produces an insufficient amount of oil, exposing the skin to the elements. An offspring of these parents may inherit large oil glands attached to small, tight-orifice follicles, setting the stage for acne. These large oil glands are producing too much oil for the small, tight follicle, creating abnormal oil production.
Medical science readily admits not knowing everything concerning the acne process, but confirms the three denominators allow the acne bacteria to survive and flourish.
- Abnormal cell turnover.
- Weaker follicular walls.
- Abnormal oil production.