ACNE

Acne vulgaris is a common chronic skin disease involving blockage and/or inflammation of pilosebaceous units (hair follicles and their accompanying sebaceous gland). Acne can present as noninflammatory lesions, inflammatory lesions, or a mixture of both, affecting mostly the face but also the back and chest.

Acne vulgaris is the common form of acne, characterized by a mixed eruption of inflammatory and non-inflammatory skin lesions. You may prefer to call acne "pimples", "spots" or "zits".

Acne most often affects the face, but it may spread to involve the neck, chest and back, and sometimes even more extensively over the body.

Individual lesions are centered on the pilosebaceous unit, i.e. the hair follicle and its associated oil gland. Several types of acne spots occur, often at the same time. They may be inflammatory papules, pustules and nodules; or non-inflamed comedones and pseudocysts.

Superficial lesions

Open and closed comedones (blackheads and whiteheads)

Papules (small, tender red bumps)

Pustules (white or yellow "squeezable" spots)

Deeper lesions

Nodules (large painful red lumps)

Pseudocysts (cyst-like fluctuant swellings)

Secondary lesions

Excoriations (picked or scratched spots)

Erythematous macules (red marks from recently healed spots, best seen in in fair skin)

Pigmented macules (dark marks from old spots, mostly affecting those with dark skin)

Scars of various types

Individual acne lesions usually last less than 2 weeks but the deeper papules and nodules may persist for months. Many acne patients also have oily skin (seborrhea).

Acne Vulgaris

Acne grading

Acne may be classified as mild, moderate or severe. Comedones and inflammatory lesions are usually considered separately.

Mild acne

<20 comedones
<15 inflammatory lesions
Or, total lesion count <30

Moderate acne

20–100 comedones
15–50 inflammatory lesions
Or, total lesion count 30–125

Severe acne

>5 pseudocysts
Total comedones count >100
Total inflammatory count >50
Or, total lesion count >125

Mild Acne

Moderate Acne

Severe Acne

10 skin care habits that can help clear acne

Are you faithfully treating your acne but still seeing new breakouts? Your skin care routine could be to blame. Here are 10 skin care habits that dermatologists recommend to help you get the best results from your acne treatment:

Wash twice a day and after sweating. Perspiration, especially when wearing a hat or helmet, can make acne worse, so wash your skin as soon as possible after sweating.
Use your fingertips to apply a gentle, non-abrasive cleanser. Using a washcloth, mesh sponge, or anything else can irritate the skin.
Be gentle with your skin. Use gentle products, such as those that are alcohol-free. Do not use products that irritate your skin, which may include astringents, toners and exfoliants. Dry, red skin makes acne appear worse.
Scrubbing your skin can make acne worse. Avoid the temptation to scrub your skin.
Rinse with lukewarm water
Shampoo regularly. If you have oily hair, shampoo daily.
Let your skin heal naturally. If you pick, pop, or squeeze your acne, your skin will take longer to clear and you increase the risk of getting acne scars.
Keep your hands off your face. Touching your skin throughout the day can cause flare-ups.
Stay out of the sun and tanning beds. Tanning damages your skin. In addition, some acne medications make the skin very sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) light, which you get from both the sun and indoor tanning devices.
- Using tanning beds increases your risk for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, by 75%.
Consult a dermatologist if:
- Your acne makes you shy or embarrassed.
- The products you've tried have not worked.
- Your acne is leaving scars or darkening your skin.

Today, virtually every case of acne can be successfully treated. Dermatologists can help treat existing acne, prevent new breakouts, and reduce your chance of developing scars. If you have questions or concerns about caring for your skin, you should make an appointment to see a dermatologist.

** information from AAD

Acne Precautions in Everyday Life

Even if you start to use medicine prescribed by your doctor and the inflammation goes down temporarily, if you do something that not's good for your skin, your acne will come back. Have a healthy lifestyle to help prevent acne.

Diet

Avoid an unbalanced diet.
When eating out, be conscious of meals that are high in sugar and fat content, and choose foods with a good nutritional balance. Animal fats are not good for healthy skin; try to eat more green and yellow vegetables. Excessive fat and sugar activates sebum secretion, which worsens acne.
Avoid smoking and drinking too much coffee or alcohol.
Habits such as these not only aggravate acne, they also stress the body and consume vitamin C, slowing recovery.

Personal appearance and going out

If you wear makeup, learn the proper way to apply it.
Oil-based foundation is not good because it interferes with the skin's normal respiration and sebum secretion. Remove your makeup soon after returning home.
Arrange your hair so that it does not brush against your acne.
Trying to hide acne on your forehead with your fringe is counterproductive. It can make your forehead greasy, and the hair may irritate your acne, making it worse.

Washing your face and grooming

Wash your face gently but thoroughly with soap.
Twice daily - once in the morning and again in the evening. Work the soap into a lather to wash away pore-clogging sebum.
If you work up a sweat, wash your face or body right away to keep it clean.
Sweating makes it easy for dirt to stick to your skin. If you have acne on your back, take a shower to rinse the sweat off or wipe the sweat off with a towel.
Use a facial moisturizer as a part of your daily basic skincare routine.
People with pimply skin often secrete a lot of sebum, and so even minimal moisturizer is enough for everyday basic skincare.

Sleep

Staying up late is not good for your skin. Get plenty of sleep and keep regular hours.

Staying up late disrupts your metabolism's rhythm, causing old keratin to clog pores, which has a negative impact on the skin.

If these measures don't relieve your symptoms or if your symptoms worsen, see your doctor or consult a dermatologist about creating a personalized skin care plan based on your skin type and any skin condition you may have.