What Are The Causes Of Acne?

Acne is an extremely common condition.  For most people, it is an unpleasant but inevitable part of their transition through adolescence and into adulthood.For the worst of reasons, suffering from acne is a memorable part of the experience of growing up for a lot of people.The first step to take in your quest to become free from it, is to understand what causes acne in the first place.

What causes acne?

The physical structure of your facial skin offers an insight into the causes of acne.The surface of your skin has millions of tiny openings called pores, a great many of which also have tiny hairs growing up through them.The pores lead down to small oil producing glands called sebaceous glands. It is these that produce the oil known as sebum.

In order to keep your skin smooth and healthy, sebum is produced, in controlled quantities to adequately moisturize.  It is produced by the glands and works its way up through the pore onto the surface of the skin.  Sebum not only helps to keep your skin moist, but it also helps to carry away things like bacteria and dead skin cells.You can’t stop your skin getting dirty, but it is comforting to know that nature has provided a ready made solution.

Unfortunately, disruption to this natural process inevitably leads to acne.A obvious time when this happens is during adolescence, when the body must deal appropriately with the increasing quantity of hormones and other substances it has started to produce.  During this learning process, though, fluctuations in hormone and other levels can cause imbalances that lead to all sorts of situations including the development of acne.

How acne actually forms

When your body produces extra hormones, it causes the sebaceous glands under the skin to produce much more sebum than before.  Additionally, these hormones can cause the pores of your skin to have a much more difficult time getting rid of the dead skin cells that naturally occur.The visible end result will be swelling, inflammation, infection, and skin tenderness all due to the bacterial activity inside the clogged pore.

What happens next is you begin to form various types of acne lesions on your skin; these can include whiteheads, blackheads, and pimples.Together all these lesions are affectionately known as acne, something only the lucky few will avoid.

Living and dealing with acne

While there is no way to 100% get rid of acne problems, there are a number of things you can do to make living with it and dealing with it easier.  These include:

• Cleanse your skin – Use a gentle facial cleanser twice per day to help get rid of excess oils, dead skin cells, and bacteria.Be careful not to irritate your skin by rubbing or scrubbing your skin. This can lead to more acne.
• Apply anti-acne medication – A prescription from a doctor is not always required for these top quality medications.These medications perform a variety of tasks on your skin, by helping to reduce the amount of sebum produced and limiting the quantity of bacteria on your skin, the process of removing dead skin cells will be improved.
• Moisturize your skin – Avoid letting your skin get too dry and you will find your acne problems diminishing.The last thing you want to do is to add more oil to your skin, so a light in texture, oil-free moisturizer is ideal.

Knowledge is power and knowing what causes acne gives you the opportunity to do something about it.You have taken an important first step in minimizing your acne problems. Now you have the right information, put it to use!