What causes acne?
Acne appear when the oil glands attached to hair follicles are stimulated during puberty by increased levels of male hormones. Sebum is an oil produced by sebaceous glands which lubricates and protects the skin. It is associated with increased oil production wherein skin cells mature and clog the follicular openings. The clogged hair follicle gradually enlarge and produce a bump. As the bump gets bigger, the wall can rupture, providing easy access to substances and normal skin bacteria into the deeper layers of the skin, finally leading to inflammation. Deeper inflammation causes a pimple, and if the oil breaks through to the surface; it results in a “whitehead”. While if the oil changes color from white to black, the result is “blackhead”. Blackheads should not be mistaken for dirt as they are not caused due to poor hygiene.
When should you start acne treatment?
Acne treatments should happen as and when they appear. Whenever acne start bothering you or potential for scarring develops, you should go for treatment. It could be when severe acne come up suddenly, or for mild, stubborn acne that don’t go away, or even when a single pimple decides to show up before an important event.
Treatment of Acne Scars: Acne goes away but leaves ugly looking scars, but now several options are available to treat acne scars. Today, there are various surgical procedures available to elevate deep, depressed acne scars. Laser resurfacing can be used to smooth out shallow acne scars. Advanced methods of the laser resurfacing are less intrusive and provide faster healing when compared to older methods, although results need to be repeated multiple times.