Acne Treatment Depends Upon the Type of Acne You Have

Before you can treat your acne it is vital to know just what sort of acne you have because, despite what many of us think, acne can be more than a simple case of spots caused by trapped skin oil (sebum), dead skin cells, white blood cells and bacteria.

Acne is often classified by grade starting with grade I which includes mild, non-inflamed forms of acne such as blackheads and whiteheads. From here we move to grade II acne which involves cases of acne with a large number of blackheads and whiteheads and generally also includes papules or pustules which are mildly inflamed.

A papule is a small lesions, or break in the skin, which appears as a bump that rises above the surface of the skin and is normally smaller than about 5 mm across. A pustule is very similar to a papule but is pus-filled and contains a mixture of dead skin cells, white blood cells and bacteria.

Next on the scale come grade III acne which is simply a more severe case of grade II acne in which the papules or pustules are red, larger and more numerous.

Finally, we come to grade IV acne which is the most severe case of acne and includes nodules and cysts. Inflammation in the case of grade IV acne is normally wide spread and grade IV acne generally encompasses more than simply the face.

Grade I acne, which includes the common form of mild acne known as acne vulgaris, is not normally difficult to treat and can generally be cleared up with over-the-counter medications.

A more severe form of acne is acne congoblata which is characterized by heavy inflammation and deep abscesses which can frequently result in scarring and other forms of skin damage. Inflamed and often painful nodules form around comedones (a medical term for mild acne spots) and will often grow until they spontaneously discharge pus. This type of acne can often result in keloid-type scarring.

Acne fulminans is another form of acne in which nodules will often ulcerate, resulting in a painful and recurrent form of acne. Sufferers can also sometimes run a fever and experience aching joints and treatment with corticosteroids or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is normally required. Such drug treatments are however designed to treat the symptoms of this form of acne and not its underlying cause.

Continuing on up the scale some people will develop nodulocystic acne. Unusual cysts (red bumps caused by severe inflammation) form and occasionally they become so numerous and appear close enough together to create a fairly large area of inflammation. Nodulocystic acne can form small tunnels below the surface of the skin allowing infection to spread easily and quickly. This form of acne is generally treated using antibiotics and a commonly used drug treatment is isotretinoin, which many people will know by the name of Accutane.

Finally, we come to gram-negative folliculitis which occurs when hair follicles become infected. Bacteria growing at the base of a hair follicle cause the body to respond by sending white blood cells to fight the infection and this can occasionally result in a deep eruption which requires special treatment. This particular form of acne is often resistant to treatment with antibiotics and indeed the condition can sometimes by causes by using antibiotics to treat other forms of acne.

Although extremely common, acne is not the simple condition which many of us have always thought it to be and it is not always a simple case of buying a cream from the corner drugstore to treat it. So, as soon as acne appears pop along to your doctor, or better still a professional dermatologist, and get a diagnosis so that you can knock it on the head with the correct treatment right from the outset.