Acne Vulgaris – Causes and Symptoms

Acne vulgaris is a common skin disorder. It is acne vulgaris is a common skin disorder affecting at least 85 percent of adolescents and young adults. When you have just a few red spots, or pimples, you have a mild form of acne. Some people with severe acne are not bothered by it. Others are embarrassed or upset even though they have only a few pimples.

There are different types of acne. The most common acne is the type that develops during the teen years. Puberty causes hormone levels to rise, especially testosterone. High hormones cause signal skin glands to start making more oil (sebum). Oil releases from the pores to protect the skin and keep it moist. Acne begins when oil mixes with dead cells and clogs the skin's pores. Bacteria can grow in this mixture, and if it leaks into nearby tissues, it causes swelling, redness, and pus. A common name for these raised bumps is pimples.

Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease of the sebaceous glands. It may be occur on areas of the body that have sebaceous glands such as face, neck, back and shoulders. It is associated with high rail of sebum secretion. Excessive sebum is usually secreted into the dilated hair follicles. The sebum joins with the bacteria and keratin in the hair follicles to form a plug.

"The most common form of acne is known as "acne vulgaris", meaning "common acne." Acne Vulgaris is a common form of acne, a inflammatory condition of the skin characterized by comedones, papules and painful lesions on the surface of the skin or pustules. It is caused by changes in the pilosebaseous units and tiny hair follicles on the face and body get clogged due to the excessive secretion of oils. It usually affects in teen and adults.

Causes

Acne blemishes are caused by an overproduction of sebum by the sebaceous glands, stimulated by androgens. This excess sebum, mixing with dust and dirt, blocks the skin pores and causes blackheads to form. Some bacteria, normally present in hair follicles, then begin to proliferate abnormally and cause inflammation. The blackheads develop into papules or elevated, pus-filled pustules. If the follicle opening completely closes, the accumulated sebum is degraded by bacteria and forms a cyst.

Acne occurs when tiny holes on the surface of the skin called pores become clogged. Each pore is an opening to a canal called a follicle, which contains a hair and an oil gland. Normally, the oil glands help keep the skin lubricated and help remove old skin cells.

Symptoms

Symptoms of acne include whiteheads, blackheads, and pimples. These can occur on the face, neck, shoulders, back, or chest. Pimples that are large and deep are called cystic lesions. These can be painful if they get infected. They also can scar the skin.

The disease usually begins one to two years before puberty and is caused by stimulation of the facial sebaceous glands by androgens, the male hormones. (Women also produce small quantities of male hormones; this is the basis of acne in women.) It is thought that acne sufferers, rather than having higher levels of the hormones, actually have sebaceous glands that are more sensitive to the hormone.