Types of Acne

Sometimes acne is only a pimple or two, a blackhead or whitehead. Acne can, however, be much worse. Knowing which acne you are suffering from is the key to a obtaining a proper diagnosis and treatment plan.

Professionals diagnosing the disease define acne by grades.

Grade I covers the simple outbreaks like blackheads and whiteheads (which include milia).

Grade II involves a more serious outbreak with multiple spots and frequently can involve papules and pustules that can be slightly infected. Papules are small lesions, a tear or break in the skin that is smaller than 5 mm - about the width of a thin cigarette. Papules feel like lumps in the skin. A pustule, in contrast, is filled with pus - made up of bacteria and white blood cells.

Grade III is much worse. The papules or pustules will be red, larger and more numerous.

Grade IV is the most severe form of acne and presents with nodules and cysts. The infection is wide spread and includes more than just the face.

Acne vulgaris is the most common form. Anything that is grade l comes under this title. They can normally be treated with simple home remedies.

In more severe form acne develop into acne conglobata. This is a serious form of acne. It's characterized by painful inflammation and deep abscesses. This type of acne can lead to scarring and other skin damage.

Swollen nodules frequently surround comedones - commonly known as blackheads, whiteheads or zits. They frequently grow until the pus discharges. They're painful when this happens. When they do, they're unsightly. Frequently, the condition leaves keloid type scars.

Another type of acne is acne fulminans. With acne fulminans, the nodules often ulcerate causing a painful form of acne that keeps coming back. The subject afflicted may even develop a fever or aching joints. A course of corticosteroids or NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) is frequently indicated. You must be aware that these treat symptoms, not the causes of the infection.

In still more severe forms, a patient may develop nodulocystic acne. The heavy inflammation will cause cysts (red lumps) to develop but they're of an unusual type. Occasionally they become numerous and close enough together to create an area of inflammation. If they form tracks under the skin, infection spreads quickly. A treatment of antibiotics is necessary and isotretinoin (stocked as Accutane) is frequently employed.

Gram-negative folliculitis is caused when follicles - in which hairs grow and sebum flows from the sebaceous glands - are infected. Bacteria grow in the follicles and the body responds by dispatching white blood cells to fight the infection. The result is a deep infection that calls for special treatment. The bacteria involved could be antibiotic resistant. Possibly the outbreak could have been started by the treatment of a less serious form of acne.

Accurate diagnosis of these forms of acne requires a professional. A dermatologist's care is needed in these cases, as it may be in other forms of severe acne.