Causes of Acne – What are they?

The cause of acne, for most sufferers, is the change of hormones within the human body upon reaching puberty.

About 80% of all adolescents are affected at some point, with spots and pimples occurring on the face, back, chest and neck of the individual. Androgens, a type of hormone, can trigger the sebaceous glands into the over-production of sebum (oil), which is usually the main cause of acne.

The main purpose of sebum is to maintain the suppleness of the skin, but where it occurs in over abundance, it creates more problems than it solves and is the underlying cause of acne.

When our skins natural oil gathers in and around surface pores, it provides the perfect breeding ground for harmful bacteria. This then becomes the cause of acne and spots and pimples develop inside the now blocked pore.

Unfortunately, many products intended to help keep skin healthy can actually become a cause of acne. This is because certain ingredients are too harsh for our skin and result in the sebaceous glands producing even more oil.

Besides androgens, there are other hormones that have been found to be a cause of acne. Cortisol is produced at higher levels when humans are affected by stress and it has been scientifically proven to aggravate acne.

Acne can also be a hereditary condition. It does tend to run in families leading specialists to believe there may also be a genetic cause of acne.

Sometimes, certain drugs we are prescribed to treat other ailments can be a possible cause of acne. These include steroids and oral contraceptives. Despite this, there are certain hormone regulating oral contraceptives, which are actually prescribed to treat acne and certain other skin problems.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) occurs in some women and causes extremely high levels of androgens to be produced. Androgens are a main cause of acne and PCOS sufferers are therefore likely to develop many unpleasant symptoms including skin problems and acne.

Acne can often cause extensive scarring, leaving unpleasant marks on the skin, sometimes for life. To minimise the chances of this happening, it is important for the acne sufferer to try and resist picking and squeezing at spots as this causes the infection to travel deeper into the skin, hence initiating further damage.

Large, very painful cysts are the result of acute inflammatory acne. These large cysts, lying under the surface of the skin can result in scarring more often than not, as they tend to spread and rupture even if they are left alone and not picked and squeezed at. This type of acne can be the most distressing for the individual.

The root cause of acne is neither a poor diet or poor hygiene, although it goes without saying that if a person does not wash their face or ensure their make-up is removed, bacteria is sure to breed on the skins surface and spots will occur.

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