Different Acne Forms You Must Learn

What is the difference between acne and pimples? Well, probably you cannot answer that accurately because most people tend to mistake the difference of the two. Some may mistake differentiating them just because they base it on how an acne and pimple look like. While it is really considered as the basis, still basing on the physical aspect of acne and pimples alone may result to wrongful differentiation.

Acne vulgaris, or simply “acne”, is a chronic human skin disease of the sebaceous glands and hair follicles. This skin disease usually starts during puberty stage when the body releases androgens. Commonly, acne appears in the face but it can also appear in other body areas such as the neck, chest, back, scalp, upper arms, shoulders, legs and even the genital areas of both male and female.

Moreover, acne arises in just similar ways but it takes different forms and all require to treat its scars immediately. There are two types of acne:

Non-inflammatory acne

·         Closed Comedo – This non-inflammatory acne is most commonly called whitehead. This occurs when a plugged follicle stays just under the skin surface, then the wound resulting to that occurrence is characterized as small whitish bumps which is now the closed comedo.

·         Open Comedo – The second form of acne under non-inflammatory acne is the open comedo also known as blackhead. This occurs when the plug enlarges and drives through the skin surface and the resulting wound is now the open comedo. In addition, its dark color is not because of dirt but it is because of the build-up of the pigmentation element of the skin called melanin.

Inflammatory acne

·         Cyst– A cyst is a very uncomfortable inflamed lesion. This is also characterized as a large pus-filled wound that is present in the deepest inside of the skin. Moreover, a cyst sprouts when the contents of a comedo spills over the skin surrounding and also because of the local immune’s system reaction in pus production. Notably, a cyst leaves deep scars which really requires an in-depth acne scar removal.

·         Acne Oblongata – This form of inflammatory acne is very rare as it develops or grows at the back, buttocks and chest of the body. This is largely due to serious bacterial infection.

·         Papule – This inflammatory acne appears as a small, firm, tender and pink bump. It is considered as an intermediary of non-inflammatory acne and inflammatory acne.

·         Pustule – A pustule is a small round inflamed lesion which has a visible pus with a red base and a yellow or whitish core. This occurs in the skin when it undergoes chemical irritation brought by accumulated sebum components.

Now, don’t confuse yourself with acne and pimples because pimple is another form of acne. It is a red bump with whitish core. Given the above-mentioned forms of acne, you can already say that they are all skin diseases which fall under the acne vulgaris. But whatever form it is, they are all caused by clogged pores and follicles due to blockages such as chemicals, dead cells and dirt.