Tag: Dead Skin Cells

Identify Your Acne Before You Get Treatment

Understanding how to treat your Acne involves knowing which type of Acne may have. Acne has many variations, ranging in severity from mild to much more serious cases that can cause disfigurement. There are many treatments for acne available on the market, but it is very important to first identify your Acne type before choosing a treatment.

Acne Vulgaris

The most common form of Acne is named Acne Vulgaris. This type of acne can be easily identified by looking at the characteristics of the lesions.

Whiteheads: When a pore becomes completely blocked by trapping sebum, dead skin cells, and bacteria, you will notice a white appearance on the surface. Whiteheads normally will disappear fast than blackheads on your skin. You should resist the temptation to pop these pimples

Blackheads: When are pore is only partially blocked, the trapped sebum, bacteria and dead skin will have slowly drained to the surface of your skin. The black color is caused by your skins pigment and melanin reacting with oxygen. Blackheads will normally take longer to disappear than whiteheads. You should also resist the temptation to pop these pimples too.

Pustules: You can identify a pustule by a red circle with a white or yellow center. The pustule will look similar to a whitehead with the difference being inflammation. Pustules are commonly referred to as Zits.

Papules: The papule is a red, inflamed and tender bump on the skin with no visible head. You should not attempt to squeeze this lesion as you may cause or exacerbate scarring.

Severe Acne Vulgaris: The sever types of Acne Vulgaris include Nodules and Cysts and will be quite painful. You should consult your dermatologist for treating these types of acne.

Acne Rosacea

Acne Rosacea may look very similar to Acne Vulgaris and often causes confusion. Millions of people are affected by Acne Rosacea, and it mostly strikes people over the age of 30. It will start to appear as a reddish rash on the cheeks, forehead, nose and/or chin. You may also notice small bumps, skin blemishes or pimples in the area. Blackheads are not a symptom of Rosacea.
You should consult your dermatologist if you suspect you have Rosacea, because treatment is often very different.

There are other very serious forms of Acne such as Acne Conglobata, Acne Fulminans, Gram-Negative Folliculitis and Pyoderma Faciale. These forms of Acne are very rare, but they can be disfiguring, painful and have psychological effects.

It is always recommended that you consult with your dermatologist to confirm the type of Acne you have and the best treatments available.

The above information should only be used as a reference, and only a trained dermatologist can accurately diagnose your Acne.

How To Use Blackhead Remover

When ever you go to a beautician, dermatologist, cosmetologist, Always prefer to take your own tools with you to prevent yourself from blood born infections like Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV.

How To remove Blackhead.

It is highly advised that you should also consult your dermatologist for proper use of these quality tools. However, here we can give you simple technique to use comedone extractor. Pesky blackhead is a mixture of dead skin cells, oil and bacteria that builds up inside our skins pores.

Use the same tools as professional aesthetician or dermatologist use to extract blackheads, pimples & clogged pores. They can be exterminated by using a quality professional comedone extractor.

First, lay a warm, wet wash cloth on your face for a few minutes.

After a shower is an ideal time to extract. Steaming the face or using a hot water compress is strongly recommended to help soften comedones. This will make them much easier to remove. When you’re ready to begin the extraction process lay the looped side on top of the blackhead – basically encircling this area with the loop. Apply slow and even pressure lightly until the trapped sebum is forced out of the follicle.

The blackhead oil and all will ooze up and out of the pore. Do not continue to attempt the extraction if the trapped sebum is not released easily. Applying too much force can cause infection and scarring. When piercing a whitehead with lancet (Pointed end), wait until the whitehead breaks open, then gently roll the tool over the whitehead.

Be sure to disinfect the area when finished and clean your tool off with alcohol or hot water. A deep, cystic pimple should not be opened with the lancet. When dealing with deep acne, it’s best to visit a dermatologist. A doctor may use a sterile needle, but only after a pustule has formed. Additional treatments depend on the severity of the acne.

Remember Never use fingers or suction guns for removing blackheads, that may aggravate skin infections.

Some women buy suction guns for blackheads. Suction Gun is made up of plastic, so cant be sterilized. Suction gun toys never clean the pores completely and deeply, result is that you will get acne and pimples again. Suction Gun may cause broken capillary conditions and is also not very effective. Only the very superficial dead cells and dirt may be sucked away, leaving the condition with no evident improvement.

Always use Professional quality tools for your skin rather than buying cheap and lower quality implements.

Find Out What Really Causes Acne

All of the factors that affect acne are not completely understood. However the main cause of acne is well known. Excess production of an oily substance that helps keep the hair and skin soft is a prime ingredient. This oil is Sebum, during adolescence the amount of sebum produced by your body is greatly increased.

This sebum when combined with naturally occurring dead skin cells can block hair follicles which then turn into an acne lesion.

Not only will this mixture block pores it also provides a growing environment for bacteria. It is the growth of bacterial that causes what is commonly called a pimple.

The male hormone testosterone is what causes your body to create excess sebum. Testosterone is produced by both males and females. During puberty the increase of testosterone causes the body to have an abnormal reaction which manifests itself with the excessive production of sebum. This excessive oil is commonly found on the facial skin, as well as back and shoulders. In most people the testosterone levels have normalized by the time they are 20 and any acne issues will clear up.

Recent studies seem to indicate that acne is at least partially hereditary. In many cases though it is not possible to determine why some people are susceptible to it and others are not.

Other contributing factors can be; stress, diet, skin irritation, hormonal changes and some medications.

When it comes to diet skim milk seems to be a substantial contributing factor. Many people believe that chocolate, dark soft drinks and greasy foods will cause acne outbreaks. There is not statistical evidence supporting any of those beliefs.

Acne can also be induced or aggravated by medications such as; lithium, barbiturates, anabolic steroids and androgens.

Recent studies of acne may have found another cause of acne, narrowing hair follicles. These narrower hair follicles can prevent dead skin cells from being expelled from the pore. These trapped skin cells then mix with sebum and bacteria on the skin to form the acne lesions. The are several different issues that can cause the narrowing of the hair follicle, excessive shedding of cells within the follicle, abnormal cell binding and water retention.

It is commonly believed that you should squeeze a pimple to remove the blocking sebum as well as the bacteria. This can actually make the problem worse by spreading the bacteria to other areas of your skin as well as possibly causing scarring. This scarring if severe enough can be permanent.

In reality touching the area that has acne can actually make it worse as you transfer some of the oil from your hands to an area that already has excessive skin oil. Your hands can also carry bacteria which will aid in the spread of the acne.

Your hair can also exacerbate the acne problem by adding oil to areas it touches. It is important to keep your hair clean so it will not contribute to the problems. You should also try to avoid wearing hats and sweatbands as they will help trap the skin oils and just cause more problems.

What Causes of Acne?

Although much has already been researched about acne, there is still no clear preventive measure or even a treatment procedure that will complete eradicate its occurrence. This is perhaps because acne is not caused by just one factor but a host of factors that are all interconnected, contributing to the end product. To cure it, one need to take care of every consideration and to tell you the truth, there are a lot.

So what exactly causes acne?

Before going into the mysteries and procedures of acne occurrence, one must first determine what is acne. Acne is a skin condition characterized by the occurrence and presence of bumps on the skin. These bumps may be a whitehead; a blackhead, which is a whitehead with a black center; some pustules, which often have yellow or white center filled with pus and some nodes. A ski condition that involves only one or two pimples or a condition that you can count your pimples in your hands is not acne but just the eruption of the skin.

Acne can occur in all ages, although teenagers are often plagued by it because of changes in their bodies during the adolescent period. Adult acne, actually is quite prevalent, affecting 25 percent of men in their mid-twenties to their early forties and 50 percent of women in the same age range.

Acne occurs when the pores of the skin is clogged by excess oils, dead skin cells that line up the pores and dirt. This often happens when the hair follicle in the skin is trapped inside by sebum and dead cells. When these three factors interact with each other, eruptions may occur. When the acne bacteria, propionibacterium acnes, which is actually part of the skins natural environment, mix with the excess sebum, it will multiply and eventually lead to skin eruptions.

Scientists believe that acne is largely due to the change in the levels of androgenic hormones in the body, the hormone that is associated with the male and with growth and development. When testosterone is produced in the body, the hormone is metabolized in the skin producing dihydrotestosterone. It is this chemical that causes the sebaceous glands to produce excess oils on the skin.

Although, sebum, dead skin cells and bacteria are the main culprits, there are some factors that also contribute in the development of acne. One of these factors is medications or any chemicals that are put on the skin. Lets face it, there are skins that are too sensitive for their own good. This is why it is important that one consults first a dermatologist before putting chemicals on the skin.

Another risk factor for acne is the changes in the body system, which often occurs during pregnancy, menstruation and other hormonal abnormalities.

Although propionibacterium acnes, the skins resident and natural bacteria is already present in the skin, there are other unwanted bacteria that may attack the skin. Inflammation occurs when the body sends white blood cells to fight off the bacteria and gets clogged in the pores.

Although not proven conclusively yet, there are some who believe that stress can also contribute in the development of acne. This may be tied up with the fact that stress in the body may also wrought changes in the internal body system, which in turn can trigger abnormal hormonal response.