Acne Is All About

This Thing Called Acne Scar

The diagnosis of acne is based on the history and physical examination, evidence of lesions characteristics of acne, and age.

Acne does not occur until puberty. The presence of the typical comedones, such as whiteheads and blackheads, along with excessively oily skin is its main characteristic.

Oiliness is more prominent in the midfacial area; other parts of the face may appear dry. When there are numerous lesions, some of which are open, the person may exude a distinct sebaceous odor.

Women may report a history of flare-ups a few days before menses. Biopsy of lesions is seldom necessary for a definitive diagnosis.

In Preventing Acne Scarring

Preventing scarring is the ultimate goal of diagnosis and therapy. The chance of scarring increases as the grade of acne increases.

For instance, Grades III and IV, normally 25 to more than 50 comedones, papules, or pustules, usually require longer-term therapy with systematic antibiotics or isotretinoin.

Patients should be warned that discontinuing these medications could exacerbate acne, could lead to more flare-ups, and increase the chance of deep scarring.

Moreover, manipulation of the comedones, papules, and pustules increases the potential for scarring.

When acne surgery is prescribed to extract deep-seated comedones or inflamed lesions or to incise and drain cystic lesions, the intervention itself may result in further scarring.

Dermabrasion, which levels existing scar tissue, can also increase scar formation. Hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation also may affect the tissue involved. The patient should be informed of these potential outcomes before choosing surgical intervention for acne.

Preventing Infection

The key to acne scar prevention is preventing infection.

Female patients receiving long-term antibiotic therapy with tetracycline should be advised to watch for and report signs and symptoms of oral or vaginal candidiasis, a yeast-like fungal infection.

In addition to receiving instructions for taking prescribed medications, patients are instructed to wash the face and other affected areas with mild soap and water twice each day to remove surface oils and prevent obstruction of the oil glands. They are cautioned to avoid scrubbing the face. After all, acne is not caused by dirt and cannot be washed away.

Mild abrasive soaps and drying agents are prescribed to eliminate the oily feeling that troubles many patients. At the same time, patients are cautioned to avoid excessive abrasion because it makes acne worse.

Excessive abrasion causes minute scratches on the skin surface and increases possible bacterial contamination and infection. Soap itself can irritate the skin.

All forms of friction and trauma are avoided, including propping the hands against the face, rubbing the face, and wearing tight collars and helmets.

Patients are instructed to avoid manipulation of pimples or blackheads. Squeezing merely worsens the problem, because a portion of the blackhead is pushed down into the skin, which may cause the follicle to rupture.

Because cosmetics, shaving creams, and lotions can aggravate acne, these substances are best avoided unless the patient is advised otherwise.

Failure of the acne to heal may result from many factors, including infection and inadequate nutrition. Hence, it is extremely important for the nurse and other health practitioners to take care of patients with acne. Their responsibility will consist mainly of monitoring and managing potential complications of skin treatments.

Major activities in preventing acne scar include patient education, particularly in proper skin care techniques, and managing potential problems related to the skin disorder or therapy.

All of these things are boiled down to the fact that the most important means of preventing acne scar is to prevent infection.

In general, learning how to care for your skin, even if it is bombarded with lots of comedones or pimples, is still the best way to avoid acne scar.

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Treating Back and Body Acne

Back and body acne is a common problem for many acne sufferers. Unfortunately, there are not as many treatment options available for those that suffer from body acne, and just as with normal acne treatment, most of these treatments simply do not work. In order to put an end to stubborn back and body acne, you need to understand your skin and treat it effectively.

Body acne is different from facial acne.

Because the skin on areas such as your back is different from the skin on your face, the type of acne you suffer from can be different as well. Generally, almost all cases of facial acne are caused by an excessive production of skin oil (sebum) by the glands in your pores. This is largely the case for body acne as well. However, besides skin oil, your pores can also be clogged by a build-up of dead cells. The important thing to understand is that areas such as your back may be much more susceptible to this later cause of acne.

The layer of skin on your back is thicker than on your face, and is less frequently exposed to the elements and other factors that could aid in exfoliation (the process of shedding dead skin cells). Many people only half-heartedly wash their backs in the shower, and this may simply not be enough to scrape away those dead cells.

To make sure you’re exfoliating your entire body properly, leave that bar of soap alone. Buy some gentle body wash and a bath sponge with some texture to it. Wash thoroughly every day in those hard-to-reach places. If you need to purchase a back-scrubber to reach everywhere, then get one. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t need to scrape hard against your skin. Any sponge will usually exfoliate the top layer of your skin much better than your hands.

Once you begin exfoliating properly, you’ll probably notice results fast, but there’s still the matter of preventing acne from forming in the first place.

Take a moment to consider if you are doing anything that causes acne. If you frequently wear clothing that isn’t quite clean, you may be giving bacteria an extra opportunity to form. This is especially important for clothing that hugs close to your skin and doesn’t breath well. If you wear tight clothes and exercise, make sure not to sit around in sweaty clothes for long.

Can acne treatments help?

Chances are that many of the same acne treatments that work on your face will work on your back and body, but they may not be quite as potent on the thicker skin of your back. Reading the reviews for some acne skin care products may help you learn which one is right for you. However, if you really want to prevent acne from forming, you need to prevent your oil glands from over-producing. Internal acne treatments are the best choice for this, as they are the only treatments that can really prevent acne, and it’s also just easier to take a pill rather than trying to apply a cream in a place such as your back. There are a few vitamin supplements that can help with acne prevention.

Vitamin A can help by strengthening your skin cells and reducing the production levels of your oil glands. However, too much vitamin A can have serious side effects, so it’s best to take it simply with a multivitamin so that you are sure to get your recommended daily value. Zinc is a mineral that also aids in regulating your oil glands, and is a powerful antioxidant that can eliminate toxins in your skin cells. Taking a zinc supplement every day has been shown to reduce acne for many. Too much zinc can cause stomach pain, so just be sure to listen to your body.

Vitamin B5 is the safest and most effective vitamin for acne treatment. The doses required are higher than for other vitamins, but since B5 is water-soluble there is no health risk at all. Vitamin B5 assists oil regulation by enhancing the rate at which your body metabolizes skin oil, and thus can prevent most cases of acne when taken in sufficient doses.

By exfoliating properly on the outside and preventing acne on the inside, almost anyone can be rid of body acne in just a few weeks.

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