Say Goodbye to Acne

INTRODCUTION:

Acne vulgaris (acne) the bane of teenage existence occurs almost universally in both young men and women in their teens and early 20s. It is almost ubiquitous in teenage years. The peak severity is in the late teenage years but acnes may persist into the third decade and beyond especially in females who may experience flare-ups before menstruation. The hormonal changes responsible for premenenstral bouts, with acne are responsible for breakouts some women experience when taking oral contraceptives, during pregnancy or while undergoing menopausal hormone therapy.

Although acne is not dangerous, it is unsightly and can have a negative psychological impact on adolescents particularly at a time when they are most anxious about their appearance. Consequently, they seek all sorts of advice and medication so as to curb this “ugly” incidence. Being so “mirror-conscious”, they strictly follow these medications to retain their beauty. To make this situation even worse, acne is rarely cured. However, its symptoms can be controlled; acne eruptions can be reduced and scarring can be minimized with proper care.

This scourge has stolen beauty from many faces, generated undue worries and anxiety among the younger population, and presented a myriad of “unanswered questions” to health workers. Hence it is necessary to proffer solutions, on how to reduce its incidence lest it becomes a source of global worry.

DEFINITION: WHAT IS ACNE?

Acne is an eruption, predominantly of the face, upper back, shoulder and chest composed of comedones, cysts, papules and pustules on an inflammatory base. Simply put, it is an inflammatory eruption involving the pilosebaceous apparatus. The common name Pimple is usually used to denote the inflammatory lesion of acne. This condition occurs ina majority of people during puberty or adolescence due to androgenic stimulation of sebum secretion with plugging of follicles by keratinization associated with proliferation of Propionibacterium acnes.

CAUSES:

The cause if multifactorial, but there are 3 major pathogenic factors that clearly summarize its aetiology.

* Elevated sebum excretion

* Infection with Propionibacterium acnes

* Blockage or occlusion of the pilosebaceous unit.

There is a clear relation between the severity of acne and sebum excretion rate. Acne does not occur in complete absence of sebum. Therefore, sebum excretion is necessary for the development of acne but not sufficient to cause acne on its own. Androgen stimulation greatly determines sebum excretion. This accounts for the onset of acne in teenage years. Progesterone also increases sebum excretion while oestrogens reduce it. In another development, the bacterium Propionibacterium acnes colonizes the pilosebaceous ducts and acts on the lipids to produce a number of proinflammatory factors. Finally, the occlusion of the pilosebaceous unit contributes to the development of acne.

Acne can be exacerbated, or even caused by a number of factors including:-

* Genetic susceptibility leading to the hyperconification of pilosebaceous duct and its blockage.

* High humidity, frequent or prolonged sweating.

* Local irritation, friction, rough or occlusion clothing, which can be conducive to lesion formation of acneprone individuals.

* Long term use of hair-care products that contain occlusive petroleum of liquid petroleum, causing acne along the hairline (sometimes “pomade acne”)

* Drug such as corticosteroids which can sensitive hair follicles and produce “steroid acne” and other systemic drugs like androgens, some oral contraceptives, halothane and thyroid preparations known to precipitate acne eruption.

* Oil-based cosmetics can be occlusive and plug the follicles.

* Prolonged exposure to sun, prolonged stress and other emotional extremes.

CLINICAL FEATURES:

Acne presents in areas rich in sebaceous glands such as the face, back, shoulder and sternal (chest) area. The cardinal features are open comedones (black heads) due to plugging of the pilosebaceous orifice by kertain or sebum or closed comedones (white heads) due to accretions of sebum abd keratin deeper in the pilosebaceous ducts.

* Inflammatory papules circumscribed solid elevation up to 100cm diameter on the skin, which may be pedunculassted, sessile or filiform.

* Pustules circumscribed superficial elevation of the skin (about 1cm diameter) containing purulent materials.

Other clinical variants of acne include infantile acne, conglobate acne, acne fulminans, follicular occlusion traid, steroid acne and oil acne each with its distinctive features.

TREATMENT:

Self treatment should be limited to those patients who have non-inflammatory acne of mild-to-moderate severity (ie eruptions are limited to white heads and black head). The role of a detmatologist in severe cases of inflammatory acne (consisting of papules, pustules and nodules) must be south.

Treatment is aimed at decreasing sebum production, bacterial proliferation, normalizing duct keratinization or decreasing inflammation. Management starts with paying attention to exacerbating factors.

Topical agents such as:

* Benzyol peroxide (a keratolytic agent) and Fretinoin (A topical retinoid) should be used in individuals with fairly minor disease (particularly those dominated by the presence of comedones).

* Patients with anything but minor degrees acne will require therapy with antibiotics (local or systemic). Local antibiotics widely used include Clindamycin or Erythromycin. The principal oral antibiotic is Oxytetracycline. Monocycline may be used if oxytetacycline’s response is inadequate.

* If these topical and systemic agents fail to produce a sufficient clinical response within 3-6 months, treatment with Isotretinoin is considered. Remember, these drugs have their different modes of administration and side effects therefore, the physician’s role on prescription and monitoring of treatment is very essential.

Good skin care habits are essential in the treatment and management of acne. These should be emphasized by health workers. They include:

* Avoidance of prolonged exposure to the sun.

* Patient’s should be encouraged to switch from oil to water-based skin care products. If the hair is oily, frequent shampooing with water-based shampoo should minimized hairline eruptions.

* Patients should wash their faces 2-3 times daily using warm water, a mild medicated or unmedicated facial soap and a soft wash-cloth.

* Mild abrasive soaps (such as those containing pumice, polyethylene or Aluminum oxide) can be helpful in removing the outer layer of dead skin cells.

* Squeezing, pinching or picking at acne lesions can aggrevate the condition and cause permanent scarring. Avoid this!

CONLCUSION

The understanding of the basic aetiology and underlying pathology of any form of sickness is a great step in the pursuit of an effective treatment. Improper understanding may “rubbish” a good scientific treatment formular, or elicit a wide- range of side effects. With these steps for acne, the beauty and cosmetic concern of every individuals will be achieved.

REFERENCES:

1. Barbara white Sax (2000): Acne and Wrinkles: Skin care for baby boomers and their kids; Pharmacy times (Oct. 2000); P. 55-57.

2. Christopher Haslett et al (2000): Davidson’s principles and practice of medicine, Churchill Livingstone; P. 1051-1082.

3. Kumar and Clark (2000): Clinical Medicine (5th Ed.); 1320.

4. Lippoincolt, Williams, Wilkins (1998); Steadman’s Medical Dictionary. (27th Ed.) p. 15-16.

By: Anyanwagu Uchenna Chidi

About the Author:

you knew of some of the best home remedies for pimples that I have just found out about? Well, I’m not going to be mean – I’ll share them with you right now! You know how ugly acne spots can be and how your self esteem takes a nose-dive when they plague you – no need for me to tell you that.

Are your self-confidence and self-esteem at rock bottom as a result of them? Well, at least you are certainly not alone. Ugly acne spots are the curse of most teenagers and a good few adults, too.

You can help your skin considerably, by using some easy to find and prepare home remedies, along with following some common sense tips.

If we are going to deal with this problem, it is good to know what acne pimples are and how they develop in the first place, then we can look at three effective home remedies.

Acne vulgaris makes its presence uncomfortably known to you, by forming not only pimples, but also blackheads, superficial sebaceous cysts and if untreated, scars on the skin. They mostly break out anywhere on the face, temples, chest or back.

Some of the causes are over-consumption of sugar, fried foods and excessive starch. This causes, what in Chinese medicine is known by the descriptive term of ‘internal dampness’. When this accumulates to excess, it erupts as pimples and other lumps and bumps.

Chronic constipation can be a major contributing factor as the digestive system becomes more clogged up, causing toxins to be re-absorbed into the bloodstream.

I’m sure you must be aware that the ‘birthday suit’ you have been wearing all your life is not just there to make you presentable to the outside world, but it is a valuable eliminative outlet for your body toxins. If you suffer from constipation, it is your skin that ends up being the dumping ground for body waste, hence the unsightly appearance of pimples and blackheads, when it gets overloaded.

In addition to these, are the raging hormones of teenage years which add to the clogging of oil glands.

To make a significant difference, you really need to introduce plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. With their natural fiber, they help move food through the digestive tract more efficiently and removing waste from the bowel leaving it cleaner. Reduce chomping on junk food – sweets, cakes, chocolate and other high sugar carbohydrate foods. They clog up the system and have you noticed, you want to keep eating them?

Foods rich in zinc or taking a zinc supplement has often brought about a dramatic improvement. A good indication of being deficient in zinc, is the presence of white flecks on your finger nails. Zinc is great, but it is wise to consult either your doctor or a nutritionist for advice so you don’t overdose and deplete the copper in your body.

I have found that the topical use oatmeal on the affected skin is very effective. Make a paste from fine oatmeal and warm water and smooth this onto the skin, leaving for as long as possible. This alleviates the inflammation around the acne area and at the same time, helps the body to release its toxins throught the pores of the skin, allowing them to ‘breathe’. Daily or weekly use of oatmeal paste can bring about a very noticeable improvement. You know, I have found this to be one of the most effective home remedies for pimples.

There are many simple as well as effective treatments you can use which are both safe and non-toxic, without having to resort to some of the more invasive chemical over-the-counter treatments.

By: Helen Wall

rigued by all of these three day acne programs popping up everywhere and I wanted to see if they were just scams or actually had a valid approach. What I found was that they “removed” the major causes of acne breakouts in your body which meant a cure for some people. I will get into a little more detail about these causes and how they give you the zits you currently have. Together, they are a “dirty” colon and a specific parasite known as candida. These two problems usually go hand-in-hand, meaning that if you have one, you are likely to also suffer from the other. These 3 days plans consist basically of performing a detox that everyone can easily follow. It’s actually a very easy way to deal with the 2 problems mentioned earlier at the same time. Soon, I will go into some more detail of each one of these and how they are able to help promote acne and those ugly cysts. So what causes acne? Here’s some medical research to back up the claims. The first is a Yeast Infection (Candida Albicans Overgrowth) and can be found inside the body, mostly in the colon. These horrible critters create mycotoxins which are chemicals they give off as waste and are toxic your body and your vital organs. When there are way too many toxins roaming freely inside of your body, it is known that they can cause a whole host of problems that include cysts, allergic reactions, infections and acne. Almost everyone has a small amount of candida within their bodies. If your body starts to become weaker from an excess of hormones, toxins, or other issues that relate to a bad diet and lifestyle, candida can quickly sread which will only increase your health problems. This is why acne is often a huge problem with adolescent teenagers and pregnant women. Have you ever used antibiotics? Drugs like these kill off all of the bacteria that is “good” in your intestines including acidophilus that normally would help to keep candida levels in check. When you stop taking the antibiotics, candida can grow back but in larger numbers that are able to cause serious health problems. Another of the reasons that people are open to candida growths are from a dirty bowel system. The candida thrives and hides in pockets of old, dry and trapped fecal matter. Medical experts have said that almost as much as 90 percent of all disease can be directly related to a dirty intestinal tract. Some people have been found to have up to 25 pounds of foul, slimy and putrefied fecal matter in their intestines while the average person is said to have between 4 & 25 pounds of accumulated waste collected over the years. Looking after the health of your internal system is vitally important for good health and general well-being. It is also possible to repeat the internal cleansing detox plans several times as often as you like because sometimes one time isn’t quite enough. You will have to wait a couple of weeks before repeating though to give your body a chance to recover. This is generally for those people who get really good results and less breakouts the first time but not a complete cure.

By: Robert Kokoska

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