Acne Among Teenagers
Acne is teenagers’ biggest problem – it affects more than 17 million teenagers in the United States alone. However, as a medical condition, acne can be controlled – it is not serious, although it breaks the hearts of millions of teenagers around the world every day. This makes it more of an emotional problem than a physical one. After all, it is extremely unlikely that anyone has ever died from acne, yet nearly every teenager has been through it for the whole of time.
What Causes it
Technically, acne is the result of clogging of the sebaceous glands and follicles with oil, which leads to eruptions resembling pimples and cysts. It must be stressed though that pimples are not acne although they may result from the same cause. Acne tends to coincide with the onset of puberty but can go on longer or even start after puberty has finished.
The oil that clogs the sebaceous glands is called sebum, which rises up through the skin and would normally come out onto the skin like perspiration, but if it cannot get out due to blockages, Propionibacterium acnes bacteria grow, pressure builds up and little volcanoes appear on the skin until they burst due to that pressure.
What Not to Do
One thing is certain, you should never squeeze an acne ‘pimple’ or you may create acne scars and they are both unsightly and difficult to remove. In fact, acne scar treatment often involves either surgery or several visits to a dermatologist to remove the acne scarring.
You may be wondering why this sebum oil cannot get to the surface of your skin and flow freely without causing problems. Well, it is usually the result of dead skin cells, but this does not mean that the sufferer does not wash properly. In fact, washing too much can be a cause of severe acne.
Anyway, near total blockage of sebum results in acne and partial blockage causes blackheads, which are more common in adults. Whiteheads are also a result of severe blockages in adults.
There is another level of complication: the blockage of sebum can be near the surfaacne in adolescentsce of the skin, which will result in smaller, narrow ‘pimples’, or it can occur lower down which will cause larger bumps, which are normally more painful because it takes a lot more pressure to burst the ‘volcano’.
Acne in adolescence or adulthood can break out on any part of the body, but it is most common on the face, the chest and the back, which is where the most sebaceous glands are. Boys and girls seem to suffer equally from this ubiquitous problem of attaining sexual maturity. However, girls may seem to get more problems, but this is probably to do with longer hair.
What to Do
The total management of acne is impossible, because it comes from hormonal changes within, but if you are suffering from acne, oil is your enemy. Your own oil. Therefore, when treating acne in adolescence, keep your hair off your face even if it appears to be clean. Change your pillow often. Really often, like every day if you can.
Do not wash your face more than three or four times a day and try an alcohol based cleaner once a day. Do not use make-up and keep your hands off your face because they are naturally very oily.
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