Acne - What is it?

Acne is a disease that affects the skin's oil glands. The small holes in your skin or pores connect to oil glands under your skin.

These glands make an oily substance called sebum. The pores connect to the glands by a canal called a follicle. Inside the follicles, oil carries dead skin cells to the surface of the skin.  A thin hair also grows through the follicle and out to the skin. When the follicle of a skin gland clogs up, a pimple grows. Most pimples are found on the face, neck, back, chest, and shoulders. Acne is not a serious health threat, but it can cause scars. (http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/acne/acne_ff.pdf)

Acne is a red, irritated inflammation in the skin that occurs when the hair follicles under the skin clog up. The increased flow of oil (called sebum) from the sebaceous glands in the dermis together with increased shedding of dead skin cells cause the blockage of the follicle pores, resulting into comedones (blackheads and whiteheads) and pimples or zits (Remedy Health Media, 1988).

The occurrence of acne is almost universal among individuals going through adolescence and often continues to adulthood. Acne is more common in teenagers and young adults than the other age groups. This is often caused by an increase in the testosterone levels in the body in which both sexes accrue during puberty (James, 2005). However, it can also affect all ages. Even children as young as five years old can develop acne.