What are the causes of acne?

Acne is not only scary but frustrating too. If you are searching for the causes of acne, then you are on the correct page. In this blog today Dr. Dhananjay Chavan will explain to you in details about acne. Many of my patients come to me on acne-related problems such as what are the causes of acne, how to treat acne problems, what food to eat for acne. I will give you complete information on acne, do read my blog till the end. 

What is acne?

Acne, we usually called it as a pimple is more common skin condition which is seen mainly during adolescent age, Middle-aged females, sometimes in old age also. Like in earlier ages, Acne or a pimple is not a disease of only youngsters, as hormones mainly androgen play a very important role in causing acne. These hormonal up & downs can happen at any stages of your life. Its grade of acne may vary from patient to patient.

There are various causes of getting acne. Many patients come to us in our day to day practice who are suffering from pimples. Many of them keep trying various treatments to get rid of acne. They try various home remedies, few of them follow certain tips told by their friends, or someone elderly at home, some of them show to a general practitioner, few of them take over the counter medications to treat their acne.

How acne is formed?

We all know about acne, but do we know how it is formed. Let’s understand how acne gets formed.

• It is an oil gland which is located near the hair follicle, is called a sebaceous gland. Thus, sebaceous gland is the main culprit in causing acne. This gland makes oil, which is called sebum. It comes out through the sebaceous duct along the hair follicle & shaft of the hair.
• The lining of the hair follicle & the hair shaft has dead cells which may fall off. These are called keratinocytes. Those dead cells get mixed with the excess sebum & clog the skin pores on the face. Therefore this leads to more & more accumulation of sebum beneath the surface of the skin. Henceforth there are no signs of inflammation, redness or pain.
• The sebum gets collected beneath the surface of the skin, mainly in the dermis of the skin. The growth of Propionibacterium acne starts when sebum is good food for the bacteria to grow. This collection of sebum expands the follicle like a ballon & pressure builds up, this causes rupture of the follicle wall & leaking of the content outside the follicle. This attracts the cells of inflammation, & gives rise to inflammation, swelling, redness, and bumps on the skin, which we called as acne.

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What causes acne?

There are various reasons for getting acne. But today lets check the reasons which are responsible to get acne.

• Hormonal factors: We all know about androgen hormones when the level increases in females, then you will experience hormonal imbalance. It is mainly experienced in females. The increase in androgen hormones helps to increase oil production an makes skin oily.
• Stress: If you are suffering from any kind of mental stress, then you may also start getting acne. It is also one of the common cause of getting acne.
• Diet: It is seen that some of the foods may cause acne, but it is not same for every case. You need to monitor your diet if you feel your diet is the culprit for causing acne. In many cases seen, if you consume more of dairy products, refined sugars, refined grains, etc then try to avoid them or reduce the limits.
• Cosmetics: If you are using cosmetics which does not suit your skin and you get allergy or acne, then try to avoid using it. Cosmetics make sure you use and also make efforts to remove also. Any products if it is creating any problems then its always better to avoid it.
• Medications: Few medications can be also the reason for acne for your skin. Medications like corticosteroids or testosterone medications can increase the androgen levels and which can worsen your acne problems. Try avoiding those medications, if you feel.

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How to treat hormonal acne?

Do watch this video to know more about acne and diet by Dr. Dhananjay Chavan.

What causes severe acne?

Now as you know the causes of acne, make sure to take care of your skin accordingly. The causes may vary from patients to patients. Few patients may have only comedones, few may have active pustules, nodules on there skin.

Let’s check what can cause severe acne, and how to take care of your skin. Normal sebum production is manageable. But over the production of sebum creates severe acne on your face. Due to bacterial infection also it gets trapped on your skin and resulting in swelling and redness of your skin. To get treated you need to consult a dermatologist to get better help and understand how severe is your acne. Don’t just take any other the counter medications.

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Thank you so much for reading my blog!