What can cause acne to occur?

Posted by Nathan James on May 8th, 2008 at 02:28am

The exact cause of acne in most cases is not known. Many doctors believe that acne results from several different factors. One of such factors, and that is very important, is the rise in one’s hormone levels. During the pubescent years, the male sex hormones called androgens increase in boys and girls. This can cause the sebaceous glands to enlarge and produce more sebum, which results in acne.

A cause of acne is heredity or genetics as researchers believe that there is a tendency to develop acne as it can be inherited from your parents. In fact studies have shown that many school-age boys who are suffering from acne have a family history of the disorder.

Acne is caused by the sebaceous glands becoming over active and they then secrete oily substances on to the skin and those people with acne are especially sensitive to normal blood levels of the hormone called testosterone and this triggers the sebaceous glands to then produce an excess of sebum (oily substance).

While the oil increases, the dead skin cells that line the hair follicle openings are not shed, which in turns clogs the follicles. With the combination of excess oil and clogged follicles, blackheads and whiteheads form. For many people though, they experience acne only during puberty.

But for other people the build up of oil in their hair follicles will create the ideal environment for a bacterium called Propionibacterium Acnes to grow and this normally lives harmlessly on your skin but when the environment is right for them it will grow.

Propionibacterium Acnes feeds off the sebum, and then produces a substance causes the body’s immune system to react. This then inflames the skin and creates redness and spots.

In the more severe inflammatory acne cases cysts will develop beneath the skins surface and these can then rupture and spread the infection into nearby skin tissue this can often result in scarring to a person’s skin.

Hopefully the information above has provided you with some explanation as to the cause of acne and in other articles written we have explained the various types of treatments and products that are available.

Tags: Acne, acne tips, acnes, Beauty, boys and girls, cause of acne, Conditions and Diseases, excess oil, Health, hormone levels, hormones, Propionibacterium Acnes, scars, Shopping, Skin, skin care, Skin Disorders, skin tissue

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