Acne is a dysfunction of the pilobaceous unit, that
consists of a hair follicle, sebaceous gland and a hair. These units can be
found on every part of your body except on the palms, the top of your feet, the
soles and and lower lip. The greatest quantity of pilosebaceous units is
located on your face, your upper neck and your chest. The sebaceous glands
mentioned above are responsible for the production of an oil called sebum,
which is necessary to keep your skin and hair healthy and moisturized.
During your adolescence years the glands are expanded and
make more sebum than they normally need to due to the influence of androgens.
That´s why acne often occurs in your teenage years. After the age of 20 the
production of sebum decreases again and in most cases the acne starts
disappearing then.
Hormones is the number one reason among the causes of
acne. The scientific world is still not sure about that, but many
dermatologists also name your personal diet as another reason. Often eating
fatty food like chocolates, fries, pizza ans so on is also blamed to be another
cause of acne, although there still is no proven evidence for this thesis. It´s
agreed that sexual activity and other lifestyle factor are not among the causes
of acne.
Drugs and alcohol are also quite often among the
mentioned causes of acne. When your body tries to clean itself after a night of
boozing, it sends the alcohol out through your skin in the form of sweat.
That´s when the pores get clogged and clogged pores are one of the causes of
acne. Not only that the skin pores are clogged there is also no way out for
oils and dirt. They then become infected and turn into things we call pimples,
blackheads or whiteheads.
Stress can also be responsible for acne breakouts,
because stress changes the hormone levels in your body. Due to the hormonal
changes the sebaceous glands are stimulated to produce more sebum oil. This
process results in whiteheads, blackheads and pimples.
The usage of oily or heavy make-up is also among the
causes of acne. Heavy make-up tends to clog the pores and oily make-ups add
more oil to your skin, though there already exists enough oil.
Vitamin supplements are usually good for your body, but
an overuse of vitamins B1, B6 and B12 can also cause acne flare-ups.