Senin, 11 April 2011
Just incase you were unsure, here's the short version of how "spots" are formed:
Oil from the sebaceous gland (called sebum) gets blocked and becomes infected. If the pore opens, the sebum oxidises and turns a brown colour: we call this a blackhead. Blackheads are not dirt and cannot be scrubbed away! They can however be extracted by a blackhead remover stick that can be found in most pharmacies. If you're going to do some extractions make sure you have clean hands because otherwise the infection will spread and will probably end up looking worse than before.
Same goes for whiteheads! Except they are "white" because they remain under the skin.
If there is a break in the follicular wall (where the sebum gets blocked) this causes the more severe acne types such as; cysts and nodules.
If you do have the more severe forms my advice would be to not squeeze them or try extraction. I used to get them on my chin and by messing with them I would just create a scab and the infection would worsen, making the cyst bigger than it already was! (One of my worst experiences in life was when a boy in college asked if I had a tumour on my chin.... I sincerely hope that never happens to you!)
Tomorrow I'll write about some of the treatments but I just thought it might be helpful if we got the sciencey bit out of the way first so we're all on the same page!
- Natalie
Oil from the sebaceous gland (called sebum) gets blocked and becomes infected. If the pore opens, the sebum oxidises and turns a brown colour: we call this a blackhead. Blackheads are not dirt and cannot be scrubbed away! They can however be extracted by a blackhead remover stick that can be found in most pharmacies. If you're going to do some extractions make sure you have clean hands because otherwise the infection will spread and will probably end up looking worse than before.
Same goes for whiteheads! Except they are "white" because they remain under the skin.
If there is a break in the follicular wall (where the sebum gets blocked) this causes the more severe acne types such as; cysts and nodules.
If you do have the more severe forms my advice would be to not squeeze them or try extraction. I used to get them on my chin and by messing with them I would just create a scab and the infection would worsen, making the cyst bigger than it already was! (One of my worst experiences in life was when a boy in college asked if I had a tumour on my chin.... I sincerely hope that never happens to you!)
Tomorrow I'll write about some of the treatments but I just thought it might be helpful if we got the sciencey bit out of the way first so we're all on the same page!
- Natalie