the B. spot

Good morning B spot!

I received numerous emails asking me questions about acne.  I know that it’s a big deal for people (present company included); I will be turning 27 this year (again:-) and still have to use acne products to prevent breakouts so I can totally relate.  First let’s dispel a few myths out there regarding acne shall we?

1. It’s OK to eat chocolate!  Contrary to popular belief, your diet does not cause acne; numerous studies have been done and not one was able to show a connection between diet and acne breakouts.  Not pizza, chocolate, french fries or any other food.
2. You CANNOT wash acne away!  Acne really has nothing to do with how clean you may or may not be.  In fact, washing your face more often will probably make things worse because you can irritate your skin- so let’s not add insult to injury and try to scrub away the problem!
3. You must treat Acne for it to go away!  Unfortunately acne is not one of those things that will “run its course” and go away- no my friend, acne is with you for the long haul.  It ranges in severity and can either be treated by OTC treatments or you may need to get oral antibiotics from a derm.   Info courtesy of AAD

Ok so now that we took care of that, do you want to know what acne really is? There are four main culprits that contribute to acne- clogged pores, bacteria (p. acne), inflammation and surplus of sebum.  Sebum is oil produced by our bodies to keep our skin moisturized- it’s a good thing.  But as the saying goes, too much of a good thing is not good and this definitely applies to too much sebum.  So this surplus of sebum has nowhere to go and so it remains stuck in our pores can causes blockage (clogging).  Everyone has p. acne on their skin but now that there is a swimming pool full of the “good stuff” (to p. acne, sebum is the “good stuff”) and are multiplying at a crazy rate causing inflammation.  A side effect of too much sebum is it’s really easy for dead skin cells to mix with the sebum and cause a larger jam so it’s also important to make sure that dead skin is gently exfoliated.

How your skin becomes inflamed determines what type of acne you’ll have.  Sebum that’s blocked close to the surface with a little inflammation results in whiteheads (no exposure to air) and blackheads (open and exposed to air); these are commonly called comedones.  If the blockage is a little deeper then papules or pimples form.  Deeper inflammation results in pustules or pimples filled with pus.  The deepest and most painful acne is a nodule or cyst.

Why did I spend so much time dwelling on how acne is formed?  The more you know about how it’s formed, the better chance you have of treating it!  Get it!  Now you know that inflammation is a big factor, you should look for acne treatments with anti-inflammatory ingredients.  I’ll cover ingredients and products in Part 2!

Later!

Ni’Kita