Discovering the different types of acne

Acne affects 6 million people, including 60% of adolescents and 25% of adults. Indeed, acne frequently appears during puberty, when sebum production intensifies. It is often localized on the face and more particularly the T zone – forehead, nose, chin – which are the areas which produce the most sebum; but it can also appear on the neckline as well as the back.

The subject of acne is a vast subject that deserves to be addressed in depth in order to understand its origin and its characteristics.    

What is acne?

Acne is an inflammatory disease of the pilosebaceous follicle, in other words the hair bulb. Inside our skin there is a sebaceous gland which secretes sebum, an essential lipid film which protects the skin from external aggressions and dehydration and ensures the balance of the skin's bacterial flora. This gland is located inside the follicle (or bulb) of the hair. When the follicle is healthy, sebum will flow fluidly through the pores of the skin, this is called seborrhea. However, when sebum production increases, it will become thick and will therefore obstruct the sebaceous gland and the skin pore. Dead cells will then accumulate in the pores of the skin, and will clog it further. Thus, the balance of the bacterial flora will be affected by this change in environment, which has become richer in fat. A bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes , already present on our skin, will develop abnormally because of this change in environment. This leads to inflammation and therefore the appearance of skin lesions, such as comedones, blackheads, microcysts, etc.    

The different types of acne

Types of acne are characterized by very specific forms of skin lesions which depend on the extent of sebum retention in the skin, inflammation or infection of the follicle. There are therefore several types of acne:  

Retentional acne

It is a form of acne characterized by the presence of open comedones, called blackheads, but also whiteheads under the skin, called closed comedones or microcysts. These lesions are accompanied by oily and shiny skin, with enlarged pores.  

Inflammatory acne

This form of acne is characterized by inflammation of comedones. When the inflammation is superficial, papules, red bumps, which can be very painful, as well as pustules, in other words white-headed pimples. And when the inflammation is deep, nodules, small painful and deep bumps, appear under the skin. These nodules can stay under the skin for a long time and do not disappear spontaneously; they can also fill with fluid and develop into cysts.     It is important to take this skin problem seriously and to carefully treat your skin according to your acne type and above all to identify the cause.