Any Acne Treatment Will Depend Upon The Type Of Acne You Have

Before you start treating your acne it is necessary to identify precisely what sort of acne you are suffering from because, despite what many people think, acne can be more than simply a case of spots caused by trapped skin oil (sebum), bacteria, dead skin cells and white blood cells.

Acne is normally classified by grade beginning with grade I which includes mild, non-inflamed forms of acne such as whiteheads and blackheads. We then move on to grade II acne which covers cases of acne with a large number of blackheads and whiteheads and usually also includes pustules and papules that are mildly inflamed.

A papule is a reasonably small break, or lesion in the skin, which appears as a bump that rises above the surface of the skin and is normally smaller than about 5 mm across. A pustule is very similar to a papule although it is filled with pus and contains a mixture of dead skin cells, white blood cells and bacteria.

Next on the scale comesCarrying on up the scale we arrive at grade III acne which is just a more severe case of grade II acne where the pustules and papules are larger, more numerous and red.

Lastly, we come to grade IV acne which is the severest type of acne and covers nodules and cysts. Inflammation in the case of grade IV acne is often wide spread and grade IV acne as a rule encompasses more than just the face.

Grade I acne, which includes the commonest type of mild acne called acne vulgaris, is not on the whole difficult to deal with and can ordinarily be cleared up with over-the-counter medications.

A more severe type of acne is called acne congoblata and this is characterized by heavy inflammation and deep abscesses which can frequently produce skin damage including scarring, leading to the all too common problem of getting rid of acne scars. Inflamed and often painful nodules form around the acne pimples and will often grow until they spontaneously discharge pus. This type of acne can often lead to keloid-type scarring.

Acne fulminans is another form of acne where nodules can ulcerate, causing a painful and recurrent form of acne. Sufferers can also occasionally run a fever and encounter aching joints and treatment with corticosteroids or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is generally required. These drug treatments are however used to treat the symptoms of this type of acne and not the acne itself.

Some people will also develop nodulocystic acne where unusual cysts (red bumps resulting from severe inflammation) appear and occasionally become so numerous and close enough together to create a fairly large area of inflammation. Nodulocystic acne can also form tunnels below the surface of the skin which allow infection to spread easily and quickly. This form of acne is generally treated using antibiotics such as isotretinoin, which is better known by the name of Accutane.

Finally, we come to gram-negative folliculitis which appears when the hair follicles become infected. Bacteria growing at the base of the hair follicle cause the body to react by diverting white blood cells to fight the infection and this can sometimes produce a deep eruption which needs special treatment. This type of acne is typically resistant to treatment with antibiotics and indeed the condition can sometimes be caused by using antibiotics for the treatment of other types of acne.

In spite of the fact that it is extremely common, acne is not the simple condition that most of us have always believed it to be and it is not always a simple case of purchasing a cream from the corner drugstore to treat it. Consequently, the moment acne appears you ought to pop in to see your doctor, or better still a dermatologist, and have the condition diagnosed so that you can select the correct acne cream treatment from the word go.