What Is Cystic Acne? What To Do About Cystic Acne

Editor's Choice
Main Category: Dermatology
Article Date: 11 Apr 2008 - 0:00 PDT

email icon email to a friend   printer icon printer friendly   write icon opinions  


Current Article Ratings:

Patient / Public:4 stars

3.59 (39 votes)

Healthcare Prof:3 and a half stars

3.3 (10 votes)


Many of us when confronted with an acne pimple on our faces may well decide to pop it. That would be a foolish move. The act of popping an acne pimple encourages the spread of the bacteria and other irritants inside that same pimple. The affected skin might then trigger an inflammatory response. It could well give rise to cystic acne.

The body counts on the immune system and its inflammatory response to foreign substances, when the body needs to fight-off an infectious organism. When an area inside the body becomes inflamed the body sends pain signals to the brain. Inflammation in the body can cause temporary discomfort, but the red and inflamed tissues often remain hidden in the body cavity.

When bacteria come out of a pimple, and spread across the skin, the cells in that region launch an immune response. The cells deep below the skin's surface soon become inflamed. The skin takes-on a cystic-like appearance. The affected face displays the symptoms associated with cystic acne.

Patients are most apt to see a dermatologist when they have cystic acne on the face. Still acne cysts can form under the skin in any irritated region of the body - the chest, the back, the shoulders and the upper arms. The accumulation of pus under the skin produces the pain and tenderness that is associated with cystic acne.

Because skin affected by cystic acne often develops unsightly scars, both teens and adults have good reason to avoid getting cystic acne. Elimination of the factors that can cause any type of acne flare-up offers the best protection against cystic acne. Those factors disappear when an acne patient chooses to try the most recent acne treatment.

That new acne treatment gets at the root cause of acne. It prevents the formation of DHT (dihydrotestosterone). This new treatment blocks the enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of testosterone to DHT. The absence of DHT in skin cells deprives the skin of the ability to manufacture excess skin oil.

The absence of excess skin oil does away with all "pools" of oil on the skin. Bacteria can grow in those "pools." When skin lacks those "pools," then no bacteria can grow on and irritate the skin. The skin has no reason to attack those bacteria. The skin will not become inflamed. Skin that lacks all signs of inflammation cannot develop into a region with cystic acne.

About Acne Skin Guide

Acne Skin Guide is a health resource dedicated to providing factual information and clearing up myths about acne and acne treatment.

Written by - Jeremy Langart
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Visit our dermatology section for the latest news on this subject.
There are no references listed for this article.
Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA
Jeremy Langart. "What Is Cystic Acne? What To Do About Cystic Acne." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 11 Apr. 2008. Web.
13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/103258.php>

APA
Jeremy Langart. (2008, April 11). "What Is Cystic Acne? What To Do About Cystic Acne." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/103258.php.

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.




Dermatology

Most Popular Articles



Follow Our Dermatology News On Twitter

Follow Us On Twitter
Get the latest news for this category delivered straight to your Twitter account. Simply visit our Dermatology Twitter account and select the 'follow' option.



View list of all 'What Is...' articles »