Q: What causes pimples?
A: Fundamentally, this is how a pimple occurs.
When things are going well, the sebum smoothly leaves the pore and imperceptibly
melts on the skin's surface, helping to keep the skin surface moist and smooth.
When things aren't going well, as when the pore becomes plugged with sebum (oil)
and dead skin cells and bacteria run amok, a blemish is the outcome. Surplus
sebum is generated primarily by hormonal activity (stress, the menstrual cycle,
pregnancy, birth control pills, or certain medications such as corticosteriods
and lithium can act as a trigger). When too much oil is produced, it can become
mixed with dead skin cells from the skin's surface, with poorly sloughed skin
cells from the pore's lining, and with small pieces of hair debris from the
follicle. This combination of sebum, dead skin cells, and small pieces of hair
can clog the pathway out of the hair follicle/oil gland, creating quite a
backup. Now, you've got problems.
When your body produces too much oil, and dead
skin cells on the surface of the skin or inside the pore aren't shed normally,
they can join together in blocking the exit from a pore. All this excess oil and
dead skin cells solidify as a soft, white substance that plugs the pore. If the
surface of the pore is covered by skin, it is called a whitehead. If the pore is
open, without any skin covering, the top of the plug is exposed to air and
darkens, causing a blackhead.
Whiteheads and blackheads become pimples when
bacteria begins growing inside the plug, causing irritation and inflammation.
This inflammation and excess oil causes the wall of the oil gland to rupture,
spilling the contents (oil, cell debris, bacteria, and all) into the surrounding
skin tissue. The body's immune system then responds to the inflamed area to help
with repair (and causing swelling), and you now have a pimple.
Gentle cleansing is the first place to start. Once
you stop using drying, irritating, pore-clogging soaps or bar cleansers, and you
realize how nice your skin feels when it is no longer dry and irritated, you
will never go back to the old way again.
If you have any questions or
comments about this topic, please contact me by
e-mail.
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