There is a lot of debate about what causes acne. At least amongst people who don’t really know. The truth is that doctors are well aware of the real causes of acne so there is really no need for the debate. In fact most of the things that people think cause acne are not in any way involved. Eating chocolate does not cause acne. The real causes of acne are the hair follicles becoming blocked. The only thing that differs in each case of acne is what is causing the hair follicle to become blocked.
The real causes of acne are the no mystery; it is caused by a bacteria on your skin in its interaction with your hair follicles. In order to grow hair you have a hair follicle and under that you have a sebaceous gland. As part of the growth process of hair the sebaceous gland will create a substance called sebum which is supposed to hydrate your hair and skin. There is a bacteria on everybody’s skin that uses this sebum as a source of nutrient. The problem occurs when people have more of this bacteria than they should. It attracts white blood cells to the follicle and this is what causes the outbreak of acne.
The question then becomes where does the excess bacteria come from. This is actually the result of the hormones that cause hair to grow. The hormones produce more sebum than you need and with this source of excess food more of the bacteria will grow. This is why acne is so common in teenagers. During your teenage years you will produce more hormones than you will as an adult and that will produce an increase sebum. In the case of acne amongst adults it is usually a hormone imbalance that is causing the increase in sebum.
There is another related cause of acne although exactly why this is the case isn’t clear. In this situation your follicles will become blocked and the sebum won’t be able to get out. The reason that the follicles become blocked isn’t clear but it seems likely that it is an excess of oil on your skin that causes it. Normally with this type of acne you will get blackheads rather than the type of red acne that you get with excess bacteria.
Knowing what the real causes of acne are can help you to treat it properly. Knowing that the main cause of acne is a bacteria it should be obvious that you will need to use antibiotics in most cases to get rid of it. On the other hand the advice about keeping your skin clean is a good way to prevent acne from forming. This is why it is important to contact a dermatologist to help you deal with your acne. Although there are some home remedies that can work in some cases in general you are going to need medication to deal with the real causes of acne.