Acne

Acne is defined simply as inflammatory skin disorder. The pimples, the redness,the infections are all visible signs of skin that is inflamed or highly irritated.Within every hair follicle is a tiny pit with a group of cells that are called sebaceous gland.This gland produces an oil known as sebum, and its purpose is to oil the hair shaft andto spread out over the top of the skin, sealing in the moisture of the skin so that it stays healthy, soft, supple, youthful and wrinkle free.This process works quite well as long as the sebaceous glands get all of the nutrients they
need to produce a high quality oil. However, at puberty the process of sexual maturationoccurs.  This process is absolutely essential for the continuation of life and our species, andthus the sex glands get first call on the nutrients extracted from the diet. If the diet is not adequate to supply nutrition for both the skin and these essential sexual maturation processes,the skin becomes short changed and acne is almost guaranteed to occur.Here is why! The hormones of sex are made from the same basic nutrients as is the oil made
by the sebaceous glands. When there are not enough of these nutrients to do both, theproduction of sex hormones hogs all the nutrients and the skin begins to suffer as the result of a poor quality of oil being produced by the nutrient deficient sebaceous glands.The single most common result of nutrient deficiency in the sebaceous glands is the productionof an oil that is thick and sticky. It can become so thick and sticky that it does not flow up andout of the hair follicle and over the top of the skin. Without the oil covering the skin, moisture is lost, the skin becomes dry and flaky, it itches and can crack and wrinkle and become inflamed. By far, the biggest problem develops down inside the pores of the skin where this thick sticky oil begins to accumulate and harden. Eventually this accumulation will swell to such an extent that
the pore will enlarge and become a visible white dot called a “whitehead”. If dirt gets embedded into this thick and sticky oil it will be called a “blackhead” The worst problem occurs on the face, which is more exposed to air borne bacteria than any other part of the body. Here the bacteria become trapped in the pores that are clogged with the thick and sticky oil. This would not be a problem except for one thing, they set up house in those pores, and they start raising a very large family. They only need three things to be a great success,
1. warmth,2. protection from the elements and 3. food. They have all three in great abundance in the clogged pores of the skin. Eventually the immune system discovers these bacterial infestations in the pores of the skin and the white blood cells launch an all out attack. The most important of these white blood cells are “Langerhan’s Cells” which are stationed in the skin, also known as macrophages, the really “big eaters” of bacteria. First the macrophages use chemical warfare, and that causes the entire area around the bacteria infested skin pore to become red, swollen and sore. This now attracts more macrophage to the infested pore, and at this point they begin a bacteria eating frenzy. After each macrophage devours about 100 bacteria it has become so toxic that it dies, and its bulging yellow body lies within the battle field of the skin pore. As thousands of these macrophages lie dead within the pore it becomes swollen and yellow from their dead bodies. This is what is called
“puss”. You now have the dreaded “pimple”, a skin pore that is infected, sore, and swollen with
ugly puss! And when you get lots of them at once, it is called Acne!

Perhaps the worst damage done to its victims by acne is the great harm it does to their self esteem. Considering that 80% of the population between the age of 12 and 24 years old will be afflicted by acne to one degree or another, acne is a very serious and widespread concern. For many people, acne problems can continue all throughout their life well into adulthood, even though they were told as teens that they would “outgrow” it. Did you suffer with acne as a teen? Perhaps you still suffer with it as an adult. Looking back on your high school or even college years, would you have felt better about yourself and life in general if you had not had acne? Virtually all of us would answer, YES! Perhaps you would have had the courage to get a date with that “special” person. Perhaps you would have felt and done better on some of those early job interviews. A clear complexion might have created a stronger self image and a higher sense of self confidence. Would this have allowed you to early on set your goals in life significantly higher? It would have for me It would be ludicrous to blame acne as the sole cause of a poor self image or a low level of self confidence. However, no reasonable person in this day and age can deny that satisfaction with our appearance leads to a
stronger self image and a higher level of self confidence. Both of which are essential in allowing us to achieve greater success in life. Given the  extreme emotional stress and self esteem damage that acne can cause, it is very appropriate to view acne as much more than just merely blemishes on the skin.