Acne basics

How is acne produced?

Acne starts with the basic injury: Pimple or zit, due to the broadening of a capillary follicle covered by grease, dead skin cells and bacteria. Invisible to the naked eye, the pimple lies underneath the skin’s surface waiting for the right conditions to grow as an inflamed injury.

While skin continues producing more grease, bacteria harbor inside the inflamed follicle, the skin around starts increasing the inflammation until the white cells of its blood begin fighting with the intruders.

Thought all pimples are produced in the same way, they can take different types and react differently in each person.

Types of acne

With no inflammation

a. Closed with white tip: if the covered follicle stays underneath the skin’s surface. They usually appear as little white swellings.

b. Open with black tip: when the covered pimple gets broad and pushes up to the skin surface. The appearance of a black point is not dirt, it is rather a melanin excess, the dark skin pigment.

With inflammation

a. Furunculous: The most common type of acne, which appears in the skin as little pink inflammation. They may be sensitive to touch, and they are considered the step between injuries with no inflammation and the clearly inflamed.

b. With pus: As the furunculous, these types of injuries are small, but unlike them they are clearly inflamed and have pus. They may appear with a pinkish base with a yellowish or whitish core. Pus zits commonly have a great amount of bacteria. Inflammation is caused in most cases by a chemical irritation of sebaceous components, as fat-free acids.

c. Cysts: these are big and very painful. Cysts are deep injuries that appear inflamed and filled with pus. It is the most severe acne injury since cysts can persist for weeks and months, and their contents may derive into a deeper cyst. They can leave deep scars.

Chemical Peeling: Medical indications

Acne and associated symptoms

Chemical peelings can be much beneficial to fight acne and similar conditions as pustules, cystic injuries, papules, erythemas, hyper pigmentation and scars.
The effect of chemical peeling with glycolic acid is mainly controlling these conditions after short-time treatments, and can be a complementary treatment for acne. However, cystic injuries and scars require many sessions of glycolic acid peeling.

The action mechanism of peeling with glycolic acid for acne works is due to the effect of exfoliation of pimples. Acne is subsequently prevented through the removal of the obstructive wastes the follicles keep inside. Moreover, exfoliation with acid glycolic can produce a turn-over and the dry of pustules.

Glycolic acid can produce skin effects that can improve superficial scars through a longer treatment.

The pigmentation effect of glycolic acid can also improve the post inflammatory hyper pigmentation caused by acne.

Almost 10 to 20% of acne cases can exacerbate after the first peelings, especially in cases o pimples, papules and pustules. This may be because of the keratin effect of glycolic acid, which accelerates the extraction of deeper pimples. This can be solved after following peeling sessions.