Any Acne Treatment Will Depend Upon The Type Of Acne You Are Suffering From

Before you beging treating acne it is very important to identify exactly what type of acne you are suffering from because, in spite of what most people think, acne can be far more than a simple case of spots resulting from trapped skin oil, white blood cells, dead skin cells and bacteria.

Acne is normally classified by grade beginning with grade I which includes mild, non-inflamed forms of acne such as blackheads and whiteheads. We then move to grade II acne which involves instances of acne involving a large number of blackheads and whiteheads and frequently also includes pustules and papules that are somewhat inflamed.

A papule is a relatively small break, or lesion in the skin, that appears as a bump that rises above the skin surface and that is normally less than 5 mm across. A pustule is similar to a papule although it is pus-filled and contains a mixture of dead skin cells, white blood cells and bacteria.

Next on the scale comesCarrying on up the scale we arrive at grade III acne which is merely a more severe case of grade II acne where the papules or pustules are red, larger and more numerous.

Lastly, we reach grade IV acne which is the most severe form of acne and covers cysts and nodules. In grade IV acne inflammation is usually wide spread and this type of acne generally encompasses more than simply the face.

Grade I acne, including the commonest case of mild acne known as acne vulgaris, is not usually difficult to treat and can generally be cleared up with over-the-counter medications.

A somewhat more severe form of acne is called acne congoblata which is characterized by deep abscesses and heavy inflammation that can frequently cause skin damage including scarring, leading to the all too common problem of getting rid of acne scars. Inflamed and normally painful nodules form around the acne pimples and often grow until they spontaneously discharge pus. This type of acne can also result in keloid-type scarring.

Another form of acne is acne fulminans in which the nodules formed can ulcerate, causing a painful and recurrent form of acne. Those suffering from acne fulminans can also sometimes have a fever and experience aching joints and treatment using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or corticosteroids is normally necessary. These drug treatments are however designed to treat the symptoms of this type of acne and not its underlying cause.

Some people will also develop nodulocystic acne where odd looking cysts (red bumps which are caused by severe inflammation) appear and sometimes are so numerous and close enough together to form a relatively big area of inflammation. Nodulocystic acne can form small tunnels below the surface of the skin allowing infection to spread easily and quickly. This type of acne is often treated using antibiotics and a commonly used drug treatment is isotretinoin, which is better known as Accutane.

Finally, we come to gram-negative folliculitis which occurs when hair follicles become infected. Bacteria which grow at the base of a hair follicle cause the body to react by sending white blood cells to fight the bacterial infection and this can sometimes lead to a deep eruption that needs special treatment. This particular type of acne is usually resistant to treatment with antibiotics and the condition can in fact occasionally be caused by using antibiotics to treat other forms of acne.

Despite the fact that it is very common, acne is not the simple condition which most of us have always believed it to be and it is often far from a simple case of buying some cream from the corner drugstore to treat it. As a result, the moment acne appears you ought to pop in to see your doctor, or better still a professional dermatologist, and have the condition diagnosed so that you can select the appropriate proactive acne treatment from the word go.