Acne vulgaris, also known as acne is a common human skin condition in which comedones or papules are formed, sometimes with cysts, due to blockage and inflammation of the pilosebaceous units. It usually affects adolescents and it is caused by the increase of male sex hormone. Acne continues into adulthood, but tends to disappear by the age of twenty. However, there are no ways to predict how long acne will keep appearing on somebody\'s skin.
Acnes occur when pilosebaceous units become blocked with sebum and desquamated keratinocytes. The effects differ depending on whether acnes caused inflammation in the follicle. Uninflammatory acne, comedones can be open and closed, and inflammatory acne includes pustules, nodules, cysts and papules.
Treatment
There are many different methods of treatment for acne. Some of them are widely used, others are not very widespread, and their effectiveness differs from person to person. Benzonyl peroxide, antibiotics, hormonal treatments, topical retinoids, oral retinoids, anti-inflammatories, sulfur, dermabrasion, phototherapy, surgery, laser treatment are prescription medications which have a significant success in treating acne. However, there are other less used, but equally effective natural treatments for cystic acne. One of them is acupuncture. It is not scientifically approved, but there is evidence that it helps relieve the symptoms of acne. There are certain herbs with anti-inflammatory features which can help the treatment of acne. Some of those herbs are calendula,German chamomile, witch hazel, licorice root, flax seed and tea tree. These herbs eliminate the acne bacteria and help treat the acne. Many homeopathic remedies are used such as belladonna and calendula which work best for acne filled with pus, hepar sulphur which is used to treat blemishes on the forehead, silicea which has the best results for deep blemishes filled with pus. There are treatments that solve the problem of acne and many other conditions through mind and body. Those treatments are biofeedback, cognitive imagery and hypnotherapy. The first two are therapies that use relaxation as their method because emotional stress has negative effect on acne, but on many other conditions as well. Techniques of biofeedback teach the person to control certain internal processes such as muscle tension and heart rate. Cognitive imagery uses mental pictures to relax a person and provoke positive emotional conditions. There is evidence that when these two techniques are used together symptoms of cystic acne subside. Hypnosis is another treatment that works similarly to biofeedback and cognitive imagery – by relaxation. Ayurveda is a religious system with origins in India. What is specific for Ayurveda is that recommendations are adjusted for each person individually. They use usually herbal remedies, and those for acne consist of ginger, holarrhena antidydenterica and embelia ribes. Kampo is a kind of ancient Chinese medicine. A Kampo medicine for acne consists of seventeen herbs with anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial features. One of the common misconceptions is that nutrition has effect of the occurrence of acne. However, people with this condition and everybody else should pay attention to what they eat and what effects certain foods have on them.
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