While pimples usually first appear during puberty, many men and women in their 20s through 50s also experience sudden outbreak of pimples. While never life threatening, pimples can be a source of irritation and frustration. Chronic, persistent pimples can even adversely affect one’s self-confidence and self-esteem.
Busting Some Pimple Myths
1. Pimples Are Caused By Dirty Skin Although it’s never pleasant to have dirt on the skin, dirt will not cause acne. E.g. construction workers are exposed to dirt, debris, mud, etc during the course of their work but many of them have relatively clear skin.
2. You Can Dry Up Pimples You can dry up water but not pimples. Skin cells contain water and when you attempt to dry up pimples, you are really drying up the water in the skin cells. This can impair your skin’s natural barrier function, thus increasing the presence of bacterial in your skin. It can also cause the skin to become dry, flaky and irritated, thus aggravating your skin problems. What you really need to do is to reduce sebum production by using the right product. This process is not the same as merely ‘drying up’ pimples. You can observe that those who were misled by this myth suffering from dry, flaking surface skin even while they have acne.
3. You Can Spot-Treat Pimples You can’t. The ‘making’ of a pimple takes at least 2 to 3 weeks before it appears on the skin surface. To treat pimples and acne, you have to understand the multiple causal factors and address them directly.
Thread Carefully with ‘Oil-Free’ Products A product that is labelled as ‘oil-free’ does not necessarily mean it will not cause pimples or clogged pores. Read the ingredient carefully and watch out for ingredients like silicones, synthetic colors(especially D&C Red colors), and waxes etc.
What Causes Pimples?
1. Hormone Imbalances
Male hormones/androgen, especially testosterones are responsible for sebum production. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is converted from testosterone, is another form of male hormone that stimulates the sebaceous glands.
Pimples that appear during premenstrual or menstrual period is an example of pimples caused by hormonal imbalances. 8 to 10 days before the start of the period, testosterone in the bloodstream begins to rise. This is caused by a decrease in the female hormone, estrogen, leading to a sudden larger percentage of androgen in the bloodstream, which in turn causes an increase stimulation of the sebaceous glands.
Other factors that trigger hormonal imbalances include stress, birth control pills, pregnancy, menopause and of course, puberty.
2. Production of Excess Sebum
Although sebum is essential for healthy skin and hair, an excess of sebum caused by hormonal imbalances will cause the skin to look oily and unsightly, and may even cause skin irritation and inflammation if things get out of hand.
Hyperseborrhea is caused by an increase in the size and activity of the sebaceous glands resulting from the effect of androgen. The enzyme,5 alpha-reductase, found in the sebaceous gland, converts testosterone into dihydroxytestosterone (DHT). Sebaceous gland is activated when DHT works on the activity of the hair follicles, resulting in an increased production of sebum.
3. Irregular Or Excessive Shedding Of Dead Skin Cells On Both The Skin Surface And Inside The Pore
Pores can get clogged with excess dead skin cells when they do not shed normally. Combined with excess sebum, a soft, white substance that clogs the pore is formed. When the surface of a clogged pore is covered by skin, a whitehead/milia is formed. On the other hand, a blackhead is formed as the top of the oil clog is exposed to the air and oxidized.
4. Bacteria Growth Hyperseborrhoea is accompanied by the proliferation of microbial flora in the pores, in particular Propionibacterium acnes. This causes irritation and inflammation. Inflammation and excess oil causes the wall of the oil gland to rupture, spilling out the contents (oil, dead skin cells, bacteria etc) into the surrounding skin tissues. The body’s immune system then responds, sending lymph to the inflamed area to help with repair (and causing swelling). A pimple develops.
Can Food Cause Pimples?
This depends on the individual’s body constitution. Some people can eat loads of junk foods without even getting a single pimple while others experience outbreak of pimples with the slightest bite. We believe it’s because every individual’s body chemistry is different.
Various Types of Pimples
1. Acne Vulgaris, aka common acne, usually experienced by teenagers. Symptoms: Pimples filled with pus that appear on the surface of the skin.
The pustules usually discharge this white pus when squeezed.
Normally appears on the face, upper chest, upper and lower back areas.
2. Cystic Acne Symptoms: Deep infections that are nodule or cyst like
Infections do not surface and do not discharge their waste materials
Slow healing of infection with the possibility of scarring.
A slight, reddish and hard bump may appear on the skin surface which does not diminish for a long time. May feel slightly painful.
3. Acne Rosacea Symptoms: Should be diagnosed by a physician
Redness and blotchiness of the skin which spread across the nose and cheek areas.
Excessive skin flaking and crusting.
Usual acne treatment does not work. On the contrary, the usual acne treatment ingredients such as benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, etc, may aggravate acne rosacea further.
How to Get Rid of Pimples
Available Types of Treatment (By Prescription)
1. Antibiotics (Oral Method) Antibiotics may cause adverse health problems such as yeast infections and stomach problems. Therefore, they should only be used as a last resort. Studies indicated that antibiotics like tetracycline, erythromycin, and clindamycin, when used in combination with Retin-A, can help to reduce pimple-causing bacteria. However, when taken for prolonged periods, pimple-causing bacteria can become immune to antibiotics.
According to an article in the American Journal of Clinical Deramtology (2001, volume 2, issue 3, pages 135-141) “The main cause for concern following the use of systemic antibiotics is the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of P. acnes.” ” At a time when there is a global concern that antibiotic resistance rates in common bacteria pathogens may threaten our future ability to control bacteria infections, practices which promote the spread of antibiotic-resistance bacteria must be fully justified.” Similarly a paper presented at the General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in May 2001 stated that “antibiotic treatment in patients with severe acne causes development of antibiotic resistanceThe prevalence of antibiotic resistance to tetracycline, erythromycin, clindamycin, and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole was found after two to six months. When patients with acne are treated with antibiotics, the risk of development of antibiotic resistance should be realized. The use of antibiotics to treat acne should be restricted and other regimens should be tested.”
2. Hormone Therapy (Oral) This method of treatment is available for women only. The FDA has approved low dosage birth-control pills, Ortho Tri-Cyclen and generic norgestimate/ethinyl estrodial, for use in the treatment of acne. It appears that low dosage birth control pills can decrease the presence of excess androgen which can be highest just before the onset of menstruation., thereby decreasing sebum production that causes breakouts.
However, there may be side effects like nausea, headaches, breast tenderness and weight gain. Other health risks also include heart attack, strokes, blood clots, breast cancer, vaginal bleeding. The skin may also develop melasma or dark brown skin patches.
Besides low dosage birth control pills, a controversial method of prescribing a testosterone-blocking drug, spironolactone has also been practiced. Results are controversial however.
3. Tretinoin (Topical) Tretinoin is a form of Vitamin A. Products that contain tretinoin include Retin-A, Renova, Avita and Retin-A Micro. Tretinoin changes the way the skin cells are formed in the layers of skin as well as in the pore. Tretinoin can transform cell production by improving skin shedding and unclogging pores. Tretinoin are however, not able to kill acne-causing bacteria. So it must be used together with antibacterial agents for best results. One of the major drawbacks of tretinoin is the irritation it can cause. It also makes the skin more vulnerable to sun damage.
3. Accutane (Oral) Accutane (isotretinoin), which is a drug derived from vitamin A works by arresting sebum production in your sebaceous glands. It literally shrinks these glands to the size of a baby’s. This prevents the sebum from clogging the pores. Normal sebum production resumes after you stop taking Accutane, and the sebaceous glands slowly begin to grow larger again. However, they will not be as large as they were before the treatment.
Dosage and treatment duration depend on the severity of the patient’s acne. Generally they last 16 weeks. If a second treatment is necessary, an 8-week rest period is required between treatments.
The most serious side effect associated with Accutane is that it can cause severe birth defects in babies born to women who took Accutane while pregnant. Other side effects include dry skin and lips, dry nose (even leading to nosebleeds), dry eyes, lower back pain (30% of the patients), joint pain (16.5% of the patients), headaches, nausea, depression, severe stomach pain, blurred vision, bowel problems, increase in cholesterol levels, and skin yellowing.
Conventional Pimple Treatment Cosmetics Harsh, drying ingredients that do more harm than good to the skin are found in many skincare products targeted to get rid of pimples. As pimpled/acne skin is in an imbalanced and fragile state, it must be treated gently. Many so-called ‘deep cleansing’, scrubs and ‘spot-drying’ products will only cause more trauma to acne skin. Ingredients such as alcohol, peppermint, and eucalyptus, which are commonly found in many pimple-treatment products are highly irritating to the skin. When the skin becomes weakened through irritation, it is even more prone to bacteria infection.
Examples of commonly-used harsh ingredients for getting rid of pimples: Alcohol, menthol, camphor, eucalyptus, peppermint, myristic acid, palmitic acid, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfate
Vitasence’s Method to Get Rid of Pimples
Vitasence do not use any of the harsh, irritating ingredients commonly used in getting rid of pimples. All pimple-causing factors are taken into consideration and addressed in a wholistic manner. In addition to eliminating pimple-causing bacteria, our pimple treatment products work with your skin to help your skin regain its balance and strengthens your skin natural defense mechanism against bacterial proliferation.
In other words, our goal is to optimize your skin’s natural ability to ‘fight its own battle”. The synergistic combinations of biodynamic herbal actives in Vitasence products also optimize your skin’s healing ability so that your skin recovers quickly from pimple scars, marks and inflammation.
Coreenna Ong, founder of Vitasence, has helped many get rid of their acne problems safely and effectively through the use of Chinese and Western herbal bioactives in Vitasence products. For more information, visit Get Rid of Pimples