What is acne and what are its types?

Acne is a genetic skin condition that is triggered due to over-production of pathogenic organisms, excess oil, dead cells that clog your pores. Due to advancements in skin science, we have many treatment ingredients available over-the-counter. But to treat, you must first know the type of acne you have. Acne can be of inflammatory and non-inflammatory types. Inflammatory acne are those that inflames your pores and can be quite painful when they flare. They are known as follows-

• Papules: They are red in appearance and appear as small red bumps over a skin patch.
• Pustules: They are a bit bigger than papules and appear yellowish since they contain pus.
• Nodules: Nodules are severe acne lesions that appear big and may not necessarily contain pus. They are hard to touch and may not be painful if it is not filled with pus.
• Cysts: Cysts are severe acne lesions that are big in appearance and filled with pus. They can be really painful and are generally accompanied by redness around the skin patch. They could be due to hormonal fluctuations majorly.

Learn more about hormonal acne here.

Non-inflammatory acne are as follows- 

• Blackheads- These are open comedones that have clogged pores and due to oxidation of sebum, it appears black. To know more about blackheads, click here.
• Whiteheads- These are clogged pores that are closed and hence, appear as white bumps on the skin. To know more about whiteheads, click here

If you fall into any of these categories, you might be searching for the treatment, and for that, you must first know the whole truth about acne. Let’s burst some acne myths that might stand in your path of clearly understanding acne.

What are the common myths about acne you need to stop believing right away?

Myth 1: Junk food causes acne 

Junk food does not have any direct relation to breakouts. However, junk food can cause digestive issues if you don’t detox your body from time to time. Digestive issues due to multiple reasons including junk food can cause acne. But it does not mean that if one day you ate junk food and the next day you saw a pimple, it is because of junk food. Acne can be ‘triggered’ by multiple food items that have saturated fats, high sodium levels, and sugar content.

Those with acne-prone skin type must opt for a diet that has a low-glycemic index (less glucose), high in fibers, and is loaded with Antioxidants.

Learn more about how food affects your skin here!

Myth 2: Cleansing can solve acne

Nope. It can’t. Cleansing can only wipe off the pathogens present on your skin surface and can potentially clog your pores. But acne is a deeper issue. It is hereditary and needs a specific diet regimen. To those with acne, your urge to instantly get rid of acne might lead you to over-washing and that might just inflame your skin further. Over cleansing leads to stripping off your natural oil and disrupts the skin barrier that will form a red carpet for pathogenic microorganisms to attack. You don’t need to cleanse your face more than once or twice a day because cleansing anyway can’t solve acne. Having said that, cleansing can help to wipe off the pathogenic organisms and dead skin that clogs your pores to give you small bumps all over. To get rid of this situation, you can opt for the double cleansing method. Use an oil-based cleanser first to loosen all the debris and follow it with a gentle cleanser.

Sublime recommends Earth Rhythm Cleansing Balm With Matcha Green Tea. Matcha Green Tea has exfoliating properties which will help you remove the last bit of makeup and sunscreen. Use this as a first step of double cleansing

Follow it with Swisse Manuka Honey Daily Glow Foaming Cleanser With Vitamin C And Papaya Enzymes. It has Vitamin C and Papaya to cleanse and exfoliate, Honey to hydrate, and Ylang Ylang oil to improve skin tone. Massage it gently for a minute before washing it off with lukewarm water.

Myth 3: Wearing makeup can cause acne

Makeup has evolved so much in the past few years. You have compact powders that have SPF in them and lip gloss that is also a lip balm that keeps chapping at bay. So what we’re trying to say here is makeup does not cause acne. Expired makeup or makeup that has harsh ingredients in it, can cause acne but you don’t have to worry about that while shopping on our platform. Sublime Life believes in clean beauty and that is just what you will see in all the products listed on our platform. Makeup should ideally be used within a year and dipped with only clean fingers and brushes to avoid contamination.

Myth 4: Only women get acne

Acne, like many other life problems, doesn’t discriminate between genders. Men can equally carry genes that pass on acne-prone skin types. We can really go on and on about how men are made up of the same skin cells as women are but we’ll just wait for you to realise that all humans can potentially get acne. However, acne can easily be ‘triggered’ in women since we go through hormonal fluctuations every month. 

Myth 5: Popping a pimple is a way to get rid of acne

So many of us are guilty of popping a pimple because that strong urge to burst and extract the dirt makes us weak. How to not pop a pimple? That’s going to take a little too much of your control over your fingers. But if you believe that bursting a pimple will help you get rid of it, you can’t be any more wrong. It will only make things worse for your skin. When you burst a pimple, the bacterial grim spreads in the surrounding skin cells in no time plus your skin tears which leads to stubborn marks. None of this is on our wishlist, so we recommend letting that pimple just be!

P.S: If you’ve popped a pimple, here’s what you should do!

Myth 6: Chocolate makes acne worse

For once, you’d be happy to know that this is a myth. Chocolate is made out of Cacao and Cacao is nothing but good for your skin. But the catch is generally chocolate contains cow’s milk that has hormones and sugar. This can trigger acne since dairy can cause hormonal fluctuation which eventually leads to clogged pores aka. Acne. If you stick to dark chocolate or vegan chocolates, you can very much be assured that they won’t make your acne worse.

Myth 7: Certain DIYs can remove acne

We’re talking about those crazy ideas that ask you to put toothpaste on your acne, baking soda, lime juice, and whatnot. Sorry to break this but they are harming your skin and not even helping you with acne. At the end of such DIYs, you might end up with sensitive skin, dehydrated, patchy, sagging skin. Your acne can be removed only once they are ripe and ready to be popped. For treatment of acne, you must visit a dermatologist instead of experimenting since acne alone can wreck your skin, forget about what additional DIYs can do.

Here’s a list of ingredients that can help you treat acne.

Myth 8: Only teenagers have acne

This myth is because we commonly observe acne in our teens years. It makes sense to rise on our skin during teenage years since in that phase, we’re going to undergo hormonal transformation and that triggers acne. But it is not so that only teenagers have acne. Individuals of any age group can have acne. Acne is multifactorial and has many trigger points. If you are stressed, have unclean guts, consumed intolerant food ingredients, going through hormonal fluctuations, etc you will have acne if that is in your heredity. Point is, acne does not occur at a specific age.

Myth 9: Acne is a consequence of poor hygiene

Poor hygiene can lead to dullness but not particularly acne. Sure, hygiene is of utmost importance when it comes to enjoying good skin health. Those who have acne, feel dirty even after a brisk walk. This is why they tend to over-wash which is abrasive to your skin. For good skin hygiene, stick to washing your face just once or twice a day with a gentle cleanser that won’t strip off your natural moisture. 

Myth 10: Acne is caused only to individuals with oily skin type

Anybody with any skin type can have acne. Acne is a genetic skin condition and those with acne-prone skin can have dry or combination or normal skin type. But if you are harsh to your skin while trying to treat acne, your skin will be irritated which leads to excess oil production. This might give you an impression that acne occurs only to those with oily skin but nope, as we explained, it can occur to any skin type. Your skin type may change to oily, sensitive, combination, dry if you don’t treat your skin well.

Points to note

Acne is a genetic skin condition that can be addressed by using certain treatment ingredients. Given how big of pain acne is in our life, we start believing certain myths that stop us from approaching acne treatment in the right method. Those with acne-prone skin, need to be careful with their diet and skincare since acne triggers could be different for everybody. Just because acne is a complex skin condition, you might not be able to figure out the treatment on your own, and hence, we recommend going to a dermatologist for the same.

-Divya Salvi