Submit your skincare questions to Dr. Agnes, CEO of Herborium and natural medicine expert
Acne is a multifactorial skin disease that, in general terms, is considered the result of chronic inflammation in conjunction with overstimulation of sebaceous glands responsible for the production of sebum (skin oil). Don’t get me wrong, sebum is not bad; without it, our skin would look like an alligator’s skin and will also age very quickly. But too much of a good thing is also not good! When too much sebum is produced it clogs the pores, mixes with dead skin cells and dirt, and initiates the acne cascade, a chain of events that ends up with what we call zits, pimples or cysts. Less dramatic, clinically characterized by non‐inflammatory symptoms of acne (open and closed comedones, blackheads and whiteheads) are also included as symptoms of acne.
Clogged pores attract bacteria - most commonly Cutibacterium acnes that initiates inflammation which mobilizes our body to respond to this stimulus and causes the formation of papules, pustules, nodules, and cysts.
Many factors are involved in triggering the acne cascade including body changes such as puberty, pregnancy or menopause, and lifestyle, like diet. For example, including too much sugar in your diet may trigger acne since sugar is one of our skin's most powerful enemies, it not only facilitates acne by amplifying inflammation but also causes “caramelization of skin” which accelerates skin aging. Chronic inflammation may also be caused by stress, pollution, even some medications.
Our body's most powerful acne-stimulating factors are hormones, especially androgens. They are behind teen acne (puberty), and adult acne caused by the overproduction of testosterone or decreased production of estrogens (menopause) resulting in chronic or acute imbalance of the hormonal system.
Acne vulgaris, the most common type of acne affects over 245 million people including both sexes. Acne more traditionally occurs between 15 and 19 years of age. Another fast-growing acne group are the older sufferers 26 years and older. During the past decade – the average age of acne sufferer increased to 25 years old from what was previously 19 years old.
Although there are some differences between the different ethnic groups regarding the prevalence of acne, acne disease affects people of all ethnic backgrounds, economic strata, and geopolitical locations. In short- most of us will suffer from acne at some point in our lives, and some deal with it chronically far beyond puberty.
The most standard therapy for acne is topical therapy and usually includes different topical anti-bacterial agents and is focused solely on breaking the cycle of already existing inflammation and drying and healing existing acne breakouts. Retinoids were added to the standard antibacterial agents (peroxide, salicylic acid etc) since they mitigate the number of skin dead cells and therefore decrease clogging of the pores . They also can repair the skin by stimulating collagen and skin turnover. In short- topical therapies will be helpful to reduce the number of existing zits you have but will not do much to prevent new acne pimples from forming.
Systemic treatment attempts to do the same but from working within your body like antibiotics that are focused on getting rid of bacteria that are responsible for acne. Alternative systemic treatment focus on restoring the hormonal equilibrium or its lack thereof and tries to decrease the amount of over stimulation of sebaceous glands. Retinoids and estrogen try to do this but have a limited application because of serious side effects (systemic retinoids) or because can only be used by specific populations (estrogen)
Acne treatment by AcnEase represents an innovative fusion of both treatments with two equally important and simultaneous goals:
and
This two prong curated approach represents the ONLY way to really treat and prevent acne.
In addition, we aim to achieve this in the safest and chemical, and toxins-free manner to avoid ... trying to get rid of one problem while creating another.
This new approach is represented by our NEW ACNE AND OILY SKIN TREATMENT BUNDLES.
They are focused on the expedient clearing of existing pimples, cysts, blackheads, and whiteheads using great new TOXIN-FREE topical products and PREVENTING NEW acne from forming with our proprietary systemic formula that rebalances sebaceous gland secretion thereby preventing initiation of the acne cascade. These bundles represent the FASTEST and MOST COMPLETE economical way to clear skin now and tomorrow.