What Causes Acne?

Acne is characterized by clogged pores resulting in pimples. Three factors come together in the formation of acne:

• Increased production of skin oils (sebum)
• Rapid and irregular shedding of dead skin cells
• Bacteria

Increased production of skin oils (sebum)

Healthy skin and hair is naturally softened and lubricated by sebum, an oily secretion of the sebaceous glands. However, at puberty, hormones burst into activity prompting various physical changes, including a marked increase in the production of sebum. Androgens, male hormones found in both males and females, are the ones that so directly affect the sebaceous glands to make sebum.

Rapid and irregular shedding of dead skin cells

Sebaceous glands reside together with a hair shaft. The excreted sebum normally travels up along the hair shaft and then out through the opening of the hair follicle (pore) and onto the skin surface.

During puberty, the cells of the follicle lining tend to shed more rapidly creating a build up of dead skin cells. The accumulating skin cells and sebum stick together and form a soft plug that clogs the skin pore.

Bacteria

As the sebaceous gland continues to produce sebum, the follicle swells. This mixture of oil and cells makes a perfect environment for the growth of a normal skin bacteria known as Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes).

P. acnes multiplies in the clogged hair follicle and causes the inflammation that shows itself in redness, swelling, heat and sometimes pain. When the walls of a plugged pore break down or burst, the accumulated material (sebum, dead skin cells, and bacteria) spills into the nearby skin causing a breakout of lesions or pimples.