Types of Acne - 101

Acne can range from mild to moderate to severely disfiguring and manifests itself in different forms in different people.

Acne Vulgaris is the most common form of acne and it includes several types of pimples. These include blackheads, whiteheads, papules, pustules, nodules and cysts. Nodules and cysts are considered as a severe form of acne vulgaris, while the rest are all considered as mild or moderate forms of acne.

1 Whiteheads come about when the skin pore becomes completely blocked, thereby trapping sebum, bacteria and dead skin cells, and causes a whitish appearance on the surface of the skin. Whiteheads are normally resolved faster than blackheads.

2 Blackheads result when a pore is only partially blocked, in which case, the trapped sebum, bacteria and dead skin cells are allowed to drain out to the surface of the skin. The black color, commonly assumed to be dirt, is in fact a reaction of the skin