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Preface
This article is about common acne types: pimples, blackheads, whiteheads, nodules, pustules and papules. Article also contains description of their live cycle and how do they form. This article does not cover how to get rid of pimples nor how to prevent acne.
Acne types
As there is no sure cure for acne, only treatments, you may find this information about acne types useful.
Acne begins when hair follicle plugged with skin oil and infected by bacteria. As the skin oil production continues, this leads to a skin "bubble". Depending of the skin type and condition of whole organism immunity, the inflammation of the pimple's surrounding skin area begins or not. There are two main types of acne: with inflammation and without.
The first and smallest type of lesion is a clogged pore called a microcomedo. Microcomedones are so small that they cannot be seen without a microscope and they occurs at the earliest stage when the follicle walls are just beginning to be stretched by trapped sebum.
Most serious type of acne, called "the nodule" is a very painful formation, located deeply in the skin, filled with pus, with the life cycle of few months. Pus content of nodules sometimes even hardens into hard acne cysts, and may have serious subsequences - scars. (Sometimes nodules are misspelled as "cysts"). Nodules develop when local immune system respond tremendously to inflammation, and the pus is produced.
We do not recommend you to try to cure yourself in this case (either as in the case of papules or pustules). Please refer to local dermatologist.
The other inflamed formations are called pustules and papules. Papules are the lightest type of inflamed acne. They are small, tender deeper skin formations and may evolve to pustules. Pustules are small yellowish round formations with visible pus. They may evolve to nodules.
Not inflamed acne formation types are called "comedos". Commonly they are known as "blackheads" or "whiteheads". Whitehead is closed type of the comedo, as it is stays under skin as very small, white formation. If the clogged pore pushes itself through the surface of the skin, it becomes visible as very small black formation, that's the open comedo, or blackhead. Dark color does not indicate the dirt, but dried oil and skin pigment (melanin) of the "dead" skin cells in the openings of the hair follicles. Black heads should not be squeezed. Squeezing can cause to spread inflammation.
Summary
There are two main types of pimples: with inflamation and not. Blackheads and whiteheads are softer skin disorder. Deeper skin troubles are painful and may heave serious subsequences. A pimple may have different live cycle and transform, i.e. from black head to pustule. It also depends of human imune system.
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