What is Cystic Acne?

Every body at some point during and after the teens, suffer from acne. Also commonly called pimples this acne can be a white or black heads even pustule. A variety of acne that can cause disfigurement and embarrassment is the cystic acne. People with cystic acne are usually named as pizza faced as the skin around the acne turns bright red. Cystic acne is one of the types of severe acne which can cause people a lot of skin problems.

Acne occurs basically due to blockage in the hair follicles. Here, bacteria get trapped with other bodily excretions such as sebum and block the follicle. Sebum is oil secreted by sebaceous glands to retain the moisture of the skin. The blockage formed in cystic acne is quite deep. This causes redness of the skin around the follicle along with tenderness and pain. As opposed to the general understanding, cystic acne is not the result of poor hygiene but a combination of many.

Common reasons of cystic acne:

The right identification of the bacterial infection responsible for cystic acne is not possible, as the origin of each case may be different. Heredity and genetics have been found to play an important role in majority of cases.

Cystic acne causes a lot of scars. More so if the acne are picked and squeezed to relieve the tenderness. This also causes the infection to go deep into the skin and worsen the problem. Hygiene as stated above is not a causatory factor behind cystic acne. A few researchers though believe that a persons diet and environmental factor play an important part in the infection.

Exposure to a number of toxins and overproduction of some of the hormones may also cause cystic acne. Also a number of anabolic steroids are known to be responsible for this painful and scaring variety of acne. This condition can be treated with a specific treatments and keeping away the steroids.

Treatments available:

One very important thing to remember if one is having an outbreak is to avoid picking or squeezing the acne. Squeezing the pus or contents may provide temporary relief but causes the infections to go deep into the skin and also scars the face. To deal with ac cystic acne it is advised to consult a doctor to drain the pus surgically and treat the infection with antibiotics. This method usually solves the problem.

In those special cases where the above treatment does not work, drugs such as Accutane is prescribed. It slowly treats the problem, but it is advised that accutane should be taken under medical supervision. In some cases aesthetic face treatments such as exfoliation and skin peelings helps in keeping cystic acne at bay. In some others a combination of these treatments works.