Not every blemish has the exact same life cycle. They can differ in size, look, and severity. Some come to the surface, some get red and inflamed, and some come to a white head ready to pop. What’s more, every type of acne requires a certain type of home care and it’s important to know what type of acne you have, sometimes a variety, before you start to treat. For most people, acne is caused by genetics. It’s an inherited condition of the pores. When someone is acne prone, their pores shed 5x the amount of skin cells compared to a normal pore. This extra shedding of dead skin cells is called retention hyperkeratosis, and the pore can not keep up with expelling the extra dead skin causing a buildup. This buildup inside the pore is called a microcomedone, the beginning of all acne and invisible to the naked eye. Once the microcomedone is formed and creates a blockage, your natural sebum can not secret from the follicle as easily as it could before. So now you are accumulating sebum in the pore as well as dead skin.
A comedone is a mixture of dead cells and solidified sebum that develops from a microcomedone. Comedones can be large enough to be seen on the skin unlike microcomedones. There are two main types of comedones: open and closed, and collectively are known as non inflammatory acne lesions. Meaning they are not red or inflamed and their follicle walls have not ruptured. The other type of acne is known as inflammatory acne. Inflammation causes swelling, redness, and pressure and leads to the follicle walls eventually rupturing. Once the walls of the follicle rupture, the debris inside the pore, like c. acnes bacteria, dead skin cells, and other biochemical factors, are released into the dermis. White blood cells come to the rescue and try to dissolve the debris. This is what creates a pus filled lesion, the pimples you can’t resist to pop. Unfortunately, this dissolving of debris can lead to breakdown of collagen and possibly lead to a formation of an acne scar.
Scars form from the skin trying to heal itself from inflammation and infection. Just like the many variations of acne, there are variations of acne scarring. True acne scarring, the kind that breaks down your dermal tissue, is called atrophic scarring. You might know these as ‘ice pick’ or ‘boxcar’ scars by their distinguishable indent they leave on the skin after a blemish. The other common acne scars aren’t truly an acne scar, but most refer to them as one. Post inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) are smooth the the touch but are brown in color. PIH is the overproduction of melanin triggered by the response of inflammation in acne. PIH can also appear after a cut, burn, or other injuries to the skin. The other type is called PIE, post inflammatory erythema. Also caused by inflammation and injury but shows up as a pink to red spot from the damaged capillaries of the acne lesion. This is what you commonly will see after a pimple from picking at it.
So there you have it, a condensed but somewhat detailed explanation of the acne life cycle. As you can see, there is a lot of information when it comes to acne and how to treat it. Be wise, do your research, or leave it up to a professional for help. Acne can not be cured only managed. With the right products and routine, you could see your skin clearing up within a month.