Acne can be mild or severe. Mild acne can be very inconspicuous, the lightest being just a few small pimples on the forehead.
Wearing a hat or bangs can completely hide it. There are many cases of this kind. There are two types of heavy acne: a type of coalescent acne also known as bulbous acne. It is characterized by numerous and large rashes, especially nodules, cysts, and abscesses that grow all over the face. These lesions fuse and cascade with each other, and some of them are wicked deep in the skin, communicating with each other and forming dark channels, which are then pierced through the sinus surface, bleeding with pus and eventually leaving large, hard scars. Another type of heavy acne is called cachexia. It has numerous dark red and purplish papules, nodules, and pustules, and often bleeds with pus. Unlike acne conglobata, the former type of acne is still strong, while the cachectic type is weak, may have a low fever, swollen submandibular and cervical lymph nodes, and may be complicated by other chronic diseases such as tuberculosis.
In addition, acne has a number of special features, some of which appear to be acne but are not really acne: special locations, such as acne growing on the buttocks, which is often seen in severe acne. Age-specific, such as neonatal acne, adult acne, and geriatric acne. These acne conditions are often milder, with a simpler rash and a relatively small number of rashes. Most often, acne and small papules are seen, and rarely nodules, boils, cysts, or large scars. The neonatal type is not associated with seborrhea. In the specific rash type of acne, a few patients have hypertrophic skin, erythema, congestion, and dilated capillaries. A significant proportion have seborrhea, desquamation, and hair loss. These patients are prone to develop or have developed rosacea, seborrhea, seborrheic dermatitis, and other conditions.
Some acne is in fact a symptom of another condition. For example, acne in Cushing’s syndrome is a symptom of the entire disease and not a separate condition; hallux valgus acne is an acne-type drug rash; hormonal acne is a physiological reaction that is not an allergy after long-term or heavy use of hormones; and oily acne is an occupational disease caused by lipids. They should not be confused with common acne.
Although acne has a long course, it is usually limited to adolescence and young adulthood. Once development is complete (usually around the age of 22 for men and 20 for women), acne disappears on its own, although of course it can be accompanied by some remnants such as scars. In a small number of people, acne can persist into adulthood or even middle age. In women, acne tends to worsen during menstruation and improve after pregnancy.
In short, acne is a skin disease. Although its symptoms can be mild and the rash very simple, they ultimately have a deep internal background, so they should be treated aggressively depending on the severity of the condition.