Folliculitis and acne are both types of skin diseases, but it is not easy to distinguish between folliculitis and acne clinically, as the two diseases have their own causes and characteristics. I believe that many friends are not able to distinguish between folliculitis and acne, so many of them treat folliculitis as acne and casually apply cosmetics or leave it alone, leading to more and more serious skin infections and eventually irreversible skin damage. The symptoms of acne and folliculitis To distinguish folliculitis from acne, you need to understand the symptoms of both. There are a variety of factors that contribute to the occurrence of acne, but the most direct factor is the blockage of pores. After the pores are clogged, the oil inside the hair follicles cannot be discharged, and the more it accumulates, the more small pimples are formed, and this is how acne occurs. Clinically, acne can be characterized as pitting acne, papular acne, pustular acne, nodular acne, atrophic acne, cystic acne, coalescent acne, and malignant acne. For acne patients, it almost always starts with blackheads and oily seborrhea, and there are often papules, nodules, pustules, abscesses, sinus tracts or scarring. The course of the disease is long and most have no conscious symptoms, but if inflammation is evident, it can cause pain and tenderness, with symptoms that are sometimes mild and sometimes severe. Most patients heal spontaneously or have reduced symptoms after puberty. Folliculitis, on the other hand, is an inflammatory disease caused by Staphylococcus aureus infection of the hair follicles. The disease is most common in adults and is more common in patients with diabetes and anemia. It occurs on the head, neck, buttocks, perianal area or other parts of the body and has a tendency to recur, often in multiple locations, and is persistent and difficult to treat. It starts as a red, congested papule, and later develops rapidly at the top into a papulopustular sore, which then dries and crusts over, leaving no trace of the scab. They may appear in batches, do not fuse with each other, and have hard pockets. The difference between acne and folliculitis 1, the type of disease is different: folliculitis is a bacterial skin disease, completely due to external bacterial infection of the skin follicles and hair follicle disease; while acne is a skin appendage disease, is caused by internal body lesions skin damage, internal disease is the “perpetrator”, skin damage is The “victim” is the internal disease. 2, the cause is different: folliculitis is simple, mostly caused by Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus infection, which is the cause of the skin surface, and has nothing to do with the body’s internal lesions; acne has a complex pathogenesis, Propionibacterium acnes is only one of its four pathogenesis, and androgen, sebaceous glands secretion, hair follicle sebum abnormal keratinization and genetics, physical and chemical stimulation and other factors are related, and interact with each other. 3, the onset of the site is different: folliculitis is more likely to occur on the face, neck, buttocks and limbs and other parts of the body that are prone to friction with clothing; acne is more likely to occur on the cheeks, forehead, followed by the chest, back and shoulders and other parts of the body where sebum secretion is abundant. 4, different forms of disease manifestations: folliculitis is quite simple, red papules, pus. Acne, on the other hand, includes pimples, papules, pustules, and nodules, which often exist in a mixture, one after the other, and in severe cases, they fuse into patches or form cysts, sinus tracts, or even break out all over the body (eruptive acne). 5. Different treatment methods: Although folliculitis and acne are both related to bacteria and inflammation, the treatment methods are completely different. Mild folliculitis can be cured without treatment in a few days, and more serious ones can generally be solved with topical antibiotics. Acne, on the other hand, is much more complicated. The primary treatment for acne is not anti-infection, but rather oil control, improving skin keratinization, and unblocking the hair follicle ducts, with the process being chronic.