Acne (pimple) is one of the most common conditions in cosmetic dermatology, also known as acne, face or pimples, and folliculitis. Except for children, about 80% to 90% of the population has or has had this disease (including mild cases).
Acne is a chronic skin disease that occurs in the sebaceous glands of hair follicles. It occurs due to a variety of factors, but the most direct factor is clogged pores. When the pores are clogged, the oil inside the hair follicles cannot be discharged, and the more it accumulates, the more small pimples are formed, which is how acne occurs. The most important thing is that you can see a white or black top, which is the white head pimples and black head pimples, you can also squeeze out some white secretions, which is the accumulation of oil inside the pores, not dirty things, and not the so-called mites. As long as the pores are not clogged, acne will not come out easily. Together with the proliferation of bacteria (mainly Propionibacterium acnes), this causes inflammation in and around the hair follicles, which can be seen as red papules, yellow pustules, and in severe cases, cysts and nodules.
I. Pathogenesis of acne in Chinese medicine
Chinese medicine says: the skin is the mirror of the five organs. The generation of acne is closely related to the five internal organs. Research in Chinese medicine shows that although acne grows on the surface of the skin, it is closely related to the dysfunction of the internal organs, and Chinese medicine believes that the causes of acne are
1. Wind-heat evidence of the lung meridian: manifested as flushing of the face, acne {heat, itching, or pustules, thin yellow coating, red tongue, and fine pulse.
2, the spleen and stomach damp heat evidence: the rash is red, swollen and itchy, often accompanied by poor bowel movements, indigestion, abdominal distension, yellow greasy coating, smooth pulse and other symptoms.
3. Liver-Qi stagnation: Mostly seen in women, the rash is recurrent and is obviously associated with the menstrual cycle.
4. Liver and kidney yin deficiency: Most often seen in adults over 30 years of age, the rash is not brightly colored, and symptoms such as dullness, pigmentation, fatigue, thin white fur, and smooth pulse are common.
Second, the pathogenesis of acne in Western medicine
1, endogenous factors: endocrine dysfunction, increased secretion of androgens or relatively high, stimulating sebaceous gland hypertrophy and hyperplasia, increased secretion of oil.
2. Causes: Neuropsychiatric factors; dietary factors; personal behavioral factors such as stool and sleep; hobby factors such as smoking and alcohol, drug factors, cosmetics and skin care factors, etc. The basic causes are as follows.
(1) dry stools, constipation, clear qi does not rise, turbid qi does not fall, resulting in the rise of toxic qi, toxins upward, mouth and tongue sores, gum swelling, hoarseness, oily skin, induced acne, seborrheic dermatitis, seborrheic alopecia.
(2) Dietary factors.
Those who prefer spicy, greasy, seafood, fried foods and tobacco can stimulate sebaceous gland hypertrophy, hyperplasia, secretion of large amounts of sebum and induce acne.
(3) Oily skin.
The sebaceous glands secrete a lot of sebum, which can easily become a nutritious environment for acne bacteria, hair follicles, mites, etc., and infection can occur.
(4) Drug factors.
a. Long-term oral contraceptives.
b. Medication androgens or hormones.
(5) Drug use.
(6) Environmental factors.
Including air, soil, water, food, noise, radiation and other pollution, often put the skin in a state of tension defense, skin metabolism slowed down, resulting in a decrease in skin resistance, prone to induce acne.
(7) Cosmetic factors.
Long-term abuse of cosmetics stimulates sebaceous glands, accelerates hair follicle keratinization and clogging, thus triggering acne.
(8) Neuropsychiatric factors.
Emotional arousal and nervousness can lead to the secretion of sebaceous glands, thus triggering acne.
(9) Individual factors.
Such as menstrual disorders, strenuous work, poor rest, puberty, improper skin care and dermatological treatment, and lack of attention to physical skin hygiene.
III. Symptoms of acne
1. Easy to appear sites: The onset of acne begins during adolescence and occurs on the face, front chest and back where the sebaceous glands are developed, often symmetrically distributed.
2. Acne vulgaris: There are two types of acne, whiteheads and blackheads, for the first time. Whitehead acne, also known as closed acne, is a skin-colored papule with an inconspicuous opening that cannot be easily squeezed out; blackhead acne, also known as open acne, is located at the top of the follicle opening and can be squeezed out, called steatorrhea.
3.Papular acne: Acne inflammation can continue to develop and expand and go deeper, manifesting as inflammatory papules and blackheads acne is called papular acne.
4, pustular acne: pustules and inflammatory papules are the main manifestations of pustular acne.
5, Cystic acne: The performance of sebaceous cysts of varying sizes containing viscous pus with blood, which can form sinus tracts and scarring after rupture is called cystic acne.
6.Nodular acne: After the mis-treatment of pustular acne, it can develop into nodules with thick walls, varying in size, located under the skin or above the skin surface, light red or dark red, with a hard texture, called nodular acne, also known as hard nodular acne.
7.Atrophic acne: Papular or pustular acne that destroys glands and forms pit-like atrophic scarring is called atrophic acne.
8. Aggregative acne: Several acne nodules gather and fuse at a deep level, with redness and bruising, called fused acne or aggregative acne.
IV. Reasons for acne forming
1.Like to wash your face more than 2 times a day (excessive washing stimulates the skin to secrete more oil).
2.After sweating or washing your face, you do not have the habit of drying your face with your hands (weak alkaline sweat is good for bacterial reproduction, and neutral water dilutes the acidity of the sebaceous film, making the ability to resist foreign bacteria invasion weaker).
3, the habit of touching the face, touching the hair or the habit of holding the cheeks with the hands (the dirt on the hands will often get on the face and produce acne).
4, love to eat meat, fried food, desserts, do not like to eat vegetables and fruits (eat meat not vegetables and fruits will make the digestive system is not normal, the body of toxins accumulation).
5, like to eat fast food, noodles as a snack (easy to cause constipation, inducing acne, acne).
6, often more than 12 o’clock before going to bed (causing endocrine disruption, so that the sebaceous glands overproduction).
7, do not do soft gymnastics before going to bed (some stretching exercises before going to bed can moderately help the intestinal peristalsis, promote metabolism, to help eliminate toxins).
8, rarely drink water (skin dehydration will naturally stimulate the pores to discharge oil).
9, no regular change of bedding habits (bacteria caused by the growth of acne).