Youthful beautiful pimples, not only troubled adolescent boys and girls, but also to men and women who have long since passed puberty. With the improvement of people’s economic standard of living, you will be surprised to find that acne has also climbed on the tender face of 8-10 year old children, have you heard? Newborn babies also have acne! Why? The root cause of acne is the absolute or relative increase in androgen levels, which causes the sebaceous glands to produce more oil and clog pores.
Acne is medically called acne and is also known as acne vulgaris and folliculitis in Chinese medicine. Most people think that acne is a skin disease that only occurs during puberty. This is actually a misconception. Acne is a skin disease that can be acquired by all ages, but the name of the disease is different depending on the age group. Acne in adolescence is commonly known as “acne”. Acne that grows after puberty is called “late-onset acne”; “menopausal acne” is, as the name implies, acne that grows during menopause. In addition, acne can develop not only on the face, but also on the neck, chest and back, and buttocks. So you won’t be surprised if your doctor says that the “little red bumps” on your butt are “beans”.
After all this, you may ask what is acne? As you can see, acne is a chronic inflammatory disease of the sebaceous glands of the hair follicles, which manifests itself as acne, papules, pustules, nodules, cysts and scarring. Most patients are accompanied by a lot of facial oil. Pores are enlarged, hair is shiny and oily, and dandruff is common. There are also some female patients whose rash is aggravated before menstruation, and eating irritating, greasy and sweet foods can aggravate the lesions. I remember a patient once said to me, “Doctor I have acne all over my face, and when I squeeze it with my hand, white stuff comes out.” I said to him, “What color are your pimples?” He immediately said, “Ah, red ones, but also black ones, white ones, but the white ones don’t come out by hand, you have to pick them out with a needle.” So I told him, “What you are talking about is not all acne.
The ones with red color are the papules consistent with hair follicles at the beginning of acne damage, and when you squeeze them with your hand, you can see milky white fat plugs being discharged. The black colored ones are blackhead pimples, which are caused by oxidation of lipid plugs at the mouth of the hair follicle. A pimple that is not easily discharged and has an off-white or white tip is called a white-headed pimple. This is a misconception people have about acne.” He was overjoyed and eagerly asked me, “Doctor, what is the cause of my acne? What can I do to stop growing it?” I then explained to him in detail the causes of acne and the precautions to take.
The root cause of acne is a relative or absolute increase in androgens, resulting in increased secretion of sebaceous glands and hyperkeratosis of the epithelium at the mouth of the hair follicle. Neuropsychiatric factors; dietary factors; personal behavioral factors such as bowel movements and sleep; hobbies such as smoking and alcohol, drug factors, cosmetics and skin care factors are all predisposing factors for this disease. In addition, factors such as Propionibacterium acnes and genetics also play an important role, which means that the cleanliness of the face and whether or not parents have suffered from acne can affect the severity of acne.
Generally, people who wash their faces frequently have a lower chance of developing blackheads and acne, while children with parents who have a history of acne have more severe acne. In addition, eating irritating, greasy and sweet foods can aggravate the lesions. In some female patients, the rash worsens before menstruation.
So what can we do to avoid acne or less acne? I often say to patients that you should first do the following.
①Acne is a common phenomenon due to changes in body secretions, especially sex hormones, during adolescence. It can periodically worsen or decrease with endocrine changes, and it takes a process to completely subside, so it is important for patients to adhere to treatment.
② Avoid long-term use of oil cosmetics and corticosteroids. Such as foundation cream, isolation cream, whitening products, etc.
③For those who have a lot of facial oil, it is advisable to wash the face with warm water but not more than 3 times a day.
④Forbid to eat spicy and stimulating and beef, mutton, dog meat, cold drinks and other foods during the attack period, and should also pay attention to eat less of such as well as fried, sweet and greasy items during the remission period. Eat more soy products.
⑤ stool should be kept open, preferably once a day.
⑥Live a regular life, preferably go to bed before 11:00 at night.
(7) Do not pick or squeeze the rash with your hands after it comes out, as it is prone to secondary infection and even scarring.
(8) If the rash is dense and accompanied by nodules or cystic lesions, go to the hospital as soon as possible.
As for the treatment of acne, it is mainly divided into two aspects: internal and external.
① Anti-sebum secretion drugs: such as spironolactone, cimetidine and other anti-androgenic drugs and mometaseptic estrogenic drugs, but these drugs are required to be applied under the guidance of a doctor due to their large side effects.
②Antibiotics: Tetracycline is preferred because it can reduce inflammation by inhibiting Propionibacterium acnes and inhibiting the chemotaxis of neutrophils.
③Severe lesions such as cystic and nodular acne are more effective when combined with hormonal drugs such as small doses of prednisone for a short period of time.
④Isotretinoin: such as Tylenol and Trilithane capsules are effective for hard nodular, cystic and coalescent acne.
⑤ Chinese herbal medicine: For all types of acne Chinese herbal medicine has good efficacy, but patients need to see a doctor in person and adhere to the treatment.
As people’s living standards improve and their dietary structure changes, more and more people have acne, and the age of acne is getting earlier and earlier. I will tell them patiently that acne is caused by an absolute or relative increase in androgen levels. For adolescent children, this is because the child’s body has already adapted to the hormone levels of childhood and is unable to adapt to the increased hormone levels for a short period of time.
The main reason for the early onset of acne in children is that our diet has changed and children are consuming too many high-calorie foods such as cream cakes, chocolates, KFC, McDonald’s, etc., or drinks with high levels of sex hormones such as milk, or eating too many fruits and vegetables that contain plant hormones.