The cause and development of acne in Black skin is exactly the same as in White skin.
The pores become occluded at the surface or within the follicular tube by a mixture of dry skin cells and sebum. The sebaceous glands, attached to the hair follicles near their base, continue to produce sebum. Since it can’t escape the sebum balloons up inside the follicular canal. Eventually, the balloon either pushes out the blockage at the surface and the mess erupts onto the skin, or the balloon ruptures inward and causes a nasty, relatively long lasting acne lesion. Finally, in trying to fight the infection, the body rushes blood to the area-and the resulting inflammation swells the skin’s surface, thus closing other pores and spreading the disease.
However, while the basic development of the disease is the same in Black skin as in White, there are four important differences in Black skin that tend to make acne problems more severe.
Before we discuss these differences, however, we must issue a caveat. “Black” is a description that covers all “people of color,” and that color may range from truly dark to barely darker than, say, tanned White skin. Thus, any statements we make about “Black” skin must be hedged to say that they apply in general only and not to the skin of every “Black” person.
Generally, the darker the skin, the more the special characteristics applicable to Black skin is likely to pertain. But there are many exceptions.
As stated, Black skin differs from White skin in two respects:
1. Nearly always there are more sebaceous glands in Black skin, and they tend to be larger and to produce more sebum. Naturally, therefore, the whole process of acne development tends to be more frequent, faster, and more severe.
2. Black skin’s stratum corneum, while generally thinner than that of White skin, is denser. That is to say, it contains more cells in its thickness. That means that there are more dead cells sloughing off and mote opportunity for them to combine with the excess sebum to cause blockages.
The psychological harm acne or Zits causes it’s many sufferers should not be underestimated; however, many effective treatments are available. A great deal of effort is going into research for a cure; these days, even with serious cases, there are many skin care treatments available. Although the number of acne skin care products and treatments might at first seem endless, they can actually be categorized into three areas:
* Preventive
* Drugstore or Internet: Treatments that do not require a prescription
* Specialized, on-prescription acne products
General or preventative acne products form a large section of the skin care market; for example, special toners and skin cleansers. This is a market where many people use this type of product every day to condition their skin; many use these products to protect their skin from the environment even if they do not have the acne condition. Other acne skin care products, like skin cleansers for instance, are more specific about their job; devised primarily to limit the amount of oil or sebum forming in the pores. When the pores become clogged with this oil, bacteria which can cause the problem begin to grow.
Other skin care treatments can help exfoliate the skin; most can even be purchased over the Internet in addition to normal outlets. They work by reducing oil plus other contaminants from the skin and in the pores; this can reduce harmful bacteria and stop their chance of growth. Many different, specially formulated acne skin care products designed to reduce the problems have now been made available without prescription. A bacterium that aids the formation of acne is stopped by creams and cleansers that contain benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid; these include products which extract the unwanted oil from the skin.
It is often a good idea to start with a product that has lower concentration of benzoyl peroxide (e.g. 5 percent) to see how the skin responds; an alternative to this includes products which contain alpha hydroxy acid. As with any type of zit cream, you may need to try a few acne skin care products until you find one that will suit your skin; if none of them work then you would be advised to contact your skin specialist. Only doctors or skin care specialists can prescribe some medications, including the use of antibiotics and certain ointments.
In some case your doctor may suggest the pustules are drained of harmful contents under local anesthetic; although this is a minor procedure, if it were performed by the person themselves it could result in skin damage. Your doctor may even suggest a course of hormone therapy as a skin care treatment; hormonal changes are known to cause acne and such skin care treatments often effective. Science has produced many effective treatments for this unkind condition.