Four common situations usually cause acne: genetics, hormonal activity, bacteria, and the inflammatory response. Inheritance is a dominant contributor as studies have shown members of the same family who experience moderate to severe scarring from acne are much more prone to scaring themselves.

Presence of Microbes in the Hair Follicles or Canals

Microbes in the follicular canal are another common trigger. This is no big surprise, considering that an average adult body contains 1.25 kg of microbes, ten times the amount of normal human body cells. Moreover, estimates have shown that humans host approximately 1500 different microbial taxa, which in totals more than 200 times as many genes as our DNA. However, due to the fact that these organisms can not be reproduced in labs, scientists have documented little knowledge on them.

These micro flora are extremely important because of their roles in defending us against exogenous pathogenic microbes, as well as providing as much as 10% of our energy requirements, supplying a range of vitamins, and playing a key function in the development of our defense system and mucosal surfaces. These microbes can also be damaging to us when their numbers skew out of equilibrium.

P. Acne Microbes Are What Causes Acne

The microbes and bacteria present in the lining of the follicular canal are accompanied by a strand of anaerobic, gram positive organisms known as Proprionibacterium acnes. Also, it is interesting to note that these organisms are also found in abundance in pathologically afflicted sites and because of this they can be reduced with oral antimicrobial solutions. In a practical sense, this can be demonstrated by the fact that they are cannot be found in any forms of nonhuman skin, which as we know, do not contain acne vulgaris.

Our Hormones Influence the Outset of Acne

As you hit the age of adolescence your body begins to change in different ways. A notable example is the synthesis of additional hormones, which in turn stimulates the glands in charge of producing skin lubricating liquid known as sebum. Sebum protects your hair from drying out, prevents exaggerated moisture loss from the skin surface, keeps the skin soft, and inhibits the growth of certain microbes.

Sebum glands are found inside hair follicles (400-800 glands per cm2 in the face, forehead and upper chest) and they come through the surface of your skin via unclogged skin pores. This is relevant because the management of sebum is an integral feature in every natural skin treatment. Extreme cases of sebum proliferation may also occur during our adult years, causing ghastly outbreaks of adult acne.

Our skin is composed of various tissues (epidermal, connective, nervous and muscular) and is amongst the largest organs of the body in terms of its total area (approximately 1.75 m2) and weight (almost 5 kg). Out of its many varied roles, its primary task is to guard against microbes destroying underlying tissues.