Your skin is a rather unusual organ. For one thing, it’s your biggest and fastest-growing organ. It’s also one of the few organs people can see all the time. (Your eyes and tongue are visible, too.)
Because of the skin’s high profile, when we have a skin problem, it can be noticeable to others. For some skin condition sufferers, the problem can diminish their self-esteem and confidence.
Fortunately, today we have treatments that can help improve many common skin issues.
Anyone can get acne, but it’s most common among teenagers and young adults. About 80 percent of people age 11 to 30 will have outbreaks at some point. For most people, acne goes away when they reach their 30s.
Acne isn’t physically serious, but it can result in permanent scarring along with emotional difficulties.
The exact cause of acne isn’t known, but hormone changes such as those associated with the teenage years and pregnancy may play a role for some people. You can also inherit a tendency to develop acne.
Acne is a common skin condition that causes pimples. Acne breakouts are most common on the face, neck, back, chest and shoulders.
Acne pimples form when hair follicles under your skin get clogged. A follicle is a narrow tube in the skin that contains a hair. Your skin has oil glands at the base of your hair follicles. As it grows, the hair oil moves up the follicle.
With the condition acne, your hair, oil and cells lining the follicle can form a plug and block your pore. The blockage can allow bacteria that normally live on the skin to grow in the follicle instead.
When your immune system detects the bacteria growth, your body’s defenses attack the bacteria and the area around the pore becomes inflamed.
If the plugged follicle stays below the skin surface, you’ll get a white bump called a whitehead. If the plugged follicle gets to the surface and opens, you’ll get a blackhead. That black color is the oil that discolors when exposed to air.
Once the plugged follicle breaks down, you get a pimple.
If you’re dealing with acne, over-the-counter medicines can treat mild cases. Expect to use the product up to eight weeks before you see improvement. Here are some other suggestions you can try along with medicine or without.
Misunderstandings about acne are common. Here are some typical questions:
About 14 million Americans have the long-lasting inflammatory skin condition rosacea. It can trigger red patches to form on a person’s face. The condition can be uncomfortable and stressful.
Nearly half of those who have rosacea also develop eye problems. The eyelids can become inflamed and vision can be diminished.
The cause of rosacea is unclear, but it tends to run in families. That means genes may play a role.
Anyone can get rosacea, but people with lighter skin tend to get it more often. Also, people who blush often are at higher risk.
Rosacea typically begins when people are between 30 and 60 years old. Women are three to four time more likely to develop rosacea. It often begins during menopause. However, men who have rosacea usually have more severe symptoms.
It may start as redness on the cheeks, chin, nose or forehead. It might look like you have an outbreak of pimples.
With time, the condition can get worse and result in inflammation that can make your skin swell and become sensitive. Skin on your face can become red, thick and bumpy.
Rosacea symptoms can come and go. Flareups can last for weeks or more and then go away. The facial redness can eventually become deeper and then permanent.
Flareups can be triggered by a variety of different influences around a person. The triggers can vary among rosacea sufferers. Triggers can include:
People with rosacea may choose to keep track of what triggers their flareups and work to avoid those triggers.
Treatments to help relieve symptoms include:
This skin disease causes itchy or sore patches of thick red skin to form with what looks like silvery scales. Psoriasis is not contagious and affects about 7.5 million Americans. About 20,000 children under age 10 are diagnosed every year, though the disease usually develops between ages 15 and 35. The disease can run in families.
If you have psoriasis, you know how it can affect your appearance. You’ll usually see the patches on your face, scalp, back, elbows, knees and feet. The patches can also be found on other parts of the body. They can appear on and off over a long period or even a lifetime.
A problem with the immune system causes psoriasis. In your skin, cells grow in layers. New cells are made deeper in the skin tissues. As old skin cells fall away, newer ones rise to the surface — a process called cell turnover. This turnover usually take a month.
With psoriasis, your skin cells rise too fast and appear on the surface before they’re mature. The new and old cells all accumulate on the skin surface. The immune system sees this as a problem and prompts a reaction that includes inflammation and a rapid turnover of skin cells. This reaction causes redness, irritation and discomfort.
Some people with psoriasis may also suffer from joint problems as well. Psoriasis can cause joint swelling and a form of arthritis called psoriatic arthritis.
Psoriasis has also been associated with a higher risk for heart attack, stroke, diabetes, obesity and abnormal cholesterol.
Psoriasis comes in several distinct forms. It can resemble other skin diseases and be difficult to diagnose. To make a definite diagnosis, your health care provider may take a skin sample for microscopic examination.
To reduce the chances of developing some of psoriasis’ associated medical risks, patients with the disease should:
Treatments for psoriasis include:
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