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Getting acne....Q&A............(part 3 of 5)

I’ve started getting acne spots. How long do they last? This depends on what type of spots they are and, even then, it can be very difficult to predict what will happen. Some spots will appear and then disappear during the course of a day but others will evolve more gradually through the various stages. Comedones can be very persistent if they don’t get inflamed. Mildly inflamed spots will last 5–10 days before settling down, but can leave a flat red mark (macule) for several weeks. Nodules and cysts may last for weeks or months unless you get some treatment. What is the difference between a whitehead and a yellow- head spot? These two common terms describe quite different types of spot. A whitehead is a closed comedone where the pore is blocked and not open to the air. There is no inflammation (redness). A yellow- head suggests a spot with pus in it. The medical term is a ‘pustule’. Whiteheads may become yellowheads if the blocked pore becomes infected. My daughter is only 9 but she seems
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A mountain or a molehill?

Keep in mind that one person’s “mild” is another person’s “severe” and vice versa:
To illustrate this point, I must tell you about two types of patients:
A 35-year-old man appeared in my office covered with papules, pustules, nodules,
and scars on his face and chest. When I asked him for the reason for his visit, he
pointed to his finger and said, “For this wart.”
He wasn’t in the least concerned about what I considered to be his severe acne. I
couldn’t resist, so I asked him about it and he said, “All the men in my family have acne
and I, like them, have no problem living with it. I’m married, and my wife couldn’t care
less about it either,” he continued. So I treated his wart and he left with a smile.
On the other hand, I have several patients, both male and female, who call me every
few months, feeling extremely upset if they get even one small pimple on their chins.
Go figure!
Moral: A pimple is in the eyes of the beholder, or one person’s mountain is another
person’s molehill.
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