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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

Scarring: Your skin’s repair kit

The responsibility of repairing any injury that takes place belongs
to cells in the dermis known as fibroblasts. These cells produce col-
lagen. The collagen in your dermis plays the major role in patching
up any damage to your skin. When there is an overproduction of
collagen, the excess collagen becomes piled up in fibrous masses,
resulting in a characteristic firm scar. The P. acnes bacterium can
also contribute to destruction by releasing tissue-destroying chem-
icals that can damage normal collagen, and result in scarring.
Acne scars are the visible reminders of where the body’s inflamma-
tory battle against an acne lesion took place. The deeper an acne
lesion is lodged in the skin, the greater the chance for scarring. For
more on scars and healing, take a gander at Chapter 16.

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