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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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Understanding the Causes of Teenage Acne 2

During puberty, the levels of androgens in both boys and girls
starts to climb and begins to stimulate your oil glands to grow and
produce more sebum. If you develop acne, you probably don’t
have higher amounts of these androgens; it’s more likely that you
have a higher sensitivity to them. You can flip back to Chapter 3 to
see how this happens.
And how’s this for an entry in the “perfect timing” category: Just
when you guys begin to shave, up pop those bumps that get in the
way of your razor. Now you have the added problem of having to
shave over and around those papules and pustules. It’s like an obsta-
cle course! Turn to Chapter 19 where I give some shaving advice.
Thanking your family:
The heredity factor
That’s right. You may be able to thank your mom, dad, aunts,
uncles, and grandparents for the current state of your face. Check
in with your parents and their siblings to see whether they’ve had
acne too and how severe it was. If acne runs in your family (or
even hides — it may be lurking under shirts and blouses!), you’re
more likely to have it too. Feel free to drop them a thank-you note.
If both of your parents had acne, you’re even more likely to have it.
In fact, identical twins tend to share acne problems just like they
share looks. And they got their acne genes from their parents, who
inherited them from their parents, and so on, probably back to the
Stone Age.
Why is acne hereditary? Well, for the same reason anything is
inherited from your parents: for instance, the color of your skin,
eyes, and hair. Scientists are still trying to pinpoint the exact
genetic cause or causes of acne. We do know that you inherited
something from your parents that tells your body:
 How much oil to produce
 How big or small your oil glands are
 How sensitive your oil glands are to androgens
 How easily your pores get clogged
 How quickly your skin cells replace themselves
 How quickly your immune system reacts to the acne-producing
bacteria, P. acnes.
All these instructions are just swimming in your gene pool. And
sometimes, what finally emerges is often just a matter of luck! For
more on how these points meld together to actually form acne,
turn to Chapter 3.
If you were adopted, you inherited the acne tendency from your
biological family.
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