What's Acne?

Here's where you'll find out information on the causes and different types of acne, plus some useful stuff on common treatments and tips on skin care.

What causes acne?

Acne is a skin disease of adolescence that most of us grow out of in our early twenties. It's due to the skin producing too much oil, which in turn leads to pores being blocked with skin cells and overgrowth of bacteria. All of this leads to pimples and spots.

Types of acne

Acne is often graded into categories of mild, moderate or severe.

MILD: This form of acne displays a mixture of comedones and scattered papules and pustules. There are no nodules and only a small number of inflamed lesions. This type of acne will not usually result in scarring.

MODERATE: Inflammation is much more pronounced with numerous papules and pustules. Comedones will also be visible.

SEVERE: Once nodular lesions start to develop acne is considered severe. Occasionally people only have nodular lesions with little in the way of papules or pustules. Mostly there is a mix of all types of acne lesions. This type of acne needs to be controlled to prevent scarring.