Cystic Acne

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Acne or pimples is among the most common skin diseases that affects millions of people worldwide. Cystic acne, also known as ‘nodular acne’ is a variety of the disease is however not that common. It affects a thin majority of all those who have the lesions. But it is more severe and more complicated than normal acne. When someone has cystic acne it usually pains a lot more and the lesions are also pus filled with a diameter of more than 5 mm. Actually the name cystic acne comes from theses cysts that have pus within them. Though from the skin surface the nodules look much the same, but they actually travel deep down the skin, much more than normal pimples. In some cases, there might be no nodules on the skin surface at all. But in these cases also, there are nodules – it is just that they have developed inside the skin and not on the surface. Another characteristic of cystic acne is that they almost always come with scarring.

Though acne can happen to people of all ages, but the fact is that, pimples happens mostly to all those who are in their teens. But cystic acne is almost never seen in older people – this is a disease that almost completely affects someone in the teens. It is also seen mostly in the face.

The human skin has oil ducts that keep the skin surface moisturized. But in certain phases of life when there are hormonal changes in the body, the glands produce more oil than is normal, and when this happens an excess of oil gets deposited in the oil ducts. And this clogs them up, leading to infection. This infection causes the lesions to emerge and when they are deep rooted, the condition is referred to as cystic acne. Since this reaches deeper into the body, it affects the skin tissues as well unlike normal acne.

Scarring is a major cause for concern in cystic acne. In most cases of acne, scarring may or may not happen. But not with cystic acne, where it almost always leads to ugly scarring, and when the nodules are picked, the scar formation can become even more severe. There are those who believe that tampering them manually can help, but this is far from the truth. It is true that if the zit is popped, then it may solve the issue for the time being, but it can give rise to problems at a later stage. The fact is, when it is popped, a bacteria is released and this bacteria affects the surrounding tissues and results in scarring and inflammation.