Dealing with pimples

Dr Monda Ang’awa

Your skin is one of your most valuable assets. It is the body’s largest organ — shielding it against infection and dehydration, maintaining your temperature, acting as a sense organ, manufacturing vitamin D and getting rid of waste. Your skin is your body’s canvas, reflecting your health.

It is also an organ of sexual attraction, always on constant display. So, any condition that makes it look unattractive affects you. Acne vulgaris or ‘pimples’, is a common skin disease that most of us have suffered especially during our teenage years. It is an infection of the skin’s sebaceous glands. The glands secrete skin fat, or sebum, which keeps the skin supple and elastic and acts as a waterproofing agent, preventing excessive water loss from the skin’s surface. The largest number of these glands is found on the face, shoulders, chest and back and that is why pimples appear here most often. Sebum causes greasy skin and sets the stage for acne by blocking the passage through which the sebum reaches the surface of the skin. The sebum accumulates and bacteria normally found on the surface of the skin infect it, forming pimples. Sebaceous glands increase in size and produce more sebum when stimulated by hormones, particularly the male hormones. These reach their highest levels during puberty and boys get more severe acne than girls. A hormonal imbalance in an older woman can also cause an outbreak.

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Acne cannot really be cured so treatment is aimed at controlling the infection, giving the skin time to heal and scars to fade. There are many preparations available in the market for the acne treatment. Most work as mild antiseptics, while others work to open up the blocked pores. Low doses of antibiotics over a prolonged period of time have also been used because acne is really an infection.

The oral contraceptive pill also helps because it reduces the size and secretions of the sebaceous glands. Some brands have a drug that specifically blocks the secretion and action of androgens because the most important underlying cause of acne is the over production of androgens. Unfortunately, these can only be used in women. Essential oils can be great allies in the fight against mild to moderate acne. These include tea tree oil, bergamot oil, clove oil and rosewood oil. They have antibacterial properties and clear up acne fast, while calming the affected area. Acne can persist well into adulthood.