Acne is one of the most common skin conditions around and 80% of people between the ages of 11 and 30 complain of having some form of acne and need to know how to get rid of spots.

Acne treatments are therefore big business and with a bewildering number of acne treatments available finding one that is actually best suited to your personal acne outbreak can be very difficult indeed without having an understanding of what acne is and what causes acne in the first place..

So what is acne and what causes acne? Our expert acne causes guide explains...

Acne causes | What is acne?

Acne is caused by trapped bacteria that is not released by your skin when you shed dead skin cells and often begins at puberty when your body starts creating testosterone. This hormone makes your body produce excess amounts of something called sebum from your sebaceous glands. Because your body cannot remove all of this sebum from blocked hair follicles this blockage creates what we call acne. The severity of the acne is then dependent on if bacteria then begins to grow, causing greater spots and areas of soreness and puss.

And although this is the basic way in which acne appears on your skin certain things can make it worse and cause acne. These include things like stress, changes in the menstrual cycle in women, some drugs like corticosteroids, anti-epileptic pills and some oral contraceptives.  Anabolic steroids and even some chemicals can also cause a flare up and require acne treatment.

Acne causes | Acne symptoms

Most of us know what acne looks like but acne doesn't just start and end with blackheads and whiteheads, acne symptoms can also include:

• Greasy skin
• Red or yellow spots (pustules)
• Deep inflamed lesions (nodules and cysts)
• Scars

Acne Causes | Can you make acne worse?

The answer, quite simply, is ?yes', by doing one or more of the following things:

• Picking and squeezing the spots can cause further inflammation and scarring.
• Excessive production of male hormones may make acne worse. For example, testosterone from conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome.
• Some contraceptive pills may make acne worse.
• Things such as moisturisers can make acne worse if they are greasy.
• Some medicines can make acne worse. These include some epilepsy medicines and steroid creams and ointments that are used for eczema.
• Steroids can cause acne as a side-effect.

>> To find out more about what How to Get Rid of Spots are available read our acne cures guide by following this link.

>> Do you have acne scars or are you worried about getting them? Our acne scar guide explains all you need to know.

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