Comedones are small, flesh colored or white bumps that give skin a rough texture. The bumps are found at the opening of pores, also known as your sebaceous follicle. Comedones are also known as blackheads.
Inflamed lesions, such as papules, nodules and pustules, are very common types of acne breakout. Nodules are solid raised bumps on the skin, greater than 1cm in diameter. A papule is a skin lesion that is small, solid, raised, and less than 1cm in diameter. Pustules are small, pus-filled lesions on the skin surface.
Many people mistake pimples for acne and end up taking the wrong medication, which make the pimples worse. Pimples, like pustules, nodules and papules are forms of acne, but only when they cover a large area of skin. Waking up to find one zit on the end of your nose does not mean that you have acne. Although acne does occur during hormonal imbalances, it is usually persistent after the hormones are regulated. Pimples only occur during hormonal imbalances, and are more common than acne.
There are many ways to fight off acne. In Chinese terminology, the skin is affected by the liver and controlled by the lungs. Acne is thought of as a condition of heat, toxin in the lungs and damp heat in the liver. This is why the Chinese approach uses medicinal treatments that will cool, cleanse and detoxify the organ system. This is accomplished by eating lots of watery foods like cucumbers, watermelon, raspberries, brown rice and lettuce. There are also foods that should be avoided. They include shellfish, dairy products, soft drinks, coffee and bamboo shoots. You should also try to cut down on smoking, the use of make-up and emotional stress. If you do not squeeze an infected pimple you are less likely to spread the infection, and reduce the possibility of scarring.
An Inner Self magazine article written by Saho-Mei Zhang suggests natural Chinese methods of relieving acne. Rubbing watermelon rind or a blended cucumber on the acne helps to unclog pores. Drinking lukewarm water with 2 teaspoons of honey every morning on an empty stomach lubricates the intestines. If one does not clear the intestines regularly, the toxins either end up in the liver or come out in the skin, causing acne breakouts.
The Western medical approach is to treat the acne with antibiotics. Many new drugs have come out on the market recently in the form of pills, creams and sprays. Accutane was one of these new drugs. Accutane is just a brand name for isotretinoin. Isotretinoin is a powerful drug used in the treatment of acne. Isotretinoin or 13-cis retinoic acid is a retinoid. This means that it is derived from vitamin-A. Although the liver naturally makes small quantities of isotretinoin from vitamin-A, some acne is so severe that the liver cannot produce enough. Accutane then boosts this production of vitamin-A. The trouble with Accutane is the side effects and problems with the drug. A list of the side effects (as appear on packet insert):
Dryness of skin (with scaling, thinning, erythema, pruritus), epidernal fragility (trauma may cause blistering), rarely acne fulminans, facial hyperpigmentation, dryness of nasal mucosa (with mild epistaxis), of pharyngeal mucosa (with hoarseness), of conjunctiva (sometimes conjunctivitis), decreased tolerance to contact lenses and rarely keratitis, visual disturbances (papilloedema, optic neuritis, corneal opacities, cataracts, decreased night vision, photophobia, blurred vision) - expert referral and consider withdrawal; hair thinning (reversible on withdrawal) or (rarely) hirsutism; nausea, headache, malaise, drowsiness, sweating, benign intracranial hypertension (avoid concomitant tetracyclines); myalgia and arthralgia; raised serum creatinine concentrations reported; raised liver anzymes (rarely jaundice and hepatitis); raised plasma triglycerides and cholesterol (risk of pancreatitis if triglycerides above 8 g/l); allergic, vasculitis and granulomatous lesions reported, other side-effects reported include hearing deficiency, mood changes, convulsions, menstrual irregularities, hyperuricaemia, inflammatory bowel disease, paronychia and Gram-positive infections, bone changes.
This is a very long list for a pill that is only wanted to cure acne. Not only this, but it causes depression and suicidal tendencies. From 1998-2000 there have been 54 suicides connected with the drug. This does not include the number of hospitalizations and suicidal tendencies.
