Acne is a common skin disease that results when pores get blocked and bacteria form inside them. It comes in a variety of familiar forms and affects nearly everyone at some stage, particularly in their teen years. The inflamed, red bumps that sometimes form can be painful, and even painless white pimples are unsightly.

In the surface of the skin are pores. Deeper inside the pore there are glands that produce sebum, a natural type of oil. This oil helps keep the skin flexible and protected. When the pores close, the natural secretion process is interrupted and that’s when bacteria forms inside them, resulting in acne.

Sometimes white pimples form, this is a combination of bacteria, white blood cells and dead skin cells. The area around it becomes red and inflamed; this is caused by pus trapped inside. Pustule, more commonly referred to as pus, a type of acne, happens when the follicle wall bursts and as part of the healing process white blood cells rush in.

Naturally, while it’s helpful to know what acne is, the most important thing is to be able to treat it. To help, we next look at who gets acne

Who Gets Acne? In short, almost everybody at some stage.

Acne typically develops in teens, girls around age 11 and 13 in boys, reflecting the average age at which puberty starts.

It is more often that males get acne, mostly because they produce more of the androgen hormone than females do, so their cases are mostly more severe.

Women have a greater chance of getting acne than men, as a young or mature adult.

One quarter of people have acne on other parts of the body besides the face - most commonly the back and neck areas.

There is proof that there is a direct link between the monthly hormonal cycle of women and the occurrence of acne. Premenstrual related acne affected almost 44% of women between 20 and 32. Looking at the largest study done on the menstrual cycle’s effect we see that women aged 33+ have been affected even more.

Acne can appear when you are 50 or older, and can often be related to taking certain drugs, the point is, it can occur at any age. It does not just occur in teens and can be cause by various things.