Inflammatory acne not only causes us pain but also causes loss of facial aesthetics. Therefore, people facing inflammatory acne always have low self-esteem and are afraid to communicate. There are even many people who want to quickly squeeze to remove acne. So should inflamed acne be squeezed? Let's find out the answer with Dermalogica in this article!
What is inflammatory acne?
To answer the question: Should inflammatory acne be popped? We need to clearly understand what inflammatory acne is?
Inflammatory acne is a severe type of acne. Inflammatory acne is characterized by red, painful bumps. This type of acne is filled with pus containing bacteria. Inflammatory acne develops deep in the skin's epidermis. Therefore, inflammatory acne, if not treated carefully, can cause skin infections and scarring.
Causes of inflammatory acne
The main cause of acne is clogging of hair follicles. Sebaceous glands located in pores are responsible for secreting oil to ensure moisture is maintained on the skin. In some cases: the amount of oil secreted on the skin is too much, the pores are clogged with dirt and dead cells. This causes pores to become clogged, creating conditions for P.acnes bacteria (Propionibacterium acnes) to grow and cause acne.
Some common types of inflammatory acne on the skin
Below are the 4 most common types of inflammatory acne we encounter:
- Red inflammatory acne: they are characterized by being small in size, containing water or not being swollen but not having acne cores.
- Pustular acne: Symptoms of pustular acne include a yellow or white core surrounded by a thin layer of skin. The acne causes swelling, pain, and is easily broken.
- Inflammatory acne: This type of acne is often quite large in size and develops deep under the skin. Acne is red, swollen, painful and can easily leave dark spots and scars.
- Cystic acne: This is a type of severe inflammatory acne that is large in size. It is difficult for us to clearly see the head of the acne, but the acne is swollen and painful. Acne can be soft or hard depending on the acne fluid inside.
Each type of acne will have a different level of harm to the skin. Especially with cystic acne, you should not treat it yourself. This type of acne has the risk of leaving very large and deep scars on the skin.
Stages of development of inflammatory acne
Inflammatory acne will develop through four main stages:
- Stage 1: At this stage, bacteria attack and grow due to clogged pores, causing inflammatory symptoms: swelling - heat - redness - pain.
- Stage 2: this is the inflammatory stage when red blood cells and white blood cells attack bacteria. Dead bacteria and dead white and red blood cells form a white pus-like capsule under the skin. Therefore, the skin will feel tight and painful. At this stage, we should limit touching the acne to avoid the acne breaking and causing bacteria to spread.
- Stage 3: In the next stage, the capsule containing dead bacteria, red blood cells and white blood cells under the skin will break and push to the skin surface. The skin surface will appear yellow or greenish white pus with scabs on top. Then the pimple matures and bursts.
- Stage 4: After the acne bursts and all the pus is removed, the skin will enter the recovery phase.
Should acne be squeezed?
Inflammatory acne not only causes swelling and pain, this type of acne also makes us self-conscious when interacting with others. Therefore, many people have tried to get rid of inflamed acne by squeezing. Inflammatory acne, if not removed properly, will cause bacteria to spread and attack surrounding skin areas. More seriously, inflammatory acne can cause calluses or, in the case of healed acne, also leave scars and dark spots. Therefore, we need to be very careful with this type of acne. Should inflammatory acne be squeezed? The answer is possible if your inflammatory acne condition is as follows:
- Only squeeze pimples when they are no longer swollen and ripe.
- Hands or acne removal tools need to be cleaned and disinfected when removing acne.
3 cases where you absolutely should not squeeze acne
Should inflammatory acne be squeezed? The answer is: No if your acne is in the 3 cases below. If you treat acne, it can cause the skin to become infected or worse, leave scars and severe dark spots. Please join Dermalogica in taking note of these cases immediately!
Case 1: Acne is in the red, swollen stage
When acne is red, swollen and painful, this is the acute stage of inflammation. At this stage, the body is creating white blood cells and mobilizing them to the area of inflammation to destroy bacteria. However, at this time, the number of white blood cells is not enough to destroy the bacteria. Therefore, if we squeeze acne during this period, it can cause bacteria to spread to surrounding skin areas. At that time, the skin is easily damaged, causing scars and dark spots.
Case 2: Red, itchy, inflamed acne
Red, itchy inflammatory acne is a type of inflammatory acne that does not contain acne, and may or may not contain water. This type of acne will usually disappear on its own. However, because this type of acne causes itching, we often try to remove it. The process of squeezing acne creates damage to the skin, causing bacteria to attack and cause inflammatory acne in that area of skin.
Case 3: Skin prone to hyperpigmentation
For those with skin prone to hyperpigmentation, you should not squeeze acne. Squeezing acne will leave dark spots on the skin. And treating dark spots will take a lot more time than treating acne. So, if your skin has hyperpigmentation, be patient and wait for the acne to heal!
Should acne be squeezed? To answer this question you need to consider the condition of inflammatory acne and the type of acne you are experiencing. If you are experiencing other acne or skin problems, please leave information at: https://dermalogica.com.vn/pages/contact-us, Dermalogica has you covered!