ACNE
Medically termed as acne vulgaris, it is the most common skin disease of adolescents and young adults. It reports a prevalence of 80%. Acne has a tendency of onset in puberty when there is increased activity of the oil glands. Common sites affected are face, chest, shoulders, and back.
Causes of acne:
- Genetic/hereditary
- Hormonal changes
- Emotional stress
- Consumption of food with the high glycemic index
- Application of oils or thick creams
Lesions of acne :
- Whiteheads: appear as white colored bumps under the skin surface
- Blackheads: black colored lesion over the surface of the skin
- Papules: red raised painful lesion
- Pustules: red raised pus-filled tender lesion
- Nodule: a large pus-filled lesion
- Cyst: painful, large nodules with a liquidy center, leads to scaring
Management of acne:
- Local applications: application of creams/gels which are retinol based helps to reduce the sebum and treats the white and blackheads. For eg. Tretinoin, adapalene gels
- Antibiotic based creams are used for active pus-filled pimples for eg Clindamycin
- Oral medications: incase of increased severity of acne, oral antibiotics &/or retinoids are given
- Adjuvant treatments like
- Chemical Peels: Alpha Hydroxy Peels, like the Glycolic acid/ Lactic acid peels, helps to reduce the lesion count.
- Skin polishing: also called Microdermabrasion removes the dead cells over the skin, thus reducing the probability of acne.
PIGMENTATION:
Hyperpigmentation is the most common type of pigmentation. There can be various names or diagnosis given to this, like melasma, sunspots( freckles, lentigines), post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.
Increased pigmentation of the skin is primarily due to increased melanin production in the skin. this can be due to increased sun exposure, medications, inflammation (post-acne/ trauma to skin).
Melasma:
It is the most common disorder in women of the reproductive age group. It usually appears as dark patches over the face, neck, and rarely might involve the hands. These are symmetrical in distribution.
The most common cause of melasma is sun exposure, hormonal disturbances, intake of oral contraceptives.
Treatment options:
- Medical line of therapy: sunscreen is the most important. Along with depigmenting agents
- Chemical peels
- Q switch NdYag Laser/ Laser toning
- Microdermabrasion
