Acne and clogged pores

Acne and clogged pores are not the same thing, but they almost always come together. (Clogged pores are one of the causes of inflamed acne). It makes sense to tackle both issues together in your routine.

Acne is an inflammatory skin condition. In other words, when you have acne, it means that the immune system in skin is on high alert. It attacks any possible threat with inflammation. As the result, inflamed spots appear.

The other part of acne coming to be is a presence of acne-triggering bacteria. An interesting fact that these bacteria live both on acne-prone and acne-free skin. The bacteria on their own do not cause acne. This is why acne is not an infectious skin condition.

Inflamed acne spot appear when immune cells in skin are on high alert and too many acne-triggering microbes live on the skin. We do not know for sure what comes first: the immune cells going on high alert responding to the bacteria, or more acne-causing bacteria growing (when the immune cells goes on high alert, our skin becomes a more favorable environment for the bacteria). In practice, it does not matter much. To help reduce and prevent acne, we need to both help our skin immune cells calm down, and reduce the number of acne-causing bacteria on the skin.

To help calm down your skin immune cells, we recommend treating acne-prone skin as a sensitive skin. In a nutshell, it involves using a minimal amount of products, going fragrance-free, and moisturizing well.

As for the acne-triggering bacteria, there are two main ways to reduce their number on our skin:

1. kill or prevent them from growing with antibacterial ingredients (for example, benzoyl peroxide or prescription antibiotics);

2. make their living conditions on the skin less favorable.

Acne-triggering bacteria do not like oxygen. That's why they live inside the pores. The more closed, or clogged a pore is, the better it is for the bacteria. This is why reducing clogged pores helps prevent acne.

We can reduce clogged pores with two methods. First, we can reduce the amount of "skin debris" (aka loose dead skin cells) that get stuck inside pores. We can do it using exfoliation. Salicylic acid is the most effective exfoliator for preventing clogged pores. The second method is reducing the amount of sebum (natural skin oil) that our skin produces. When sebum mixes with the "skin debris", it creates a sticky substances that clogs pores. Retinoids are the most effective skincare actives that can help reduce sebum production. (Retinoids also help regulate inflammation that results from the immune cells activation, which helps reduce acne as well).

Sebum production in our skin depends on hormones. This is why we get acne when we have more sebum-stimulating hormones in our bloodstream. For example, this is the case during teen years, in times of stress, and before female monthly period.

There is also a link between diet and acne for some people, but we need more studies to understand how exactly it works. Healthy balanced nutrition without excessive free sugars is probably helpful for preventing clogged pores and acne.

Other WIMJ resources about tackling acne & clogged pores:

• Guide to Retinoids against acne & clogged pores

• Food & acne

• Topical antioxidants against acne & clogged pores

Hydrocolloid spot patches help to heal the skin trauma from active blemishes faster and minimize the scarring. Hydrocolloid patches alone do not reduce inflammation. It is best to apply a spot treatment with Salicylic Acid or Benzoyl Peroxide on the blemish first, and then apply the patch. Or you can select a patch with an anti-inflammatory active added to it.