Acne

What you need to know about Acne

Acne is a skin condition that occurs when your hair follicles become plugged with oil and dead skin cells. It causes whiteheads, blackheads or pimples. Acne is most common among teenagers, though it affects people of all ages.

Effective acne treatments are available, but acne can be persistent. The pimples and bumps heal slowly, and when one begins to go away, others seem to crop up.

Depending on its severity, acne can cause emotional distress and scar the skin. The earlier you start treatment, the lower your risk of such problems.

Four main factors cause acne:

• Excess oil (sebum) production
• Hair follicles clogged by oil and dead skin cells
• Bacteria
• Inflammation

Acne typically appears on your face, forehead, chest, upper back and shoulders because these areas of skin have the most oil (sebaceous) glands. Hair follicles are connected to oil glands.

The follicle wall may bulge and produce a whitehead. Or the plug may be open to the surface and darken, causing a blackhead. A blackhead may look like dirt stuck in pores. But actually, the pore is congested with bacteria and oil, which turns brown when it's exposed to the air.

Pimples are raised red spots with a white center that develop when blocked hair follicles become inflamed or infected with bacteria. Blockages and inflammation deep inside hair follicles produce cyst like lumps beneath the surface of your skin. Other pores in your skin, which are the openings of the sweat glands, aren't usually involved in acne.

Certain things may trigger or worsen acne:

• Hormonal changes - Androgens are hormones that increase in boys and girls during puberty and cause the sebaceous glands to enlarge and make more sebum. Hormone changes during midlife, particularly in women, can lead to breakouts too.
• Certain medications - Examples include drugs containing corticosteroids, testosterone or lithium.
• Diet - Studies indicate that consuming certain foods — including carbohydrate-rich foods, such as bread, bagels, dairy and chips, may worsen acne. Further study is needed to examine whether people with acne would benefit from following specific dietary restrictions.
• Stress - Stress doesn't cause acne, but if you have acne already, stress may make it worse.

Skynculture’s Approach

People always have all sorts of questions about acne. Nobody is completely sure what causes acne. The biggest thing about acne is how you approach it. Skynculture uses the Kligman Acne Classifications Scale to analyze acneic skin conditions. Which classify acne into four grades.

• Grade 1 - acne consists of predominantly whiteheads and blackheads with occasional inflammatory lesions.
• Grade 2 - acne is sometimes difficult to evaluate and treat. The face is studded with mainly whiteheads, which can be deceiving to naked eye, because you have to pull the skin taunt to see them. The skin feels rough to touch. There may be some inflamed lesions, especially if the skin is picked or manipulated.
• Grade 3 - acne is very common. In addition to a mixture of whiteheads and blackheads (Grade 1), there are a constant number of inflammatory lesions (Grade 2) and usually around 10 to 20 papules and pustules at any one time.
• Grade 4 - acne is often referred to as cystic acne. The face displays all of the above, plus lesions, nodules, and cysts. This Grade 4 acne usually responds to medical interventions ans esthetic treatments.

Knowing what type of acne makes it easier to treat. We recommend that acne client subscribe to a series of treatments, because of the frequency required to clear acne. our clients battling acne to subscribe to a series of facial treatments, because much of the acne clearing process requires twereatments at consistent intervals of two-to-four weeks. We strongly advise our clients battling acne to subscribe to a series of facial treatments, because much of the acne clearing process requires treatments at consistent intervals of two-to-four weeks.

Hyperpigmentation

What to know about hyperpigmentation?

Hyperpigmentation is a condition that skin causes darkening of certain areas of skin. It is primarily caused by the overproduction of ‘melanin’ a skin pigment. This condition is quite common in both genders belonging to any of the ethnic group especially in the ethnicities with light complexions. Hyperpigmentation is usually a harmless condition but, in some case’s it may also be a symptom of illness or any disease. Most of the people are concerned about this condition because of its aesthetic implications which disturbs them and cause stress and anxiety. R

What causes hyperpigmentation?

A common cause of hyperpigmentation is an excess production of melanin. Melanin is a pigment that gives skin its color. It’s produced by skin cells called melanocytes. Several different conditions or factors can alter the production of melanin in your body.

• Certain medications can cause hyperpigmentation. Also, some chemotherapy drugs can cause hyperpigmentation as a side effect.
• Pregnancy changes hormone levels and can affect melanin production in some women.
• A rare endocrine disease called Addison disease can produce hyperpigmentation that’s most obvious in areas of sun exposure, such as the face, neck, and hands, and areas exposure to friction, such as elbows and knees.

Hyperpigmentation Types

• Sun exposure - Some forms of hyperpigmentation, including melasma and sun spots, usually affect areas of skin that get the most sun exposure: the face, arms, and legs. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: wearing a broad spectrum SPF of 30 to 50 every day is the best way to protect your skin from a whole host of skin woes—including hyperpigmentation.
• Hormones - “Fluctuations in hormones can lead to hyperpigmentation or melasma, and this occurs most commonly in women. Estrogen and progesterone, the female sex hormones, stimulate the overproduction of melanin, which leads to dark spots.” This often occurs in women who are taking birth control, or who are pregnant.
• Injury or inflammation - Other types of hyperpigmentation can form after an injury or skin inflammation, such as cuts, burns, bug bites, psoriasis, or acne, and can occur anywhere on the body.
• Aging - There’s not a lot you can do about this one—it happens to us all. But read on! There are many ways to tackle these dark spots.

Skynculture’s Approach

Skyncultures approach to treating hyperpigmentation is slow and gradual. Pigmented skin is very reactive and requires weeks of prep before treatment can be done. Prepping the skin is a method used to reduce pigmentation and build skins tolerance for professional treatment.

In office treatments consist of superficial, medium depth and deep exfoliation; using appropriate peeling agents that will not cause trauma to the skin. Do not assume that hyperpigmentation can be corrected after one or two treatments. Realistic expectation for long term and permanent results are 3 to 6 months.

Aging Skin

We begin to age the moment we are born, and throughout our lives the age begins to show. Up to the age of 20, the most visually prominent efects of aging are in the growth and development. Starting around the age of 28 in most casses the age begin to be visible in the skin.

Types of Aging

• Intrinsic - or chronological ageing, is the inevitable genetically determined process that naturally occurs. Intrinsic ageing is determined by each person's individual genetic clock and is affected by the degenerative effects of free radicals and the body's inability to perfectly repair their damage.
• Extrinsic - ageing is a result of lifestyle and environmental factors. Intrinsic ageing on the other hand is a genetically determined, naturally occurring process.

Skynculture’s Approach

The Glogau Classification Scale is a tool we use at Skynculture to help identify the clients rate of aging and what treatments are required. a client may be in her 20 - 30's ,but her skin may be a Glogau Scale type 3 therefore need extensive treatments and take home products to improve her skin!

Glogau Classification of Photoaging