What is acne vulgaris?
Acne vulgaris, or acne, is a skin problem that starts when oil and dead skin cells clog up your pores. Some people call it blackheads, blemishes, whiteheads, pimples, or zits. When you have just a few red spots, or pimples, you have a mild form of acne. Severe acne can mean hundreds of pimples that can cover the face, neck, chest, and back. Or, it can be bigger, solid, red lumps that are painful (cysts).
Most young people get at least mild acne. It usually gets better after the teen years. But many adult women do have acne in the days before their menstrual periods.
How you feel about your acne may not be related to how bad it is. Some people with severe acne are not bothered by it. Others are embarrassed or upset even though they have only a few pimples.
The good news is that there are many good treatments that can help you get acne under control.
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Acne Vulgaris (commonly called Acne) is a skin disease, caused by changes in the pilosebaceous units (skin structures consisting of a hair follicle and its associated sebaceous gland). Severe acne is inflammatory, but acne can also manifest in noninflammatory forms.
Acne lesions are commonly referred to as pimples, spots, or zits.
Acne is most common during adolescence, affecting more than 85% of teenagers, and frequently continues into adulthood. For most people, acne diminishes over time and tends to disappear, or at least decrease, after one reaches his or her early twenties. There is, however, no way to predict how long it will take for it to disappear entirely, and some individuals will continue to suffer from acne decades later, into their thirties and forties and even beyond.
The term acne comes from a corruption of the Greek άκμή (acme in the sense of a skin eruption) in the writings of Aëtius Amidenus. The vernacular term bacne or backne is often used to indicate acne found specifically on one's back
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acne_vulgaris
Acne vulgaris is a common skin disease that affects 85-100% of people at some time during their lives. It is characterized by noninflammatory follicular papules or comedones and by inflammatory papules, pustules, and nodules in its more severe forms. Acne vulgaris affects the areas of skin with the densest population of sebaceous follicles; these areas include the face, the upper part of the chest, and the back.