Monday, May 3, 2010

Acne - Can I Block Sebum To Stop Acne

Acne is caused because of sebum. If sebum were not there, acne would not be there. Can i block sebum like we do with sweat? If I can do that, I will never get acne. How do I block sebum? Let me answer. What is sebum? Sebum is the oil rich in lipids. Sebum is produced by sebaceous glands that are attached to hair follicles. Except for places such as lips etc, we have hair all over our body. And so we have the glands that produce sebum all over our body. What does sebum do? Sebum is acidic oil. It forms an acidic layer over the skin. This layer is called acid mantle. This acid mantle stops all the bacteria that want to invade the skin. It kills them. This acid mantle also protects the top layer of the skin made of dead cells and keeps the moisture inside the skin. Otherwise the moisture will evaporate fast. Acne and sebum- the connection When we produce more sebum, we get oily skin. Similarly when our glands produce more sebum and because of block on the glands the sebum gets blocked in the glands, we get acne. Why do the glands get blocked? That has a connection with hormones. Unless the glands are blocked, you will not get acne. The sebum will flow out. Sebum- can we block it? Till now nothing has been found to block the sebum production. With aging it reduces , but in young age, you can not block it with any method. You can remove the excess from your skin with oil absorbent cosmetics and skin care products. To think of stopping sebum is not good, because sebum is a very good friend of our skin. What we need to do is to stop acne with other methods so that the glands don't get blocked. This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article. About the Author/Author Bio