Life Cycle of a Breakout
What is a Breakout?
A breakout or blemish is a word commonly associated with any type of physical mark on your skin such as acne, blackheads, papules or the dreaded nightmare - cystic acne!!
Most breakouts or blemishes are harmless to your health, but they can totally make a dent on your day as no one enjoys looking in the mirror and seeing a great blemish screaming at you!
Below we will talk about the 5 STEPS of a Breakout and the appropriate ways to deal with them.
The First Type of blemish - The Clogged Pore!
The Clogged Pore is the beginning stage of a break out and it's happening right there in your skin without anything being apparently visible.
A clogged pore happens when oil from your skin and dead skin cells start to accumulate and get trapped inside of the pore lining. This, then creates a blockage which is also known as a closed comedone and eventually develops into a white bump.
In some cases the clogged pore will become infected, which causes it to get inflamed, red and develops pus.
This is what we know as a Zit.
A good Spot Treatment for this is our Skinscript Spot Treatment which will help reduce Inflammation, Reduce Redness and heals the breakout.
The Second Step is the Papule!
In the situation that the Clogged Pore becomes infected, it will then develop into a raised reddish bump that is called a Papule.
What distinguishes a Zit from a Papule is that a Zit will have a white head on top while the Papule does not. This means that the infection has not broke through the surface of the skin yet.
Avoid drying a papule! I know that seeing this breakout beginning to take form, moving towards a possibly nasty zit, will make you want to pull your blemish spot treatment and dry this blemish at it's root! But this is not the right time to do this.
If you are to use a glycolic acid, or other drying products on a papule before there is a whitehead, this will only make the problem worse, and have you walking around with a blemish for a longer time!
The best thing to do is let Nature take it's course and wait until you see a whitehead. If you are really anxious, use a product with lactic acid that will help the infection come to the surface faster without drying your skin.
Which way is it going? Pustule or Cyst
After the Papule stage, Nature will determine if the papule will develop into a Pustule or a Cyst.
A pustule is what everyone knows as a whitehead, this is when the infection has made it's way to the surface and broken through. Although you will be tempted to start poking at it, we need to understand that it's also an infection. We need to be careful when extracting it.
Place a hot towel over the pustule and use both your index fingers, wrapped in paper tissue and press around the pustule three times in different places. If it doesn't come out, then leave it alone, as it's time to come out has not yet arrived.
Unfortunately, sometimes Nature can send it the other way, the dreaded cyst! (AKA Hormonal Acne) When it comes to cysts, you must not pick at it or try to stimulate it to break through the skin surface. A Cyst is actually not suppose to break through the surface of the skin and must be left alone for your body to begin getting rid of the infection.
Finally the Healing Process!
So we finally got through the terrible pustule stage, and now it's a similar annoying time when your breakout begins to scab.
Please make sure not the pick at your scab! You must allow your body to heal properly. Removing the scab by force can lead to possibly scarring!
A good thing thing to use is Tea Tree Oil to help keep the bacteria away and make the healing process faster.
Why is my skin tone different?!
In some cases, after the healing process you will be left with skin discoloration on the foot print of the blemish. There is chance it might be a brown spot or purplish in color. This is what is called Post-Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation. It can also turn red-like in color, this is known as Post-Inflammatory Erythema.
To help minimize discoloration, make sure to wear Sun Protection (SPF) as sunlight stimulates melanin production and will make discoloration more visible.
If you are looking for good sun protection, try our Skinscript Sheer Protective SPF 30 which will give you the right sun protection while helping keep moisture balanced in your skin.
We hope you enjoyed this Blog Post, until next time!
