Acne is an inflammatory disease of the skin which causes the pores to become blocked and and visible shows as pimples, blackheads and whiteheads and cysts or nodules.

It is often caused by changes in the pilosebaceous units (skin structure which consists of hair follicles and the associated sebaceous glands) and lesions will appear which are commonly known as pimples, spots or zits. The term acne comes from a corruption of Greek words “acme” meaning skin erruption and “bacne” or ” backne” which is often used to indicate the form of acne found on a person’s back.

Most teenagers are affected by acne, but not restricted to this group as adults can also get acne. Acne is especially common in Western societies most likely due to a high genetic disposition to getting it. It is often considered to be an abnormal response to normal levels of the male hormone testosterone in the body and for many people this tends to diminish over time so the acne then often disappears or at least decrease usually when a person reaches their early 20’s. There is no way to predict just how long it will take for the acne to disappear completely and for some individuals they may continue to suffer from acne for decades later (sometimes in to their 30’s or 40’s or even beyond these).

A large percentage of the world population is affected by acne at some stage during their life and can be emotionally upsetting and cause disfiguring in cases that lead to scarring.