Comedo Treatment
Comedo is the cardinal sign of acne. A comedo is a ballyhoo of keratin and sebum in a dilated pilosebaceous orifice/pore. The comedo may be closed or open; the closed comedones are the whiteheads and the closed comedones are the blackheads. Closed comedones, resulting from an impediment of the pilosebaceous orifice that is deeper and less obvious, and typically seen in association with open comedones in the same patient.
A closed comedo has an obstructed opening to the skin and may fissure to cause a low-grade skin inflammatory reaction in the area. The common name for a closed comedo is a whitehead. An open comedo has a broad opening to the skin and is capped with a blackened mass of skin debris. It is commonly named as a blackhead.
The comedo is a plugged gland within the skin; it is pattern of sebum (oil), bacteria and dead skin cells which cause the hair follicle to dilate. Acne happens when sebaceous glands of the skin begin to secrete oil during puberty. These glands are galvanized by male hormones that are produced in the adrenal glands of both boys and girls. The oil lubricates and guards the skin.
Under certain occasions, cells that are close to the openings of the sebaceous glands block the openings. This causes a buildup of oil under the skin. Bacteria, that live in everyone’s skin but generally mind their own business, feast on this oil, multiply, and cause the surrounding tissues to develop inflamed. If the inflammation is right near the surface, a pustule is developed.
Filed under: Skin Disorders