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Glossary
Acne: Acne is the term for plugged pores (blackheads and whiteheads),
pimples and even deeper lumps (cysts or nodules) that occur on the face,
neck, chest, back, shoulders and even the upper arms. The sebaceous
glands lie just beneath the skin’s surface. They produce oil called sebum,
the skin’s natural moisturizer. These glands and the hair follicles within
which they are found are called sebaceous follicles. These follicles open
onto the skin through pores. At puberty, increased levels of androgens (male
hormones) cause the glands to produce too much sebum. When excess
sebum combines with dead, sticky skin cells, a hard plug, or comedo, forms
that blocks the pore.
Acne Vulgaris: The medical term for common acne; inflammatory disease of
pilosebaceous glands
Comedones: Uninfected sebaceous plugs impacted within follicles, the
signature of noninflammatory acne. Comedones appear as whiteheads or
blackheads. Whiteheads (closed comedones) are flesh-colored or whitish
palpable lesions 1 to 3 mm in diameter; blackheads (open comedones) are
similar in appearance but with a dark center.
Hair Follicle: A sac from which a hair grows and into which the sebaceous
(oil) glands open. The follicle is lined by cells derived from the epidermal
(outside) layer of the skin.
Mild Acne: Several inflamed pimples - red in color. Less than 20 whiteheads/
blackheads or less than 15 inflammatory red pimples or less than 30 total
pimples not all inflamed.
Moderate Acne: Many inflamed pimples - red in color - and pustules
(visible accumulation of pus in skin) 20-100 whiteheads/blackheads or 15-50
inflammatory (red in appearance) lesions (pimples) or 30-125 total lesions not
all inflamed.
Neutral pH Cleanser: The pH of solutions range from a value of 1 to a value
of 14. Cleansers with a pH of 7 are neutral. Cleansers with a pH above 7 are
alkaline.
NSAID: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These are drugs with
analgesic and antipyretic (fever reducing) effects.
Photosensitivity: Cutaneous reaction to sunlight probably involving the
immune system. It may be due to an unknown cause or occur after exposure
to certain drugs or chemicals, and it is sometimes a feature of systemic
diseases.
Severe Cystic Acne: Many nodular cystic lesions (with signs of scarring).
Scarring occurs when new skin cells are laid down to replace damaged cells.