Many individuals know acne by different names (synonyms) such as pimples, zits, blemishes etc. But by whatever name you may know acne, if you are suffering from acne or if you have suffered from acne (majority of individuals suffer from acne during adolescence and teenage life), you must be aware of the symptoms acne produce and the difficulty you might have faced while treating acne. Acne is in fact one of the few medical conditions (diseases) diagnosis of which do not need (in most cases) opinion of a doctor, as most of us know what acne is, with few exceptions, when it may not be easy to diagnose acne even by trained dermatologists.

Most of us are aware of the symptoms of acne; still here I have discussed the symptoms of acne, common and usual symptoms as well as some uncommon symptoms of acne. The acne may cause psychological distress (although generally do not cause physical distress) and persistent (resist treatment), that is annoying. The symptoms of acne include papules, pustules, nodules, cysts and comedones.

Papules in acne:

Papules are important symptom of acne. Papules are (in dermatological term) skin lesions that are small and raised. If papules are infected or inflamed they become red and tender (painful).

Pustules in acne:

Pustules are also symptom of acne. Pustules are infected papules that are filled with pus. Due to infection they are red and tender.

Nodules:

Nodules are large (larger than papules), solid and painful lumps beneath the skin surface. Nodules develop due to clogging of hair follicles by secretions (mostly sebaceous secretions) and in some cases infection may occur.

Cysts:

They are puss filled lumps under the skin surface. If cysts burst by itself or manually they can leave scar mark.

Comedones:

They are also known as blackheads or whiteheads. Comedones develop when hair follicle opening is clogged and blocked by secretions (sebaceous and oily secretions), dead cells or sometimes by bacteria. If comedones have opening to the surface, they look black and called blackheads. If comedones do not have opening, they look skin colored and little raised and called whiteheads.

Need to know more about acne?

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