Acne occurs when the oil produced in the skin starts to over produce and the dead skin cells that should be shed off automatically don’t and this imbalance causes the skin pores and especially the ones which have hair growing from them get clogged. The body's repair team rushes in as soon as there is an acne breakout and it is the white blood cells that die in the battle against bacteria that lie under the skin and cause the skin to redden and swell up. These are the acne blisters or pimples or boils that appear. Acne mostly appears on the face of a person and in some cases when the acne is severe the acne can also spread to the neck, shoulders, chest and back. There are degrees of acne that one can get and it can be an outburst of pimples to severe acne. Also once an acne attack is over they may reappear and the entire agonizing process gets repeated.

Exactly why does acne happen no one is sure of and there are no wonder cures for acne so far. All one can say with some certainty is that 85% of people go through acne at some point in their lives. Some people get it once and for others they get repeated acne breakouts throughout their lives. There are several theories regarding why acne occurs, but only that 'yes' it is hereditary is one that has been proved. Also stress can aggravate acne but so can sweat tight clothes and pricking, squeezing and touching the acne skin and other skin.

Acne can be mild to severe from temporary to constant and the only known cause of acne is over production of sebum which is the skin oil. Acne knows no age or time or place and one can have baby acne to adult acne, body acne and the most common types of acne are called acne vulgaris. Acne vulgaris is a broad name for many types of acne some not severe and some severe and in some rare cases one can also get genital acne.

Acne treatments are basically aimed at trying to stop the over production of the skin oil and fighting any bacteria. So washing with a soft soap, not over scrubbing the acne affected area and using benzoyl peroxide or sulfur or salicylic acid will help to treat the acne. There are several acne treatments and the acne treatment is dependent on how severe the acne is and a dermatologist would suggest the best acne treatment. It is interesting that when one gets acne they want to rush and see a dermatologist but very few actually make it to the clinic. There are natural acne treatments also and some people actually prefer those. There are home treatment for acne and an aunt a mother or an elder of the family may actually recommend a home treatment for acne. Actually there is no harm in that as acne is a phase and even the medications mentioned here are available over the counter.

Acne rosacea only affects fair skinned people and in it there is a permanent redness on the forehead and across the nose and cheeks. In some cases acne rosacea may also spread to the neck. There is no permanent cure for acne rosacea and some people like President Clinton have acne rosacea and it stays for life.