Unfortunately, the damage does not end there. Once bacteria enter
the follicles, the immune system, which protects the body from infection
and disease, reacts. Blood, rich with infection-fighting white
blood cells, rushes to the area. As the infection worsens, pus and other powerful chemicals are also produced to combat the infection.
This causes the infected area to become hot, red, swollen, and painful.
Heat, redness, swelling, pain, and the presence of pus are all
characteristics of inflammation, which in the case of acne appears
on the skin in the form of papules, pustules, and cysts, other types
of acne lesions.
Different Types of Lesions
Whether a person develops comedones, papules, pustules, cysts,
or a combination of these lesions depends on how severely the hair
follicles are clogged and inflamed. The worse the inflammation,
the more severe the acne lesion. For example, comedones, which
are basically enlarged, clogged hair follicles, form before the hair
follicles become inflamed or in the earliest stages of inflammation.
Comedones contain sebum, dead skin cells, and bacteria that are
trapped in the follicles, but comedones do not contain pus, nor are
they red or swollen. That is why comedones are the least severe
type of acne lesion.
Since comedones do not contain pus, they are quite small. All
comedones have either a white or black tip. Hence, comedones are
commonly known as whiteheads or blackheads.
