How Does Acne Develop Into Scar?

Anatomy Of Acne Development

In this section, a simplified presentation is made on a whitehead outbreak and the result of squeezing a pimple. If your online provider has enough bandwidth, you can benefit from viewing the processes in full animation at below.

A whitehead has its roots in the skin pore surrounding a hair follicle. The cells lining the hair follicle sheds off and clumps together to block the sebum (which is normally the skin’s natural moisturizing oil) from leaving the skin pore which it normally does. Once the sebum is blocked and exposed to surrounding air, you get the beginnings of a “blackhead.”

A whitehead consists of three main components. You have (1) the hair follicle with dead skin cells accumulating on it, (2) the sebaceous gland that secretes the skin’s natural oils called sebum, and (3) the skin’s dermal surface which exhibits the results of sub-dermal activities. (see below)

Excess sebum and skin cell debris starts to accumulate when the skin pore around the hair follicles is closed off. Skin bacteria that normally thrive on the skin surface gets mixed up with the sebum and dead skin cells creating the ominous environment for infection to happen.

This infection shows up in the form of inflammation, reddening and even pus on the area under the pore or around the hair follicle. This pushes the skin above the infection to swell and you now see a pimple or zit outbreak on the skin. Unsightly as it is, the real damage happens under it.

Squeezing the pimple creates undue pressure on the inflammation under it and when ruptured causes the infection built up under the inflammation to be released and to spread over adjacent skin areas.

The infection not only spreads over the skin surface, but it also spreads inside the pore under the skin. This action can enlarge the infected skin areas inside and out that eventually results in increased incidence of skin scarring.

Once the acne damage attains enough severity and eventually heals, scarification starts as a loss of tissue happens around the hair or pore and appears as a depression or a pit on the skin’s surface.

Skin scarification is the long-term result of a healed acne outbreak and appears as depressed areas on the skin making it look and feel uneven and, depending on the severity, can have an uncanny resemblance with the surface of the moon as seen from a distance. Discoloration can also happen in spots that ruin the overall skin tone of your skin.