Acne, sadly, is one of those things that no one particularly wishes for, yet it seems to find its way into most of our lives regardless of how much we may try to resist its presence. It commonly begins in adolescence and throughout puberty, but for the most part, it is supposed to stop, or at least slow down, once we reach adulthood.
I’m not sure if we were all indoctrinated with this myth, but it sure as hell seems to me, a 28-year-old woman, that acne often does not stop after puberty; if anything, it got worse for me, personally, and for a shit ton of other people, too.
I was recently educated on the topic of comedones, and because I was not familiar with what these particular forms of pimples are, I realized that there are probably a lot of other people out there who, like me, aren’t terribly up to speed on different kinds of zits. So, I thought I would provide a brief tutorial, if you will.
The majority of us are familiar with whiteheads (a zit with a white head on its top) and blackheads (a zit with a black head on its top), and some of us know of cystic acne (huge, painful fuckers that often don’t form a head). Aside from these three categorizations, there are also nodules, comedones, papules, acne conglobata, and acne mechanica.
There are probably others that I’m still missing.
In addition to the existence of so many kinds of pimples, all of these forms of acne require different treatments. For example, while you’re really not supposed to pop a whitehead, when you do, white pus emerges, followed by runny clear fluid and/or blood. If you extract a blackhead, what emerges is a dark, thick material that isn’t really comparable to the contents of a whitehead whatsoever. As for comedones, they don’t always pop, and when they do, what emerges can vary in my own experience.
If you have questions or concerns about acne and its different forms, consider contacting a dermatologist.
Photo by michela ampolo on Unsplash
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