As a teenager, it is not uncommon to get a pimple in different areas of the face. But in adulthood, you can face swollen and painful pimples deep in your skin, which means you might have cystic acne. This skin condition can linger for years and affect large areas of your skin as well as leave permanent scars. However, it can be managed and treated with the availability of cystic acne.
What is cystic acne?
As compared to other types of acne, cystic acne is an inflammatory type of acne and is different than whiteheads and blackheads which are more superficial. It causes bumps to develop deep under the skin which are swollen, tender to the touch, and painful. Infection occurs when a pore gets clogged and becomes inflamed. When the infection occurs below the surface of the skin, it can lead to large, fluid-filled cysts that can last for several weeks if left untreated. It is also deeply embedded in the skin tissue and will never actually come to the surface.
Due to the depth and amount of inflammation, cysts should not be popped as the aggression can result in a worse condition. When you pick on cyst-like breakouts, it can exacerbate the skin and cause more breakouts as it spreads infection to the surrounding healthy skin tissues. It is highly likely that you will develop scars if you try to squeeze and pop a cystic acne, because it is located deep in your skin. If you already have scarring, there are effective programs for acne scar removal in Singapore to lighten and reduce these scars.
What causes cystic acne?
The overgrowth of skin cells and overproduction of sebum can cause the pores to become clogged and become infected, leading to acne.
There are different reasons behind the cause of cystic acne. Similar to other acne-related conditions, the imbalance of hormone levels, particularly androgen, can cause the sebaceous glands to increase the production of sebum. When hormones fluctuate during menstrual cycles, acne can also get worse too.
Treatment of cystic acne
Cystic acne differs from superficial acne types that occur on the surface, as it cannot be treated with products or treatments that are not designed to penetrate deeply into the skin. If the treatments you undergo do not produce any or barely any noticeable results, it means the treatment is not deep enough. Look for cystic acne treatments in Singapore that can deeply penetrate the skin and get rid of acne scars.
The Infini Fractional RadioFrequency (FRF) treatment is one such treatment that can treat moderate to severe acne scars such as deep boxcar and ice pick scars. It can penetrate deep as 3.5 mm below the surface of the skin, to help stimulate deep collagen production and produce a lifting effect on the skin. As a result, it will show improvements in skin texture, tightening and acne scar removal.