Why You Should Not Care About Different Types of Acne

If you suffer from acne, I’m sure you’ve come across articles with titles like “The Different Types of Acne”. Or maybe some version of them. I always read articles with titles like this with a little bit of annoyance. Why the annoyance you might wonder. It’s because these articles never had any cure for any of the types of acne they listed.

People with acne have very little interest in the type of acne they have. We need a cure or what we can do about acne. I know I have acne. I don’t know about you but never have I wondered what type of acne it is, but what I am mainly reading the article for is a hope of a cure mentioned somewhere. 

I’ve read articles that suggest you need to know what kind of acne you have so you can cure it. This is completely untrue as even when I knew what acne I had I could not find a cure. 

Then there are those articles whose titles suggest that they will give the different types of acne and ways to cure them. Some of these seem to skip the cures totally even though the title suggests the cures are there. Others give vague cures. Still, others use this opportunity to sell their products. So basically for each type of acne they try and sell a different product. Often these products are completely unrelated to acne at all. 

So I thought I would write an article on the different types of acne. But this article would be a bit different from the others. I’m going to tell you why you don’t really need to care about what type of acne you have. 

First, let’s start with the different types of acne.

Broadly speaking there are 6 different types of acne. These are further classified into 2 types – non-inflammatory and inflammatory. 

There are 2 types of non-inflammatory acne – Blackheads and whiteheads. 

There are 4 types of inflammatory acne – Papules, pustules, cysts and nodules.

Blackheads are a non-inflammatory type of acne. As the name suggests there is generally no inflammation in a blackhead, i.e you won’t see any redness around one. Unless you have irritated it or squeezed it. A blackhead is a blocked pore. But the pore remains open and the sebum that blocks the pore turns black. 

Whiteheads are also blocked pores, but the pore is closed. So those tiny skin coloured bumps you see on your skin, those are whiteheads. Since this is also non-inflammatory acne, this tiny bump will not be red. 

Papules are simple blackheads or whiteheads that have gotten inflamed. They will look red, are raised and be slightly sore to the touch. Papules are small in size. 

Pustules are papules that have a pus-filled centre. They are also small in size. 

Cysts are bigger acne that forms deep within your skin. This acne then comes to a head and form a pus-filled head. It is painful and sore to the touch.  

Nodules are deep painful lumps that start under your skin. They are quite big in size and can last for months. 

Now, most people who have acne, have a combination of the above types of acne. If you go by what most articles tell you then you’ll have to scan your face ever so carefully and treat each acne differently. 

What most of the articles don’t tell you is that the cause of all the 6 different types of acne is exactly the same – excess sebum, a blocked pore and bacteria. Also, acne that starts out as blackheads and whiteheads can easily become any of the other 4 types of acne.  

Also what is not mentioned in most articles is that all acne responds to the same treatment. If you remember I said before that I was going to tell you why you don’t need to care about what type of acne you have.

The reason why you don’t need to care about what type of acne you have is that all acne responds to the same treatment. 

Now I’m going to give you a few ways to clear your acne no matter what type of acne you have. 

1. First and foremost remember that most non-inflammatory acne can easily turn inflammatory. This happens due to irritation. If you constantly keep touching your blackheads or feeling them, they are going to get irritated. So hands off your face. Do not squeeze your blackheads. Do not touch them. Whiteheads and blackheads are the mildest forms of acne. Don’t make your acne worse when it can so easily be avoided. 
2. Since the causes of all types of acne are the same which is excess sebum, blocked pores and bacteria, try and balance out your skin. This does not mean rigorously scrubbing your face to get rid of the oil or sebum. It means training your skin to produce normal amounts of oil. You can do that by skipping the facewash and using oils that normalise the production of oil. Read about skipping facewash here. Read about using oils here. 
3. Apply honey on basically any type of acne. It works on everything from whiteheads to nodules. Personally, I have found that honey is the only thing that can heal nodules. Nodules can last for a really very long time. Now by a very long time I mean 6 months to a year. Applying honey on a nodule every day can heal it within 2 weeks. 
4. Diet is another way to heal any form of acne. No matter what kind of acne you have, a few modifications in diet can clear up your skin very quickly. Since diet works to heal your skin from within, it also prevents any kind of acne from forming on your skin. 

So there you have it. You don’t need to worry about what kind of acne you have. All acne responds to exactly the same treatment. You can also prevent all acne with exactly the same changes in diet. 

Don’t let some article on the internet, tell you that you need to know what kind of acne you have, and only then you can heal it. If you’re curious you can find out by all means. But remember that all acne responds to the same treatment.