Eli5: Why do we have acne? How can the body not take care of it?
In: Biology
On a microscopic level, flakes of dry skin fall into pores which naturally produce sebum (oil) to clean the skin. These pores swell up with sebum which now can’t flow out. Bacteria which lives on the skin and which is normally harmless, gathers at these pores to try and consume the sebum. The body senses this and sends infection-fighting blood underneath the skin’s surface to the sites of bacteria. As the blood is trapped under the surface and can’t reach the bacteria, this causes redness and swelling.
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