One day your body is super clear, the next you have a pimple/wart, how?
In: Biology
Warts and pimples are different. There’s a good explanation for how pimples work somebody else posted.
Warts are caused [in humans] by a viral infection by one of many different types of HPV (human papilloma virus). There are other papilloma viruses that can infect other animals similarly to the way they infect humans. The virus can get into the skin, usually where skin is broken, and if the immune system doesn’t catch it, it will infect cells, alter their genome, and cause those skin cells to reproduce abnormally and excessively.
Common warts hang out on the top layer of skin where the immune system isn’t likely to detect them. This is why they can stick around on your skin from months to several years without being caught and killed by your immune system.
Warts are tumors. Some treatment methods are destructive (freezing, electrocautery, topical acid application), which often have poor efficacy. Some other treatments that are less commonly used involve chemicals that are supposed to stimulate the immune system, like imiquimod (typically prescribed for genital warts) and bleomycin (which is a chemotherapy drug).
You know those little tiny dots over your skin? They’re called pores. They can get clogged with stuff your body makes and there’s nasty evil stuff that gets stuck in there because of the clogg . It swells up red and painful cos your body is fighting the bad stuff.
Pimples specifically, a pore gets clogged with sebum and bacteria gets trapped in there. White bloods cells form under the skin to help protect from the spread of infection (aka pus) and the multiplication of cells and bacteria beneath the skin causes a growth and redness, which is a form of inflammation, because there’s no where for it to go because it’s plugged up with dried oil (blackheads). The overproduction of sebum is due to a hormonal imbalance which is why people with oily skin are more prone to breakouts.
This is my basic understanding of the process, please correct me if I’m wrong. I’m not a dermatologist by any means.
I barley even know what a wart is.
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