• Question: why do some people get bad spots on there face and other people none?

    Asked by Flori to Angela, Claire, Ian, Robert, Sarah on 18 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Angela Stokes

      Angela Stokes answered on 18 Nov 2014:

      Hi Flori
      Acne occurs when sebaceous glands in the follicles of the skin produce too much sebum, an oily substance that helps to stop the skin drying out. The sebum forms a plug with dead skin cells and blocks the follicle. When the blocked follicle is close to the skin surface, it balloons outwards and forms a whitehead; when it is at the top of the follicle – opening on to the skin surface, it shows as a blackhead. The usually harmless bacteria that live on the skin may then infect the plugged follicles causing the surrounding skin to become red and sore,producing pus which leads to spots, nodules and cysts.

      Hormones called androgens, which increase at puberty, cause an increase in the size of the sebaceous glands and the amount of oil they produce. The more hormone, the more oil and normally the greater number of spots.

    • Photo: Sarah Harris

      Sarah Harris answered on 21 Nov 2014:

      And to add to Angela’s answer, everybody gets spots. Whether you got lots or just a few is down to both your genetics and your environment. So if your parents had bad spots as a teenager than it’s quite likely you will too. This is because you produce more of the abnormal sebum Angela mentioned, which makes you more likely to get lots of spots or acne.

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