8 replies to this topic

[boyfrombj]

Hi Guys

Just wondering why certain pimples get inflamed and turned into pustules (which come to a nasty white head), while others sit under the skin, lay "dormant" and go away after a while?

As soon as I see a pimple - I do the exact same treatment - chuck on heaps of BP, but I can't seem to control which of the two ways they will go! Any ideas?

[boyfrombj]

bump. any idea?

[jaybin2]

Are you talking about the small bumps that dont seem inflamed?

[boyfrombj]

Yep - i guess my point is that although there is a difference between inflammatory acne and non-inflammatory - I often get a combination of the two.

Some pimples tend to get red and turn into pustules, others are closed over but don't become red, and disappear within a week.

Obviously the latter is much better than the former. But if we could control our acne so they all went down the non-inflammatory path, it would make having acne a lot more bearable.

[lucas h]

I'm curious about this too. I had two pimples near each other that started out the exact same, but one turned into a pustule, while the other one is just sitting there as a redish bump, no whitehead or anything--hope it stays that way!

[jaybin2]

Sometimes those undergrounders simply turn into inflamed because of something with the bacteria rupturing the follicles.

But it happens having a mix od inflamed and noninflamed, i do too

[boyfrombj]

Yeah its kind of funny how you can treat two pimples the exact same way but they can both react differently. Its frustrating not being able to have that control.

[john1234]

This might change your concept of acne a bit, but whiteheads and blackheads are inflamed. The comedone is a sign of inflammation already....
Whether it progresses to a pustule or papule is completely arbitrary. Sometimes if the plug is peeled to the surface, you can see the pustule. Sometimes if the lesion is too deep, and the plug can't come to the surface, then it'll remain a papule until it peels over.

[temp123]

By the time you get a bump there's an infection there, for sure. Then it depends what bacteria is in that particular infection, and how the battle your body fares against it.

Some common bacteria you have on your skin have no known antibiotics or antibacterials that can fight, but your body can nearly always beat it anyway.

Also it depends what you do to it, if you press on it or something then it spreads it deeper in the skin, that will make it last longer and scar more.