An unfortunate byproduct of the immune system's successful battle against acne infection is damaged tissue. Since an infected pore doesn't have room for all the immune system cells required to neutralize an infection, the surrounding area swells to many times the pore's size, stretching and tearing soft epidermal tissue to make room. Once the site of an infection has been cleared of bacterial buildup, what remains is a massive count of dead white blood cells and several layers of stretched and torn tissue. Before all the dead cells are reclaimed by the body, the immune system begins to repair the formerly infected pore. Since the healing process begins before the pore has returned to its original size, the immune system cannot correctly calculate the amount of fibrous scar tissue required to repair the skin. What results is a thickened layer of skin over the infection site (keloid). Seborrheic keloids, which are often elevated and discolored, mark the
first stage of acne scarring.
Whether or not the immune system has any repair work to do on the surface of the skin, new skin is always forming at the lowest layer of the epidermis. With new skin forming at the lowest layer, skin at the topmost layer is dying and gradually shedding. As a keloid loses its thickness, some discoloration remains at the base layer of skin originally impacted by the infection. This formation is known as a macule and marks the
second stage of acne scarring. Depending on the individual, it may take up to 6 months for the skin generation process to completely eliminate all visible signs of a single acne infection. This process can be accelerated with keratolytics like Salicylic Acid, a natural defense mechanism to plants like wintergreen, birch and willow bark, and Glycolic Acid, a powerful sugarcane derivative which stimulates collagen production.
For sufferers of chronic acne, it is common for a sebaceous gland to become re-infected before it has completely healed. In such cases, dead immune system cells amass within pores at a faster rate than they can be absorbed, irreversibly damaging the pore and surrounding skin structure. Scar tissue forms over scar tissue, further complicating the immune system's context for its healing process. Chronic infections within the same pore often result in permanent tissue loss and mark the
third stage of acne scarring. Common forms of permanent scarring include ice-pick scars, depressed fibrotic scars, soft scars, atrophic macules, and follicular macular atrophy. Scarring which has reached the third stage often requires a surgical means of correction, including collagen injections, autologous fat transfers, and skin grafts. To prevent permanent tissue damage, the rate of infection must be reduced. Anti-bacterial, pH-balancing face and body cleansers like KAVI Cleansing Bars will help keep acne populations under control.
