Acne is the most common disease of the pilosebaceous glands and it affects mainly the face, chest and back.  

In what age does acne appear?
 
Acne appears both in men (mostly during adolescence) and in women (mostly during adulthood).  However it may also appear during the first weeks or months of life (neonatal acne) or during childhood (child acne). In the majority of cases, acne appears during adolescence but in some cases it appears for the first time until the 40th year of life. It is estimated that it affects the 70% of the population. 
 
What are the causes of acne?
 
The factors that contribute to acne pathogenesis are:
 
• Seborrhea (excessive sebum secretion)
• Comedones («black» and «white» spots)
• Propionibacterium acnes on the pilosebaceous unit 
• Inflammation
 
What factors affect acne?
 
• Cosmetics on the face and body skin and on the scalp
• Local or systematically medicine such as: corticosteroids, lithium, antibiotics, antiepileptics, etc
• Hormonal changes: congenital adrenal hyperplasia, polycystic ovaries, pregnancy
• The sun can either improve or worsen acne 
• Caused acne
 
What are the signs of acne?
 
Acne can be mild, severe and extremely severe depending on the situation:
 
1. Non – inflammatory 
 
• Small comedogenes
• Open («black» spots)
• Closed («white» spots)
• Big comedoegenes
 
2. Inflammatory
 
• Surface
• Papules
• Pustules
• Deep
• Nodules
• Cysts
 
What are the criteria for the treatment selection?
 
Age, sex, the patient’s medical background, the severeness of the problem, previous treatments, predisposition to scars, the results’ duration and the cost of the treatment. 
 
For how long does the treatment last?
 
Most treatments are long term and the patients should keep in mind that it takes at least 2 months for a local treatment to show results.