Rashes of any nature can become a real problem for a person who is in society and strives to maintain a normal appearance. This type of skin disease does not bypass either women or men. Anyone who does not follow hygiene enough, does not eat properly, has chosen the wrong external care, or even simply has a genetic predisposition, can become a carrier of these rashes.
Steroid acne is also in this row, becoming an unpleasant side effect of hormonal drugs. If you are familiar with this problem firsthand, or you are afraid of its possible occurrence and want to know as much as possible about it in advance, then rather read this article further, in it you will find answers to many questions: how they look, what they appear from, how they develop, how are treated and how the consequences of steroid inflammation are eliminated.
What steroid acne looks like
In order to know the "enemy" in person, you need to look at the photographs of people fighting and defeating this problem. The description of steroid acne is best started by saying thatthey appear at the same time and therefore look like a rash. Solitary inflammation does not appear from taking hormonal drugs, but most often due to problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
This photo of steroid acne clearly shows that a scattering of red acne has the same size and degree of development. The area of their greatest accumulation was the forehead. Acne is in the fourth stage of development.
When a person already begins treatment, such blackheads, presented in the photo above, begin to dry out and may turn white. This is normal. But at this time it is still impossible to talk about a complete recovery, since new rashes form next to the dried acne. You can not press new and old pimples, as you can bring the infection.
Reasons for appearance
Any acne is the result of a malfunction of the sebaceous glands. This is due to pathological changes occurring in the internal organs, as well as various body systems that are influenced by external stimuli.
The main cause of steroid acne is the use of hormonal drugs, the so-called steroids. When ingested, steroids change the hormonal background and thus adversely affect fat metabolism. Because of this, sebum becomes more viscous and clogs the pores, which then do not let the sebaceous secret out. In such an environment, pathogenic bacteria that lead to inflammation feel good.
There are two types of causes that affect the formation of steroid acne: internal andexternal factors. The main task of a dermatologist is to determine the cause and understand what influenced the development of the pathology.
Most often, experts identify the following factors that caused steroid acne:
- systematic use of corticosteroids;
- isolated cases of corticosteroid use;
- use of anabolic steroids;
- taking testosterone, progesterone, progestogen, and, rarely, progestins.
These drugs adversely affect the body's production of insulin. Taking an unhe althy dose of this proteinaceous pancreatic hormone leads to acne.
Symptoms and features
The main feature of steroid acne is their sudden appearance in large numbers. The rash usually occurs on the face, shoulders, chest and at first looks like a scattering of small red pimples, which in a short time turn into purulent inflammation, and in some cases even become boils that require opening on the surgical table. All rashes of this nature are united by uniformity or, in other words, monomorphism.
With proper treatment, acne disappears, but leaves behind ugly dark pigment spots that are difficult to eliminate. In some situations, in place of steroid acne, scars and scars remain on the face.
How acne like this develops
In order to better understand your"enemy", you need to study the mechanism of development of this type of skin disease:
- At the very beginning, the sebaceous gland fails, which clogs the skin pore.
- As a result, excessive sebum production occurs in this place.
- Further there is inflammation - a small red pimple.
- Processes of reproduction of bacteria lead to the formation of a purulent head, and acne is formed.
It must be remembered that self-removal of a purulent secret from an eel of any nature can lead to an expansion of the affected area and, as a result, even more inflammatory processes.
Five stages of acne
There are five stages that a person suffering from steroid acne can go through. They differ in the degree of spread of inflammation, the severity of treatment, and some other factors.
- The first stage of the development of the disease is characterized by the appearance of solitary closed-type acne, which does not turn into an open form of inflammation and does not spread over the face and body. Most often they occur on the nose, chin and forehead.
- The second stage is characterized by the formation of open and closed acne nodules, as well as pustules, which are harbingers of more serious inflammation.
- In the third stage, pustules spread over a large area of human skin.
- During the fourth stage, hormonal processes in the human body lead to severe acne affecting the face and shoulders, sometimes the entire back.
- The heaviest for a manis the fifth stage, in which the skin is strewn with multiple purulent inflammations, cysts. It often happens that this stage turns into a disease such as follicular dermatitis.
Differences between steroid rashes and other types of skin acne
It must be understood that steroid acne is just one of several varieties of this type of skin disease. The ability to distinguish them from the rest can help in assessing the problem and in choosing the means to get rid of it.
- Since the main cause of steroid acne is the use of hormonal drugs, if you refuse them, the general condition of the skin should improve, or at least the formation of new inflammations should stop. If this does not happen, perhaps the cause of the inflammatory processes on your face or back lies elsewhere.
- The difference between steroid acne and the so-called acne vulgaris is their uniformity. When analyzing acne vulgaris, you can see that they were formed at different times and have different degrees of development: some of them have already matured and are approaching the drying stage, while others are neoplasms and are just maturing. In addition, with steroid inflammation, comedones do not occur in parallel.
Who is at risk
Most often, steroid acne occurs in people who maintain normal hormonal levels with the help of medications.
Girls taking hormonal contraceptives are also at risk, especially when the drug has not beendischarged by a doctor, but selected independently.
Rash often covers the area of the back and forehead in bodybuilders who add steroids to the diet to quickly build muscle and maintain weight.
How to treat steroid acne: doctor's advice
In order to get rid of this unpleasant problem, it is necessary to consult a professional dermatologist at the first symptoms. Only a specialist will be able to correctly recognize the cause of the disease and prescribe the correct treatment for steroid acne. The doctor is obliged to issue a conclusion based on the results of blood and urine tests, examination of the affected areas, the words of the patient himself, as well as the data of his medical record. Only such a systematic approach to the problem can give a 100% correct answer to the question of where the inflammation came from.
The doctor prescribes treatment in several directions at once:
- removal of purulent secretions and all skin inflammations;
- fight bacteria;
- normalization of hormonal levels;
- cosmetic preparations that improve the appearance of the skin.
What beauticians say
If the treatment of steroid acne on the face is the concern of dermatologists, then getting rid of post-acne may be a reason to go to a professional cosmetologist. It is he who, with the help of chemical or acid peeling, microdermabrasion, laser application or any other cosmetic procedure of this nature, is able to cope withdark spots on the skin that are left after treatment.
Cosmetologists advise to come to them to resolve this issue after the active stage has passed. Otherwise, age spots may appear again on the site of already cured and bleached skin, and the procedure itself should not be repeated more often than once every six months.
A professional cosmetologist can also deal with a focus of skin disease, but only if the main factor in the formation of inflammation - a hormonal drug - is canceled, and the acne itself has not passed into the stage of boils and is not deep under the skin.
Useful advice from girls from various forums
In the discussions of girls who have encountered this aesthetic problem, you can see that the rashes left them immediately after the drug was discontinued, which affects the hormonal background. Most often, hormonal contraceptives became such pathogens of negative processes in the body. But in some cases, steroids have been prescribed to treat the disease, and their complete abolition is not possible. In such cases, girls are advised to try to change the brand of the drug used, switch to a full or partial analogue. In a number of situations, this approach to solving the problem has become effective.
Results
To summarize all of the above, we can highlight the following important points:
- Recognizing this type of skin disease is simple: acne appears simultaneously and has a monomorphic structure (look at the photo of steroid acne on the face).
- These appearrashes due to long-term use of hormonal drugs.
- Acne goes away, but leaves behind dark spots - post-acne, which can only be removed in the office of a professional cosmetologist using peels and microdermabrasion.
- Most often these acne occurs in professional athletes, people who have a hormonal failure and are undergoing treatment, girls taking hormonal contraceptives.
- A doctor may prescribe steroid acne treatment only on the basis of a complete examination of the patient, which includes urine and blood tests.
- In some cases, to treat skin problems, it is enough to change the brand of the drug used to its analogue. If this does not help, then stop the hormonal drug altogether.
So you have learned about such an unpleasant problem as steroid acne. Despite this fact, before making a diagnosis of yourself, consult a professional dermatologist and do it as early as possible without resorting to self-medication.
