Rashes of any nature can become a real problem for a person who is in society and striving to maintain a normal appearance. This type of skin disease does not bypass either women or men. Anyone who does not care enough about hygiene, does not eat properly, has chosen the wrong external care, or even just has a genetic predisposition, can become the carrier of these rashes.
Steroid acne also stands in this row, becoming an unpleasant side effect of hormonal drugs. If this problem is familiar to you firsthand, or you are afraid of its possible occurrence and want to know as much as possible about it in advance, then rather read on this article, in it you will find answers to many questions: how they look, what they come from, how they develop how are treated and how are the consequences of steroid inflammation eliminated.
What do steroid acne look like?
In order to know the "enemy" in person, you need to look at photos of people fighting and defeating this problem. The description of steroid acne is best to start with the fact that they appear simultaneously and therefore look like a rash. Single inflammation does not appear from hormonal drugs, but most often due to problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
In this photo of steroid acne, it is clearly visible that the placer of red acne has the same size and degree of development. The area of their largest congestion was the forehead. Acne is in the fourth stage of development.
When a person is already starting treatment, such acne presented in the photo above starts to dry out and can turn white. This is a normal occurrence. But at this time it is still impossible to talk about a full recovery, since new rashes form next to the dried eels. Do not crush new and old pimples, because you can bring an infection.
Reasons for the 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 subject to the influence of 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 thereby adversely affect fat metabolism. Because of this, sebum becomes more viscous and clogs the pores, which then do not let the sebaceous secretion out. In such an environment, pathogenic bacteria that cause inflammation feel good.
There are two types of causes that affect the formation of acne steroid rash: internal and external factors. The main task of a dermatologist is to determine the cause and understand what influenced the development of pathology.
Most often, experts identify the following factors that have caused steroid acne:
- systematic use of corticosteroids;
- isolated cases of the use of corticosteroid preparations;
- the use of steroid drugs of anabolic nature;
- taking testosterone, progesterone, gestagen, and, rarely, progestins.
These drugs negatively affect the body's production of insulin. The receipt of an unhealthy dose of this protein hormone of the pancreas leads to the formation of acne.
Symptoms and features
The main feature of steroid acne is their sudden appearance in large numbers. The rash usually appears on the face, shoulders, chest, and at first it looks like a scattering of small red pimples that quickly 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 generally remain on the face.
How similar acne develops
In order to better understand your "enemy", you need to study the development mechanism of this type of skin disease:
- At the very beginning, the sebaceous gland malfunctions, due to which the skin pore becomes clogged.
- As a result, excessive sebum production occurs in this place.
- Then there is inflammation - a small red pimple.
- The processes of reproduction of bacteria lead to the formation of a purulent head, and acne is formed.
It must be remembered that the independent removal of purulent secretion from an eel of any nature can lead to an expansion of the lesion area and, as a result, to even greater inflammatory processes.
Five stages of acne
There are as many as five stages through which 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 single closed-type acne, which do not go into the open form of inflammation and do not spread through 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 a harbinger of more serious inflammation.
- In the third stage, pustules spread over a large area of the skin of a person.
- During the fourth stage, hormonal processes in the human body lead to serious acne that affects the face and shoulders, sometimes the entire back.
- The most difficult for a person is the fifth stage, in which the integument of the skin is strewn with multiple purulent inflammations, cysts. It often happens that this stage passes into a disease such as follicular dermatitis.
Differences of steroid rashes from 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 reason for the appearance of steroid acne is the use of hormonal drugs, if you refuse them, the general condition of the skin should improve or at least stop the formation of new inflammations. If this does not happen, it is possible that the cause of the inflammatory processes on your face or back lies elsewhere.
- The difference between steroid acne from the so-called vulgar acne is their uniformity. When analyzing acne vulgaris, one 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 only mature. Moreover, with steroid inflammations, comedones do not occur in parallel.
Who is at risk
Most often, steroid acne appears in people who maintain a normal hormonal background with the help of medications.
Girls who take hormonal contraceptives are also at risk, especially in cases where the drug was not prescribed by a doctor, but was selected independently.
Often, the area of the back and forehead rashes is also covered in bodybuilders who add steroids to the diet to quickly build muscle and maintain weight.
How to treat acne steroid: doctors' 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 on the basis of 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 is able to give a completely correct answer to the question of where the inflammation came from.
The doctor prescribes treatment in several directions at once:
- removal of purulent secretion and all cutaneous inflammation;
- bacteria control;
- normalization of the hormonal background;
- cosmetic products that improve the appearance of the skin.
What cosmetologists say
If the treatment of steroid acne on the face is the concern of dermatologists, then getting rid of post-acne can be a reason for going to a professional cosmetologist. It is he who, with the help of chemical or acid peeling, microdermabrasion, the use of a laser, or any other cosmetic procedure of this nature, is able to cope with dark spots on the skin that remain after treatment.
Beauticians advise to come to them to solve this issue after the active stage has passed. Otherwise, pigmented spots may again appear 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 cope with the focus of skin disease, but only if the main factor in the formation of inflammation - the hormonal drug - is canceled, and the acne itself has not passed to the boil stage and is not deep under the skin.
Useful tips of girls from various forums
In the discussions of the girls who encountered this aesthetic problem, it can be noted that the rashes left them immediately after the drug was discontinued, affecting the hormonal background. Most often, hormonal contraceptives became such pathogens of negative processes in the body. But in some cases, steroids were prescribed to treat the disease, and their complete abolition is impossible. In such cases, girls are advised to try changing the brand of the drug used, switch to a full or partial analogue. In some situations, this approach to solving the problem has become effective.
Summary
To summarize all of the above, the following important points can be distinguished:
- Recognizing this type of skin disease is simple: blackheads appear simultaneously and have a monomorphic structure (look at the photo of steroid blackheads on the face).
- These rashes appear against the background of prolonged 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 with the help of peels and microdermabrasion.
- Most often, these acne occur in professional athletes, people who have a malfunction in the hormonal background and undergoing treatment, girls taking hormonal contraceptives.
- A doctor can 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 cancel the hormone drug altogether.
Thus, you learned about such an unpleasant problem as steroid acne. Despite this fact, before you make a diagnosis, contact a professional dermatologist and better do this as soon as possible, without resorting to self-medication.