Pimples!

What do you call a pimple on an Italian?

A grease fitting!.

Hey, wait a minute, I'm Italian!

Pimples

A pimple is a result of a blockage of the skin's pore. See Acne vulgaris.

Inside the pore are sebaceous glands which produce sticky sebum. When the outer layers of skin shed (as it does continuously), the dead skin cells left behind may become 'glued' together by the sticky sebum. This causes a blockage in the pore, especially when the skin becomes thicker at puberty. The sebaceous glands produce more sebum which builds up behind the blockage, and this sebum harbours bacteria (P.Acnes bacteria). Since the body's natural defence against bacteria is primarily phagocytes (white blood cells), these rush to the site behind the blockage (where the bacteria are). This is what gives some pimples the 'whiteheads' (unless the Phagocytes are deeper in the skin, which means you can't see the 'white' caused by them). The white blood cells then destroy (by phagocytosis) the bacteria to prevent infection. From the Old English pypel.

Getting rid of pimples

When I was a young man I had terrible pimples. Then someone told me to stop washing my face with soap.

Soap is made by mixing oils or fats with lye. If you wash your face with soap, the lye in soap mixes with the natural oils in your facial pores and makes more soap. thereby clogging the pores.

When you squeeze a pimple, that stuff that comes out is soap. So stop using soap to clean your face and instead use oil or astringents to clean your face and you will never have another pimple.

Pimple Treatments

Common over-counter medications for pimples are Benzoyl peroxide and/or salicylic acid. Both medications can be found in many creams and gels used to treat acne through topical application. Both medications help skin slough off easier, which helps to remove bacteria faster. A regimen of keeping the affected skin area clean plus the regular application of these topical medications is usually enough to keep acne under control, if not at bay altogether. 1-2% of the population is allergic to Benzoyl peroxide treatments.

Severe acne usually indicates the necessity of prescription medication to treat pimples. Prescription medications used to treat acne include isotretinoin or Accutane, which is a retinoid. Historically, prescription antibiotics such as tetracyclines and erythromycin were used to treat acne. While they were more effective than topical applications of benzoyl peroxide, the bacteria eventually grew resistant to the antibiotics and the treatments became less and less effective. Also, antibiotics had more side effects than topical applications (erythromycin can cause stomach cramps).