Sebum and Acne

You have probably heard that benzoyl peroxide is extremely successful as an acne fighter. You may also have heard that a main component in acne is sebum. This being the case, it’s not unusual to be curious about just how benzoyl peroxide affects sebum. As you will discover, the relationship between benzoyl peroxide and acne is not so much about how it affects sebum, but how it affects the bacteria that is mixed in with the sebum that causes acne. Read on to understand this relationship in more detail.

What Is Sebum?

Before understanding what causes acne and how benzoyl peroxide can help, let’s start by talking about what sebum is. Before you had problem acne, you probably had never even heard of sebum before, and there’s no real reason you should have. Sebum is a most likely vestigial product that is created by the sebaceous glands in your skin. It is a waxy, oily substance that lubricates hair and skin. The sebaceous glands are located near the hair follicle and this is where the sebum is secreted. Since acne appears where pores become clogged around the hair follicle, it should be no surprise that sebum is one of the products indicated in acne.

How Does Benzoyl Peroxide Affect Sebum?

Benzoyl peroxide’s action is not so much about removing sebum, although an acne control product that includes benzoyl peroxide can clear out many of your skin’s products that combine to form acne. Rather, benzoyl peroxide allows oxygen to penetrate deeply into the clogged pore. Propionibacterium acnes, the bacterium that causes these skin products that clog the pore to produce acne, is anaerobic, which means it cannot survive in the presence of oxygen. When the benzoyl peroxide comes in, it brings oxygen with it, killing the acne causing bacteria.

So What Can Be Done About Sebum?

Although there are some drugs that may reduce the production of sebum, sebum production is a natural part of your body’s processes and there is nothing you can really do about it. Fortunately, you don’t really need to worry about sebum when trying to reduce acne. Acne is caused when products like dead skin cells, sebum, dirt and oil clog pores and combine with bacteria. All you need is a treatment or combination of treatments that first cleanse the skin and clear out some of that pore clogging material, and then allow benzoyl peroxide to penetrate far into the skin where the bacteria lives, killing it. This should serve to reduce the severity of your acne condition.

But if I Keep Producing Sebum, Won’t my Acne Come Back?

Sebum itself does not cause acne, but yes, if you’ve had acne before, you’ll probably get it again. If you’ve managed to get yourself acne free, the best way to keep your skin clear is to stay on an acne control system that continues to cleanse your skin and fight any new bacteria that may be trying to cause new acne. Even if you can’t see acne starting to form, it may be there under the surface, so keep treating your acne- free skin for long term prevention.