What is the difference between acne and folliculitis

Many friends think that acne folliculitis is a disease. In fact, this is incorrect. You should know that these are two completely different diseases. The reason why people have such a wrong understanding is that the symptoms of folliculitis are very similar to those of whiteheads, so they confuse these skin problems. Let me tell you here that they are actually completely different, so there will be different measures in the treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the difference between acne and folliculitis.

The reason why people confuse these two diseases is that whiteheads are actually a type of acne, while folliculitis is actually a bacterial disease. Even though the symptoms are the same, the pathological causes are completely different. You can learn about the specific differences between them through this article.

Folliculitis is an inflammation caused by pyogenic cocci invading the area around the hair follicle opening and is limited to the upper part of the hair follicle. It is divided into two types: purulent and non-purulent. It is more common in people with low immunity or diabetes, and is prone to occur on the head and neck. Folliculitis initially presents as red, solid papules, which rapidly develop into papular pustules, which then dry up and form scabs, leaving no trace after the scabs fall off. The rashes are numerous but not confluent.

Folliculitis is more common in adults. It is common on the head, neck, buttocks and vulva. The patient feels itching or mild pain, but generally has no systemic symptoms. The rash initially appears as pinhead-sized red follicular papules, which gradually turn into miliary-sized pustules with hair running through the center and an inflammatory red halo around them. Most pustules appear in batches and do not merge with each other. After the pustule bursts, a small amount of pus and blood is discharged and a yellow scab is formed. The disease will heal once the scab falls off without leaving any scars.

Acne is common during adolescence. Rashes may occur not only on the face, upper chest and back, which are areas rich in hair follicles and sebaceous glands, but also in areas with typical blackheads, whiteheads and some inflammatory papules.

After knowing the difference between acne and folliculitis, I believe that if your skin has similar conditions again, you will know how to distinguish them. It will be much more convenient to treat them after distinguishing them. In addition, I would like to remind everyone that if it is acne, it is recommended that you do not ignore treatment, especially if the acne is more serious, timely medical treatment is the best choice.